Downton Abbey and the Regency

Highclere Castle, the setting for Downton Abbey



Are you a Downton Abbey fan? I am, and I’m impatient for Season 4 to begin here in the U.S. Waiting for the new shows gives me plenty of time to consider how the world of Downton Abbey resembles the Regency era. Here are just a few of the similarities the two worlds share:

A class-ridden society at their core

The Regency had its "beau monde," the roughly 10,000 or so aristocrats in the upper tier of society whom the working classes (the majority of the population) served. The class divide at Downton Abbey is illustrated by how hard the servants who live downstairs must labor to keep the household running while Lord Grantham and his family enjoy a busy social schedule of lavish dinners, balls and house parties.

Rigid code of social rules

Though the Regency is known for both its social elegance and decadence it was still very possible to be ostracized from polite society for straying too far beyond the rules of good behavior. Even celebrities weren't immune from a scandal's effects. For example, the poet Lord Byron had many love affairs with married women, but society's reaction to his liaison with his half-sister drove him out of England.

In Downton Abbey, Lady's Mary's midnight fling with the Turkish envoy who died in her bed almost ruined her. Cousin Violet and Cora had to use all their influence to suppress any whiff of scandal. And who can forget the furor Lady Sybil caused by running away with the chauffeur? Certainly not Lord Grantham. After his daughter married a man regarded by society as her social inferior, Lord Grantham didn't try to stop Sybil from leaving England to begin a new life.

This James Gillray caricature shows the shocked reaction of a group of
 male dinner party guests when a woman gets up to ring the bell for the
servants. That's a man's job! She clearly doesn't know the rules.

 

The effects of war and its aftermath

The Napoleonic Wars lasted a dozen years (1803-1815) and had a huge impact on the Regency period, reshaping the map of Europe. Downton Abbey depicts how the catastrophic loss of human life in World War I and the suffering endured by the survivors greatly affected those who came of age during the war, the so-called “lost generation.”


Sweeping social change  

Though the Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s in Britain, it continued into the Regency period, bringing economic and social change in its wake. In addition, the excesses of the raucous Regency eventually led to a backlash and a new era of strict morality, ushered in by Queen Victoria’s reign (beginning in 1837). Over at Downton Abbey, Lord Grantham and his aristocratic peers also had to contend with social changes, such as the push for women's suffrage. They watched helplessly as their manor houses and former way of life disintegrated under post-war financial pressures.



So, both the Regency period of the early 1800s and Downton Abbey's own time period of the early 1900s were transition periods of great social upheaval. By the end of each period wars and political conflicts had redrawn the map of Europe and fashions and social structures underwent transformations. These are fascinating periods to study because they are so dynamic. 

If you haven't seen Downton Abbey yet, be sure to tune in. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!


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Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay



Ahoy, Matey - Today's a Good Day to Talk Like a Pirate


The founding fathers of Talk Like a Pirate Day:
Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy)
and John Bauer (Ol' Chumbucket)


Roll out your Rs - September 19 is International Talk like a Pirate Day. This holiday was created in 1995 by a two friends living in Albany, Oregon – not too far from where I live. The fun has spread beyond the Pacific Northwest and Talk Like a Pirate Day has now become a reason to party pirate-style across the globe.

But what are we celebrating? Historians usually cite the time period of 1695 to 1725 as the “Golden Age of Piracy,” when famous pirates such as Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts plundered the ships that sailed across the high seas. There were even a couple of fierce female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Bonny became a pirate after eloping with her lover, "Calico Jack" Rackham, while Mary Read reportedly joined a pirate band to escape a bad marriage. 

Often regarded as romantic, swashbuckling figures, in actuality pirates often led short, violence-filled lives that ended in death during a battle at sea or at the end of a hangman’s rope.

"Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris



By the Regency era there weren't as many pirates prowling the seas, though the notorious Barbary pirates terrorized ships off the coast of North Africa into the early 19th century. These pirates even had the temerity to run afoul of the recently formed United States of America. 

When the American government under President Thomas Jefferson refused to continue paying tribute to the Barbary pirates, the raiders retaliated by capturing U.S. sailors and enslaving them. In response to this outrage the U.S. launched the First and Second Barbary Wars. Though the fledgling American Navy didn't get too far with its military action by itself, when Great Britain and France took on the fight the Barbary pirates were soon defeated.

Lore from the Golden Age of Piracy lives on in books like Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and movies like Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series. 

Captain Jack Sparrow
(Johnny Depp) in Disney's
Pirates of the Caribbean
 


Perhaps the cable channel Starz will give us a more realistic depiction of 18th century pirate life in Black Sails, a new series produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon) debuting in January 2014. Here’s a preview: 



Fun fact: Toby Stephens, one of the stars of Black Sails, is the son of Sir Toby Stephens and Dame Maggie Smith, who's the star of Downton Abbey.  As a pirate would say, "Well, blow me down!"

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Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Regency Lounge Lizards

Regency loungers ogling a mother and daughter on Bond Street
(James Gillray)

One reason (among many!) that some people like Regency romances is that the Regency era is perceived as being one where elegant manners and impeccable etiquette were the norm – much like a perpetual Downton Abbey house party, only about 100 years earlier. 

But though the era is known for its elegant manners, those manners were studied and practiced by those who were at the upper tiers of society, or aspired to be there. Life on the streets of London, even if you were a member of the privileged "Beau Monde", could be rough.

For example, if you were a lady you seldom went anywhere alone in the metropolis without the escort of a man, a friend or at least a maid. And if you cared about your reputation, you’d avoid male enclaves such as Bond Street after mid-day, to avoid the insolent scrutiny of a “Bond Street lounger”.

Bond Street loungers were dandies who apparently had nothing better to do than linger on one of London’s most fashionable streets and popular shopping areas. These men often frequented the men’s clubs and exclusive brothels that were also located on Bond Street.

Besides wearing ridiculously high cravats that cover the lower portion of their faces, these Bond Street loungers are also being extremely rude by “taking the wall” and forcing the women to walk in the street. (It’s worth remembering that the streets were likely littered with horse dung, and the women’s skirts were long.) 

So much for elegant manners!

On the other hand, this Regency lass looks well protected enough to stroll anywhere she wishes, whether it be a London street or a country lane:

"Two Strings To Her Bow" by John Pettie

She looks pretty pleased with herself, no doubt secure in the knowledge that no one would dare to bother her while she has an escort on either arm. 

Bond Street loungers beware!

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Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Visit Austenland



Have you ever dreamed of living in a Jane Austen novel? Would you spend your life’s savings to indulge that fantasy? 

You would if you’re like Jane Hayes, the heroine of Austenland, a new Sony Pictures Classic release based on Shannon Hale’s book of the same name. Jane is a 30-something New Yorker who has spent much of her life obsessed with the Regency era in general and Jane Austen's books in particular. So she jumps at the chance to go to England and immerse herself in Jane Austen’s world.

Jane is played by Keri Russell, and the excellent cast includes several faces you may recognize (Jane Seymour, Jennifer Coolidge) and some you may not (JJ Feild, Bret McKenzie). "Austenland" in the film is actually West Wycombe House in Buckinghamshire, England.


West Wycombe House, where Austenland was filmed


“What separates the casual Jane Austen fan from the aficionado?” asks Mrs. Wattlesbrook, who runs Austenland. “The number of times she’s read Austen’s novels or her consuming love for Mr. Darcy?”

Jane qualifies as an aficionado on both counts, and she eagerly shells out her hard-earned cash for what she hopes will be a life-altering vacation. Unfortunately for Jane, her life’s savings only pay for the cut-rate Copper Package, and she’s forced to assume the role and the drab clothing of Miss Jane Erstwhile, “an orphan of no fortune.”

So Jane spends her days embroidering samplers and trimming hats, and her evenings in conversation and whist. Will she have found her very own Mr. Darcy by the end of her stay, or will she continue to believe that “the only good men are fictional"?

The novel by Shannon Hale


Despite its wisp of a plot this is a fun movie, even though at times Jane is almost too naïve to be true, especially at the beginning. I found it to be quite entertaining, and I think it would be a treat for anyone who’s ever enjoyed a Jane Austen novel. Some of the most amusing bits in the film come from the juxtaposition of the pretend Regency life so eagerly embraced by the paying guests at Austenland against the real lives of the actors who are employed to present that fantasy.

This isn't just a chick flick; your boyfriend or husband may enjoy it, too, especially if he’s ever had the urge to punch Mr. Darcy in the face for being the idealized suitor no man can compete with.

Here's the movie trailer to whet your appetite:





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Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

It's a Blog Revival

The Regency Looking Glass is back! I have some good news - I'm happy to announce that The Regency Looking Glass (which I started in 2013...