The first leaflet issued by the Victorian Women's Suffrage Society.

This progress through the first decades of the 20th century is amply illustrated in the four seasons of the TV series Downton Abbey. The female characters, both upstairs and downstairs, dominate, from the beginning, the Crawleys’ estate, presenting a large and diversified spectrum of women’s attitudes, aspirations and development. 

From Lady Violet, the dowager countess, who starts as the representative of a rigid and seemingly unalterable social structure and progressively comes to understand – and even encourage – the new possibilities offered to her own grand-daughters, Mary, Sybil, and Edith, who each, in her own way and with different outcomes, chooses their future. 

1920s office worker

Downstairs, it is no different. If, at the beginning of the series, Mr Carson is the undisputed ruler of the serving staff  - matching and even surpassing, in his own domain, the authority enjoyed upstairs by his corresponding character, the Earl of Grantham - little by little, his power and authoritarian stand are corroded by Mrs Hughes, whose compassionate understanding and well-balanced judgement take centre stage in season four. 

In a certain sense, the feminist ‘revolution’ starts downstairs, with the young servant Gwen, who dreams to leave service for a secretarial position and realizes her dream, encouraged and helped by Lady Sybil, who herself will brake social prejudices, marrying the Irish chauffeur – then politician – Branson, and participate in political debates and rallies. 

Many themes of female emancipation are addressed in Downton Abbey, and, though accurately representing the period in which they are set, they also echo present concerns and debates – violence against women, jobs with equal pay etc. – making the audience aware that the emancipation of women and their fight for equality is not yet complete.

Find out about our 19 day tour of Britain's Downton Era departing August 2015. One highlight of the program is a guided tour of Highclere, which is already fully booked for group visits in both 2014 and 2015. In addition we will explore many of the other stately homes featured in the series and learn about life upstairs and downstairs in the Edwardian Era.