Within the last few weeks–I don’t remember exactly when–I’ve started watching Downton Abbey on Netflix…more out of curiosity than anything else; now, I have some thoughts.

As fans–and people who’ve started watching this series before I have–know, Downton Abbey is set in England between 1912 and 1925; it begins with the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic, and the backstory is that Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, married an American heiress, Cora Levinson (played by American actress Elizabeth McGovern, who I first learned about upon seeing the cover art on a video version of the 1988 film She’s Having a Baby),to obtain money to keep up Downton Abbey, but eventually fell in love with her. However, the Abbey is entailed because Lord and Lady Grantham only have daughters (three of them: Mary, Edith, and Sybil), and, since the heir presumptive supposedly died in the Titanic disaster, the estate will go to a cousin, Matthew, a solicitor from Manchester in the event that neither Mary, Edith, nor Sybil have a son.

On the outside, the Granthams seem kind: for instance, Lord Grantham has his old Boer War batman, Bates, come to Downton Abbey to be his personal valet; he’s about to let Bates go, as Bates has a leg injury from the Boer War–even though the injury doesn’t fully interfere with his duties–but, at the end of the first episode of the first season, he changes his mind and keeps Bates on. In the third episode of the first season, Lady Sybil finds out Gwen is learning how to be a secretary via a correspondence course, and encourages her to the point where she shows Gwen a posting for a business looking for a secretary, and tells her to apply.

Then there’s Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, portrayed oh-so-convincingly by Dame Maggie Smith, who’s the voice of those folks at the top who are afraid of change–though she’s in the process of appealing to Cora to make sure the eldest Crawley daughter, Mary, gets the Levinson fortune, if not inherit Downton Abbey. Overall, though, it seems to me the Dowager Countess, who was born into the British aristocracy, yearns for what she considers the ‘good old days.’ For instance, upon learning that Gwen wants to leave service–and Downton Abbey–and become a secretary, the Dowager Countess states that, if she was in Gwen’s position, she would rather have stayed at Downton Abbey as a maid than ‘work from dawn ’til dusk in a cramped and gloomy office’–in short, she believes she knows what’s best for Downton Abbey’s servants better than they do, and that places like Downton Abbey are the best places in the world to live and–for those not born into nobility and/or generational wealth–work.

Now, on to Matthew Crawley, the new heir presumptive of Downton Abbey.

Matthew is a lawyer from Manchester; his father, who was a doctor, is now dead, and his mother, Isobel, was a nurse. At first, Matthew is reluctant to accept what comes with the position of heir presumptive of Downton Abbey, going so far as to insist on doing things himself, such as dressing, eating, and drinking, instead of letting his appointed butler, Moseley, do those things for him–it took a conversation with Robert for him to start letting Moseley do what he was assigned to do. Apparently, Matthew is cut from a different cloth from the aristocratic Crawleys–likely because, unlike the aristocratic branch of the family, he actually had to work.

As far as Matthew’s mother, Isobel, goes, as someone who trained as a nurse, almost immediately upon moving with Matthew to Downton, she started volunteering in the Downton Cottage Hospital, and even offered advice to the doctor there about how to treat a patient with a particularly difficult ailment, advice which she felt qualified to give because of her nursing experience. The doctor was reluctant to take the advice at first–and even Violet intervened to stop the treatment advised by Isobel–but eventually, the patient does get Isobel’s advised treatment, which works. Isobel’s attitudes are in stark contrast to those of the members of the aristocratic branch of the Crawley family, and her actions have started bringing her into conflict with Violet, Cora, and possibly Robert as well.

But at least Isobel and Matthew aren’t portrayed as bad people, even given the political bias of the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes (more on that later in this post).

Three episodes in, and I get the impression that the Crawleys want to seem kind to everyone in their lives, starting with and including their servants, but it’s apparent they’re reluctant to except change, and want to do everything they can to hold on to their familial/collective position and the power that comes with it. The Crawleys greatly benefit from kyriarchy, and, though they do things to help their servants improve their lives, they don’t want to do anything that would cost them their positions–individual or collective–in early 20th-century society. In other words, the Crawleys are more or less like any other aristocrats and rich families of the era they lived in.

I’ve only watched three episodes, but, so far, I’m getting a nice window into the lives of early-twentieth century wealthy, aristocratic families in England and their members, and everyone in the orbit of those families–as well as societal attitudes at the time and in that geographical area. I’m fairly certain I’ll have more commentary on Downton Abbey as I watch. And I’m well aware that the series was written by Julian Fellowes–more properly known as His Lordship Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford–and that he a) was born into landed gentry and b) is a Conservative peer, so his political views would colour the tone of whatever he writes and helps to create, and that includes Downton Abbey, ergo I have a sense of what to expect as I watch this series. But, as I mentioned, I started watching Downton Abbey out of curiosity, and I’m riding that train to its final destination–no doubt offering commentary here and likely elsewhere as I go.