Downton Abbey, Season 5, Episode 1 (clip: minute: 10:20)

Title: Downton Abbey, Season 5, Episode 1 (clip: minute: 10:20)

Tags: established power, expectation, power dynamics, Power Elites, power positioning, right to power, social structure, social vs. political power, strategic command posts, symbolic power, tradition

Author: Savannah Hillebrand

Date: March 23, 2015

Summary: 

       The first episode of season one contains many allusions to the changing times of 1924. One of the most significant of the instances in which this theme is illustrated is when the villagers ask Carson, Downton’s butler, to head the committee of the war memorial instead of Lord Gratham. This surprises and unsettles Lord Gratham and puts Carson in an uncomfortable position, as his social standing and his traditional values are questioned.

Analysis: 

      Many of the concepts of C. Wright Mills, author of The Power Elite, can be applied handily to various episodes of power dynamics found in Downton Abbey. The social influence that such power elites possess is addressed in this affirmation by Mills: “They [the power elite] occupy the strategic command posts of the social structure, in which are now centered the effective means of the power and the wealth and the celebrity which they enjoy” (Mills, The Power Elite, p. 4). This quote is about symbolic power and power positioning. Power is a tool and a resource and can function as a way to establish rules within society of “who befits what.” This quote hits a couple crucial points, such as how the old aristocracy occupies a strategic command post within the established social structure, which is the foundation of their power, wealth, and celebrity. It successfully illustrates how certain members of the elite, those who are not necessarily directly involved in political processes, yet contain great influence and sway in the social realm, rely on their established, inherited, bestowed, and symbolic power, which is crucial to maintaining their privileged position and social authority.

       In this video clip, Lord Grantham expects tradition and adherence to the codes of comportment of established class structures to dictate all “scenes of the script.” Therefore, he is shocked when the villagers ask Carson (his butler) to head the committee, instead of asking him, on whom everyone expects the honor to be bestowed. Robert is accustomed to being the bearer of the greatest social influence, and cannot help but believe deep down that he is the rightful and appropriate figurehead of any village initiative. Though honored by the offer, Carson is also deeply uncomfortable with the prospect, and his reaction is perhaps the most fascinating to consider from a power analysis perspective. Here we see deference to an established, traditional power that has been accepted as completely legitimate, even though the power does not make a formal advance to assert its dominance over that which is "subordinate."  Despite this, Carson feels bound to perpetuate the old, established norms. His conflicted state has less to do with respect for Robert per say, and more to do with feeling compelled to align his actions with the established power dynamics of the time, which dictate that it is appropriate for the committee to extend the honor to Robert, who is of a much higher socio-economic standing (and thus occupies a position of great power) than Carson is.