Downton Abbey Season 1 Episode 3. Answers

Task 1

1. Gwen has done a course in typing and shorthand and wants to be a secretary in the future. However, she doesn’t want the other servants to know it, probably, because she is afraid of getting fired.

2. Cora respects Matthew and even admires him.

3. Edith is hoping that Matthew will take an interest in her, but all her attempts to attract him are futile.

4. Kemal Pamuk neither looks, nor behaves like a Turk. His English is excellent, he is terrifically good-looking and his manners are that of an English gentleman.

5. Bates is tricked into believing that the limb corrector will straighten his injured leg.

6. ‘Reporting’ means telling the police that Thomas is gay. At that time this was a crime, and gay people were jailed.

7. Mary is, in fact, conservative in many ways. She wouldn’t dream of having a relationship before marriage, because she knew that would damage her reputation for good. She must have been really attracted to Kemal to concede to him. Besides, it was possible that she had lost all hopes of personal happiness and wanted to take the chance to be happy at least for a little while.

8. Cora is a strong person, able to deal with certain blows much better than her husband or other family members. She seems unforgiving at the moment, but we will see that she is not the kind of person to disown or betray her children.

9. Evelyn Napier is attracted to Mary and jealous of Kemal. He suspects that Mary was in love with Pamook, but had no idea how far she has gone. She is sensible enough to see that Mary does not love him, and therefore, does not propose to her.

10. After Pamook’s death Mary feels that people are not in control of their lives (or deaths). That makes her humbler, on the one hand, and depressed, on the other hand. She feels that her life is ‘slipping away’ from her.

11. After getting rid of the ‘limb corrector’ Bates becomes much more free and less self-conscious. He makes the decision not to be burdened by his disability any longer and live a full life. Mrs Hughes’s support must have shown him that he is not a stranger to Downton anymore – he is respected and accepted.

12. The three servants are Anna, Thomas and Daisy. Anna is very faithful to her employers. Daisy is confused and does not really understand what has happened. That might make her easy prey to curious strangers. Thomas is a manipulator and likely to use the secret for his benefit. However, it will be hard for him to tell it without mentioning his own role in the events.

Task 2.

1. “To be in at the kill” may literally mean ‘to be present when they kill an animal” or ‘to be there when someone has achieved the desired result (usually by cruel means)”. Mary likes both. “The kill” refers to her winning the hearts of young men.

2. The Duchess reminds us of the famous saying ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle”, and according to her ideas of propriety, you should certainly live and die in your own castle. A sudden death is not ‘proper’ enough either.

3. Robert has a firm belief that women are a ‘weaker’ sex and are less able to deal with the hardships of life. In the light of what has just happened we clearly see that it is often quite the opposite.

Task 3

1. Sybil is an advocate of women’s rights and her convictions are strong. She also believes that she can change her own life to make it meaningful and useful. We will see how she sets out to do that quite soon.