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I wanted to smack Sir Robert when he forbade Edith from seeing Sir Anthony Strallan. I felt so sorry for Edith. With so many of the young men killed in the war, she wasn't going to have a whole lot of chances to find love and marriage and even though Sir Anthony may have not be exactly an ideal match, he was at least there for her.
Good for Grandma Martha for helping Edith to win over her stuffy father to agree to let her and Sir Anthony see each other again.
And then we find Sir Robert made bad financial decisions and lost not only most of his fortune but Lady Cora's as well. He may have been an aristocrat, but it would appear his title was his only claim to glory other than maybe his military record. Because in the real world, he was just not making wise decisions. I think he was just not coping with the changes all around him and making wrong decisions about the care of his family.
Sir Robert was not my favorite character in last night's episode.
An article that gives some info on who the Levinson family seems to have based upon. Notice that the author blindly assumes the Levinsons on the show are Jewish just because of the surname, even though the Leiter family was not. Downton Abbey just got dirty - Telegraph
The article is interesting...I love the portrait of Maggie Smith's Violet... the corset comment is funny too. And the first comment mentions that the Leiter family was of Mennonite Pennsulvania Dutch origion and thus Lutheran. I think the choice of name for the show could have been different. But I have to admit, she's certainly gotten past that Mennonite history....
But so NOT read too far in the comments. I stopped when someone said the second episode...
I wanted to smack Sir Robert when he forbade Edith from seeing Sir Anthony Strallan. I felt so sorry for Edith. With so many of the young men killed in the war, she wasn't going to have a whole lot of chances to find love and marriage and even though Sir Anthony may have not be exactly an ideal match, he was at least there for her.
Good for Grandma Martha for helping Edith to win over her stuffy father to agree to let her and Sir Anthony see each other again.
And then we find Sir Robert made bad financial decisions and lost not only most of his fortune but Lady Cora's as well. He may have been an aristocrat, but it would appear his title was his only claim to glory other than maybe his military record. Because in the real world, he was just not making wise decisions. I think he was just not coping with the changes all around him and making wrong decisions about the care of his family.
Sir Robert was not my favorite character in last night's episode.
This doesn't bode well for the future, although he needs to consult with his wife. She may have adopted the British customs, but that conversation she has with him, telling him the world isn't coming to an end, was from before that.
I love the way Edith has learned to stand up for herself. I'm sure she would show up on his doorstep like she promised.
Sir Robert is one of those sad characters who just wants to do the right thing, but hadn't kept in touch with the world around him.
Julian Fellows is mixed up and taking quite the freedom and far from authentic by using all kinds of current slang, Americanized language... Aside from the "histrionics" from Lady's maid witch... the cook said to the whiney cooks helper... "is this your evil twin" and lady Cora telling Lord Grantham, "have gun will travel" which is clearly from the TV show from late '50's.
I guess to me it makes a joke of the show and much less of a dramatic piece.
Julian Fellows is mixed up and taking quite the freedom and far from authentic by using all kinds of current slang, Americanized language... Aside from the "histrionics" from Lady's maid witch... the cook said to the whiney cooks helper... "is this your evil twin" and lady Cora telling Lord Grantham, "have gun will travel" which is clearly from the TV show from late '50's.
I guess to me it makes a joke of the show and much less of a dramatic piece.
Oh I hate when shows make these trite and pointless mistakes! It's sloppy and lazy scriptwriting. I do hope they tighten this up on Downton Abbey. One thing I really loved about Seasons 1 and 2 was the insight into the language and phrases of that turn of the century era.
Julian Fellows is mixed up and taking quite the freedom and far from authentic by using all kinds of current slang, Americanized language... Aside from the "histrionics" from Lady's maid witch... the cook said to the whiney cooks helper... "is this your evil twin" and lady Cora telling Lord Grantham, "have gun will travel" which is clearly from the TV show from late '50's.
I guess to me it makes a joke of the show and much less of a dramatic piece.
I am admittedly nitpicking so feel free to berate me for it, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary online, "histrionics" was first used to describe "melodramatic or hysterical behavior, typically intended to attract attention" in 1922. . histrionics, n. : Oxford English Dictionary So the way it was used was not historically inappropriate.
Julian Fellows is mixed up and taking quite the freedom and far from authentic by using all kinds of current slang, Americanized language... Aside from the "histrionics" from Lady's maid witch... the cook said to the whiney cooks helper... "is this your evil twin" and lady Cora telling Lord Grantham, "have gun will travel" which is clearly from the TV show from late '50's.
I guess to me it makes a joke of the show and much less of a dramatic piece.
"Have gun, will travel" was used in the late 19th & early 20th centuries in newspaper ads from people seeking work, and became a catch phrase at that point. Of course, it became much more widespread as the theme of a 50's TV show, but their usage of it in DA was correct for the time.
Julian Fellows is mixed up and taking quite the freedom and far from authentic by using all kinds of current slang, Americanized language... Aside from the "histrionics" from Lady's maid witch... the cook said to the whiney cooks helper... "is this your evil twin" and lady Cora telling Lord Grantham, "have gun will travel" which is clearly from the TV show from late '50's.
I guess to me it makes a joke of the show and much less of a dramatic piece.
Have Gun Will Travel jumped out at me too and made me think of the tv show. I just looked up the phrase and maybe it's not so bad after all:
The phrase, "Have ____ will travel," was a catchphrase used in personal advertisements in the United States and Britain in newspapers and flyers indicating that the advertiser was ready-for-anything. It was used in this way in the United States from the early 1900s.
Please see: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Nm3jb…
It was particularly common in theatrical advertising (e.g.,"Have tux, will travel"). It is thought that this usage was the inspiration for creators/writers Herb Meadow and Sam Rolfe when the television show that became "Have Gun Will Travel" was conceived. It became the title of the popular television and radio series and the basis of the famous calling card of the lead character Paladin. The calling card had the words "Have Gun" and "Will Travel" flanking a chess knight, with two brief lines below: "Wire Palidin" "San Francisco."
Another set of words that comes up is "Learning Curve." I read about it in some comments by people who have already seen the latest season and yet someone looked it up and, same thing--it was in use around 1880. In that case it apparently wasn't in general use so it might be inaccurate for the person in question to be using it.Hearing these "modern" expressions in a historical drama is jolting and interferes with the credibility so I'm glad when I hear that they are not necessarily anachronisms.
I'm curious about the new American servant downstairs. Why would an American travel to the UK to be an abused cook's servant or maid? There would be plenty of jobs like that in the U.S. without her having to deal with British xenophobia about Americans.
I am admittedly nitpicking so feel free to berate me for it, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary online, "histrionics" was first used to describe "melodramatic or hysterical behavior, typically intended to attract attention" in 1922. . histrionics, n. : Oxford English Dictionary So the way it was used was not historically inappropriate.
My problem was not that he used it at all. It was that a maid, in the basement was using it. It seemed out of context for the setting and time period.
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