Downton Abbey Episodes 1 and 2 answers

My sincere apologies for not being able to keep this project running in autumn. I will do my best to make up for it as soon as possible. Here are the answers for the first two episodes and more tasks are coming soon!

Downton Abbey Season 1. Episode 1 Answers

Task 1

A butler is a person in charge of all the servants in the House. Carson is the butler in Downton Abbey.

A lady’s maid is a female servant who takes care of a lady’s wardrobe, helps her with getting dressed, doing her hair, etc. O’Brian does this job in the first several seasons of the show

A housemaid is a female servant who does mainly cleaning jobs. Anna and Gwen are housemaids in the first season.

A valet is a male servant who ‘takes care of’ a gentleman. Bates is a valet for Lord Grantham.

A footman is a person who carries things, waits at table and does other ‘male jobs’. Thomas and William do it in the beginning of the series.

Task 2

1. Lord Grantham cousin and heir and his son Patrick both died on the Titanic. The Crawley girls cannot inherit the estate, but the parents were hoping that Patrick would marry Mary to keep both the estate and Cora’s dowry money in the family.

2. Robert, Lord Grantham has been looking for legal ways to break the entail, but has realized it is impossible. Cora Crawley and the dutchess, Robert’s mother, are determined to fight the entail at all costs.

3. The heir of Downton now is Matthew Crawley, a distant cousin of Lord Grantham. He is a son of a doctor and works as a lawyer. Aristocracy did not use to have jobs, and it wasn’t considered respectable to work to make a living. Matthew, therefore, is a ‘middle class’ person for them, coming from a very different social background, and they are somewhat embarrassed to have him for a relative.

4. Bates is lame because of a war injury. He has to use a stick, which makes it hard for him to do jobs which require the use of both hands. The attitudes to disability were, of course, very different then. Besides, Carson, as well as many other servants believed that a high society family, like the Crawleys, deserve only ‘the best’ servants to ‘keep the standard’.

Bates served in the army together with Robert and even saved his life.

The family is hoping that the Duke will propose to Mary and marry her. In that case, even though they lose the estate and the money, the ‘successful’ marriage will compensate for that. The Duke’s plans are, however, completely different.

Task 3

This certainly depends on your personal interpretation of the film. I personally see Cora Crawley and the Dutchess as well-mannered, haughty and superior, arrogant, conservative and narrow-minded. The Dutchess is also witty, cynical, snobbish and overbearing.

Robert Crawley is very conservative, well-mannered, very reserved and somewhat narrow-minded.

Lady Mary in the beginning if the film is certainly snobbish, arrogant, haughty and superior.

Lady Edith comes across as a jealous person, a bit of a wimp, too, (always complaing and unhappy), if you ask me.

Lady Sybil is none of the above. In fact, she is sweet and sympathetic.

Thomas is a jealous person, conceited, somewhat irritable, and a troublemaker.

They say that servants are sometimes more conservative than their owners. Carson certainly is.

In fact, all the characters are quite reserved. Truly English in that respect, even though Cora is American!

The answers to the discussion questions are, of course, very personal. Use them when discussing the film with other fans.

Episode 2

Task 1.

1. Matthew would rather give up the title and the money. He is satisfied with his way of life and doesn’t think much of aristocrats. Besides, he won’t put up with being patronized or quietly despised by his relatives.

2. Isobel is eager to make a good impression, but behaves with dignity.

3. Matthew is clearly embarrassed, but is stunned at Mary’s beauty, too.

4. The reception is reserved, but civil.

5. Matthew doesn’t need any help with getting dressed or looking after himself in many other ways, so Mosley is afraid of getting fired.

6. Dr. Clarkson is both unsure of the efficiency of the new procedure and afraid that other people might demand experimental treatments.

7. Cora never scolded O’Brian in front of the other servants before, so she is offended by that.

8. Mary is hoping to marry someone else.

9. Matthew isn’t baffled at all, he is interested in Mary.

10. Such secrets, as Carson’s past job are called ‘a skeleton in the cupboard”.

Task 2

Make a match – get two people to marry each other

Wicked – wrong, evil

To be passed over for – to be ignored, not to get a position, job or title, which is, instead, given to someone else.

1. Making a match of Mary and Matthew was the Dutchess’s idea, which was later supported by Cora

2. Mosley was made Matthew’s valet, so Thomas was passed over.

3. That’s right, Carson does have his opinions.

O’Brian is Irish and Thomas is gay.

Task 3

Make someone a laughing stock - make someone appear ridiculous

Sink or swim - either to succeed or fail

To toe the line - to have to follow rules or orders

I have bigger fish to fry - to have more important things to do

Put on airs and graces - acting as if you belonged to a higher social class

Carson said that his old friend came to Downton to make him a laughing stock. He also said that it would be wrong for him to put on airs and graces, because he used to be on the stage in the past.

Mary said that she had bigger fish to fry, meaning that she had a better suitor.

Charles Grig said that the aristocracy would soon have to toe the line.

Dr. Clarkson told Isobel that they would sink or swim together when he finally made the decision to try out sucking out the fluid and administering adrenalin.