论文总字数：36356字

摘 要

英剧《唐顿庄园》由朱利安·费罗思创作，目前已播完四季，第五季计划2014年播出。这部电视剧背景设定在约克郡一个乡村庄园——“唐顿庄园”，描述了贵族Crawley一家与其仆人们后爱德华时期经历的重大历史事件以及对他们的生活和英国等级制度产生的影响。本文基于剧集中的体现贵族精神的情节，分析英国贵族应具备的精神特征（即骑士精神、自立精神、主人翁和社会责任感等）以及形成贵族精神的物质要素（即土地资源，血统，贵族教育，联姻，从政等），探讨贵族精神的内涵和局限性以及对中国人的启示，帮助人们更好地理解当代贵族精神。

关键词：《唐顿庄园》；贵族精神；英国文化；启示

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Noble Spirit in Downton Abbey 2

3.1 Downton Abbey: Synopsis 2

3.2 Noble Spirit in Downton Abbey 4

4. Spiritual and Physical Characteristics of British Noble 5

4.1 Spiritual Characteristics of British Noble 5

4.2 Physical Characteristics of British Noble 7

5. Connotations and Limitations of Noble Spirit 12

5.1 Connotations of Noble Spirit 12

5.2 Limitations of Noble Spirit 12

6. Implications of Noble Spirit for Modern China 13

7. Conclusion 14

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

In recent years, many researchers have devoted themselves to the study of intercultural communication and made abundant achievements. Concerning English culture, people always pay more attention to English literature, religious problems and art. In fact, there are some other sparkles in British history worth our attention, such as films and TV series.

Nowadays, the foreign films and TV series are enjoying more and more popularity among foreign language learners of all ages in China. Not to mention the improvements in listening and speaking abilities people made by watching them, they also learn a lot about the foreign cultures. Downton Abbey is such a hot and famous TV series from Britain.

The story, setting in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. It has received critical acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. Downton Abbey is recognized by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011. It earns the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with twenty-seven in total (after two series). It is the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently has become the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited. By the third series, it has become one of the most widely watched television drama shows in the world.

People in China usually think any man who has power, big house, luxurious car, servants and all kinds of designed goods is a noble. Actually they are wrong. British noble is far from what we think and it has a deep historical accumulation. The nobility of a society are all the people who have titles and belong to a high social class (Collins, 2011: 583). In Britain, noble spirit is the qualities of high moral character, such as honor, generosity, or courage, processed by the nobility after several centuries’ development. Understanding the real meaning of noble spirit will help build genuine noble in humanity. This thesis will conduct a case study based on the series Downton Abbey to give a brief introduction to the English nobility and then explore the connotations and limitations of noble spirit in British society.

2. Literature Review

As a well-received series, many critics and scholars have made comments and researches on Downton Abbey from different perspectives. Jeremy Musson wrote in his essay “Downton Abbey as History”, “Such simplifications aside, the press’ main criticism of the accuracy of Downton Abbey was that the show presented the two classes of people --- the servants and the served --- as too interconnected and friendly.” (Musson) His article targets at the comparison between the fact and the artificial creation, which helps the readers distinguish the series from history.

In previous papers on Downton Abbey, Chinese scholars usually lay emphasis on the social transformation during the period. For example, Guo Longjuan’s thesis, “Interpreting British culture from Downton Abbey”, illustrates the social system of British country at that time, including the entail and tenancy system. (Guo Longjuan, 2013: 39) In Zhang Yun’s thesis “Portray of British society at the beginning of 21st century --- A report on Downton Abbey”, it first illustrates the changes brought by the twice industrial revolutions, then compares the development of America and England. (Zhang Yun, 2012: 156) Although they all made a thorough study on British society in that time, they didn’t pay much attention to the moral culture of British noble. Therefore, my thesis will make discussions on the noble spirit shown in this series and other concerning topics.

3. Noble Spirit in Downton Abbey

In Downton Abbey, we can see the characteristics of British noble spirit in many details. In this part, noble spirit will be analyzed in terms of the knighthood, the desire for self-reliance, the sense of ownership and social responsibility.

3.1 Downton Abbey: Synopsis

The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, a Yorkshire country house, the seat of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V --- with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. Such events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the first series; the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Marconi scandal in the second series; the Interwar period and the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series; and the Teapot Dome scandal in the fourth series.

Influenced by Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country, the first series opens at the end of the Edwardian era in 1912 with news of the family heir’s death aboard the Titanic, spanning the two years before the Great War. (Fellowes, 2011: 463) The first series explores the lives of the Crawley family and their servants from the day after the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912 to the outbreak of the First World War on 4 August 1914. Much of the focus was on the need for a male heir to the Grantham estate, and the troubled love life of Lady Mary as she attempted to find a suitable husband. On the marriage, her considerable fortune was contractually incorporated into the comical entail in perpetuity. The earl and countess, who had three daughters and no son, arranged for their eldest daughter to marry her cousin, son of the then-heir presumptive. The demise of both heirs in the sinking of the Titanic destroyed the plans and brought into play a distant male cousin, Matthew Crawley, a solicitor from Manchester, as heir presumptive to Downton and the countess’s fortune.

The second series covers the years 1916 to 1919, ending in the early 1920. The series runs from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 to the 1918 flu pandemic. Matthew Crawley, Thomas Barrow, and William Mason went off to fight in the war. At the end of the series Lady Sybil left Downton Abbey for Dublin to marry Tom Branson, who was a journalist and on the road to be a political activist.

The third series picks up soon thereafter, covering 1920 through the autumn of 1921. Mary and Matthew got married early on. Downton’s estate and business functionality were in jeopardy because Robert lost most of Cora’s fortune because of poor investments. In exchange for becoming co-owner of the estate, Matthew gave Robert a large sum of money inherited from the father of his former fiancée Lavinia Swire. Matthew and Tom, who on Violet’s suggestion had become the new estate agent, began to turn Downton Abbey into a profitably managed estate.

The fourth series covers a six-month period between February and August in 1922. Mary Crawley was mourning her husband Matthew Crawley, who died six months earlier in a car crash. Matthew had just visited his wife and new baby son, George, in hospital, and was returning to see his family when his car overturned, killing the heir to Downton. Whether Lady Mary would find happiness again was wait to be seen .With the fourth series, Fellowes continued his writing method, which he explained was to subject “a couple of characters per series to a very difficult situation and you got the emotions that come out of these traumas.” This was “about taking characters to the brink”, he said. (Fellowes, 2013: 178)

3.2 Noble Spirit in Downton Abbey

As the series describe the life of a noble family, there are many details which reveal noble spirit in Downton and it’s those plots that make the nobles’ image great and vivid.

In the second series of Downton Abbey, Lord Grantham lent his castle as a recovering hospital for those wounded officers during the First World War. He and his family sacrificed themselves to the men who fight for the country in their manner. As it is the noble’s responsibility to guard their home. Everyone, especially the noble, should stand out when the country is in danger because their chivalry inside requests them to do so.

Besides Chivalry, the desire for self-reliance of nobles also can be seen in Downton Abbey. Since the third series, the financial situation and business operation have become an important topic. In Series 3, Downton was near bankruptcy because Robert lost most of Cora’s fortune on poor investment. Matthew gave Robert a large sum of money inherited from the father of his former fiancée and became co-owner of the estate under Robert’s request. Matthew and Tom began to turn Downton Abbey into a profitably managed estate. Even after Matthew’s death, Tom and Mary were still considering about the estate’s reformation for survival. They didn’t ask help from the King or others as they are used to relying on themselves and can only keep the comparatively free and independent status by themselves.

Nobles take care of themselves as well as others. Their social responsibility makes them concern about the country and willing to devote themselves when needed. At the outbreak of the World War I, many nobles joined the army. Earl of Grantham was elected as the security officer of the county, so he wore a military uniform. But he was not satisfied with this hollow post and complained that “this is not a real return to the army”. Till one morning, he received a written invitation from Admiral Robinson who invited him to take up the post of the colonel of Volunteers of North Reading. The news overjoyed him because he not only commands the real forces so as to satisfy his long-cherished wish “to return to the army” but also bears the responsibility of local law and order and even military operations in wartime and finally met his noble title. We notice that the earl in this drama is not a war fanatic, but he has this consciousness to take the lead in the national crisis. It naturally makes his image great.

In Downton Abbey, people love their own country. They joined the army, scarified their lives to protect UK. Lord Grantham even spared a part of Downton for wounded soldiers and arranged the local hospital to treat them at his own place. Meanwhile, other family members also did what they could to help people. They fed the homeless soldiers; they encouraged people to live with confidence.

4. Spiritual and Physical Characteristics of British Noble

4.1 Spiritual Characteristics of British Noble

4.1.1 Chivalry

The Knight’s Code of Chivalry was a moral and honorable system that stated all knights should protect others who can not protect themselves, such as widows, children, and elders. All knights needed to have the strength and skills to fight wars in the Middle Ages; they not only had to be strong but they were also extremely disciplined and were expected to use their power to protect the weak and defenseless. In Series 3, Downton had a new maid whose husband had died in the war. The whole family was all grateful to the maid and respected her from the bottom of heart. Lord Grantham also gave her lots of help to her life.

Knights vowed to be loyal, generous, and “of noble bearing”. Knights were required to tell the truth at all times and always respect women. Knights not only vowed to protect the weak but also vowed to guard the honor of all fellow knights. They had to obey those in authority and were never allowed to refuse a challenge from peer as they lived by honor and for glory. In noble’s mind, taking challenge from others presents a courageous and fair attitude. Knights were to fear God and maintain His Church. They always kept their faith and never turned their back on a foe. Knights despised pecuniary reward. They persevered to the end in any enterprise they started.

4.1.2 Desire for Self-reliance

The main income of aristocrat comes from their estates and territory. Accepting king’s fiefs, nobles have an absolute power in their area only if they have lived up to their obligations to the king. However, nobles can only keep the comparatively free and independent status by themselves. This may explain why the Crawly family didn’t ask help from the royal family when facing bankruptcy. The king views the growing force of noble as a threat to his power while the noble wants more independence as soon as there’s any possibility.

The long-term struggle between king and noble starts the free tradition of anti-subordination and anti-tyranny among classes, which has huge influence on British nation’s tradition. For instance, the nobles had the king sign Bill of Rights to guarantee their rights and state duties clearly. The nobles has to pay taxes to the king under the premise that their rights should be protected .Their freedom, including personal freedom, political freedom and inner freedom, ought to be defended by law. The king can not arrest a noble just as he pleases and dispossess his fortune at random. Their political freedom, known as rights on public business, especially about the tax, is also ensured in this manner. A king can’t start a fire or increase the tax without noble’s permission. Last but not least, the nobles are free within themselves. They admire morality and rationality, counting on independent judge. All these outstanding tradition make obvious effect on British society.

4.1.3 Owner Awareness and Social Responsibility

Since England is a noble society, nobles are born to be owners. (Wang Tian, 2011: 222) They are used to getting involved in state affairs and dealing with people’s daily business, which builds up their sense of honor and a strong social responsibility.

In Downton Abbey, Matthew went to the war as a noble and got injured seriously. Clearly it’s a biased opinion if one thinks it was just what the story needed. In fact, on the list of those who were killed in action in World War I, there are six nobilities of Upper House, 16 barons, nearly 100 sons of nobility of Upper House. The casualty rate of children from Eton in war reached as high as 45%. In addition, according to the history, more than ten thousand teachers and students from Cambridge University entered the World War I in which thousands of them were killed. If World War II is included, the number of Cambridge aristocratic youth who died in wars will be larger. Just because of the great casualties of nobles after the two world wars, a large number of noble titles have lost a preferred successor. This completely changed the whereabouts of many aristocratic families’ property. The sacrifices made by Earl of Grantham and his successors are actually the representation of the historical fact in the form of art.

4.2 Physical Characteristics of British Noble

4.2.1 Procession of Land Resources

Land was the foundation of the social hierarchy. Land produced much of the nation’s wealth and gave employment to most of the laboring force. Land was the source of prestige and therefore the key to status. To own an estate placed a man at the top of the social ladder and gave him political power.

Lord Derby declared in 1881: “The object which men aim at when they become possessed of land in the British Isles may, I think, be enumerated as follows. One, political influence; two, social importance, founded in territorial possession, the most visible and unmistakable form of wealth; three, power exercised over tenantry; the pleasure of managing, directing and improving the estate itself; four, residential enjoyment, including what is called sport; five, the money return --- the rent”. (Kemp)

Usually privileges were granted or recognized by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate. Most nobles’ wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, pasture, orchards, timberland, hunting grounds, streams, etc. It also included infrastructure such as castles, wells and mills to which local peasants were allowed some access, although often at a price. Nobles were expected to live nobly, that is, from the proceeds of these possessions. Work involving manual labor or subordination to those of lower rank (with specific exceptions, such as in military service) was either forbidden (as derogation from noble status) or frowned upon socially.

Over the centuries the land-owning class has created vast wealth for itself from its holdings. This wealth has been derived from agriculture, forestry, rents, mining, hunting and sport, and from tourist since the later part of the 20^th century.

In a word, the pursuit of land ownership is needed for political influence and social status and that’s why land is particularly important for British nobles.

The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey inYorkshire. The Crawly family had a luxury and comfortable life there. They lived in a big and nice house, having residential enjoyment like riding and hunting. They owned the estate, managing the land and getting rent by tenantry, usually at a reasonable price. Sometimes, if the tenants really had trouble in handing the rent, they would bend the rules at times for kindness. For example, Mr Drewe couldn’t get enough money to pay the debt his father left while he really wanted to continue farming at the Yew Tree. Lord Grantham was moved by him and finally decided to personally lend him money in secret to let him repay the arrears in full. Therefore, Mr Drewe was grateful to the Lord and kept loyal to the family. For centuries, the family had gained respect and loyalty among residents.

4.2.2 Noble Descent

Land can not ensure a person or a family to get the social status as a noble. There are plenty of differences between a noble and a parvenu. They vary greatly in so many aspects that people are able to distinguish them easily. Noble descents can be seen as one of the most extremely important factors forming nobility. For instance, during the George II, Duke of Newcastle’s application of a title for Benjamin Keith, who had provided meritorious service in diplomacy, was turned down as the applicant rose from humble. Lack of noble decent has stopped him from being a noble even though he may be rich. It is obvious for us to see the importance of descents to become aristocrat.

A noble descent is a lineal descent from a monarch. A noble descent is sometimes claimed as a mark of distinction and is seen as a desirable goal of genealogy. Those hoping to improve their social status have often claimed noble descents and some have fabricated lineages, probably because it’s really hard for someone finally wealthy and powerful to gain acceptance in upper class without a descent birth. A noble descent is like an entrance code to the aristocracy world with which one will be viewed as a part of the whole and be paid attention to.

Take Sir Richard as an example. He was Lady Mary’s fiancé in the third series. Although he was a rich and titled man who had many newspapers in London, he was still not the ideal person for Lady Mary in other’s opinion because he was not born to be aristocrat. In other words, he didn’t have a noble descent no matter how rich he was. It’s easy to tell from this the importance of descent to be a recognized noble.

4.2.3 Receiving Noble Education

In order to play an aristocratic role in society, education is of tremendous importance for a noble.

Education is one of those things that truly set the aristocracy apart from the rest of society; for an aristocrat, education is both an essential element of their world, and to a lesser extent the right of passage into the society of aristocrats, even more important than money. The Shakespearean figure Orlando in As You Like It (1599-1600) is bitter in his grievance than his brother, Oliver, who has undermined his gentility by training him as a peasant.

Aristocrats since Homeric times have been men of honor who want to be the best and keep well ahead of the others; they must be educated to be strong and able to play a prominent role in the world. Our knowledge about the education of kings and noblemen begins to become coherent in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which saw the emergence of the important genre of didactic courtesy books giving advice on etiquette as well as treatises addressing the education of children in general.

Education is what gives the aristocratic world its spark. Discussions on History, Literature, and Politics replace discussions of sports and television. Knowledge of the finer aspects of Western civilization replaces complaints of taxes and corrupt politicians. The aristocrat knows the world is imperfect and does not get upset when problems arise; he is in pursuit of an altogether different thing: refinement.

4.2.4 Union by Marriage

Members of the British aristocracy belong to their class largely through the marriages. Over the centuries, family politics has consumed a great deal of the aristocracy’s attention, as these were frequently the means by which they maintained their power and prestige. They took great care in arranging the marriages of their children.

As early as the sixteenth century and extending well into the twentieth, the goal for an aristocratic woman was to make a good marriage, or a fitting match. As Olwen H. Hufton writes, “An appropriate union was one in which wealth and status, religious affiliation and age, as well as less easily defined qualities such as temperament and moral qualities, were seen to be approximately consonant.” (Hufton, 1996: 65) Barbara Harris is a bit more cynical in her assessment, “The explicit purpose of marriage among the upper classes was to advance the political and economic interest of the patrilinearly defined family.” (Harris, 1989: 62) This was, perhaps, particularly true of aristocracy. Marriage at this level was a very complex affair in which the needs and desires of the couple were subordinated to the needs of the family as a whole. Fulfilling this obligation frequently cost families a great deal of money and resources. Elite families had to consider many factors when arranging appropriate, profitable matches for their children. An examination of the marriage strategies of aristocratic families over five centuries reveals three paramount concerns: 1) continuation of the male line, 2) preservation of inherited property, and 3) the acquisition of more property and prestige.

The importance of a good marriage was largely a point of agreement between children and their parents. Socialization had seen to it that British noble children on the whole looked for the same type of benefits from marriage that their families wished for them. In 1644, Sir Ralph Verney wrote to his younger sister about her upcoming marriage, “I pray I am right, for this is the weightiest business that ever yet befell you, for in this one action consists all your future happiness in this world; therefore, do nothing rashly.” He then added, “Good men with good fortunes are very hard to be gotten.” (Slater, 1976: 23) Making a good first marriage was crucial to elite women. Of course, on a personal level the success or failure of the marriage influenced their emotional happiness. On a more practical level, marriage determined their standard of living and of their families’ access to patronage, political influence and the royal court. It could determine the level in which a woman could expect to marry subsequently. A wealthy, well-connected widow was a sought-after commodity. Aristocratic women understood the benefits they stood to gain from the status of their husbands and they generally agreed with the larger goals of their families.

The importance of familial status in determining marriage choices continued well past the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century, families of the couple still played a significant role in elite marriages. The concern of the family often was not so much the great personal happiness of the man and woman, but rather, to facilitate the attainment of social advantages for the family. The system served this end with remarkable effectiveness. There is no question that a young woman of the aristocracy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries aimed to marry and marry well. She had few if any alternatives and failure to marry meant a lifetime as an old-maid living in the households of family and friends. The importance of marriage to a mate of good rank and fortune consistently concerned noble women across the centuries.

In the first series of Downton Abbey, Lady Marry attempted to find a suitable husband after the demise of both heirs for the sinking of Titanic had destroyed the plans to let Mary have a union marriage with one of the heir to incorporate into the comical entail in perpetuity. She considered many young noblemen and tried to make contact with them. Her future fiancé was bound to be a part of the upper class because marriage between nobles was not only personal issues but also affairs between families.

4.2.5 Entering Politics

Besides above-mentioned, the last shortcut to be noble is entering politics. Since the Glorious Revolution, the real power of promoting and conferring nobility has transferred from king to prime minister. Hence the loyalty to political parties has become an element of being a noble. Meanwhile, using the coronation to achieve political goal is nothing new any more. Nobles usually play their role in politics and people who have made progress in politics often end in being aristocrat.

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：36356字