Downton Abbey

Abstract：The theme， meaning and influence of the drama are embodied by the characters and actions of protagonists that represent the main ideas of the whole story and express the authors intention. Through the analysis of the heroine Edith Crowley， this article talks about the inspiration people can get from her personality.

Key words：Downton Abbey； Edith Crowley； Characters

1.Introduction

Downton Abbey is a costume drama made by the Britain ITV station covering six seasons which are all popular around the world. The background of this drama is a fictive abbey and the story begins in the various conflicts and problems trigged by the rightful heir of the Robert Crowleys family property， for Lord Grantham has only three daughters but without any son. Meanwhile it focuses on the relationships between the British upper-class and their servants under the social hierarchy. Lady Edith is the second daughter of the lord Grantham who has gone through numerous hardships in finding her Mr. Right and finally succeeds in doing so due to her excellent personality.

2 .The characters of Edith Crowley

（1）Brave

At the first she has crush on her cousin Matthew Crawley， she is brave enough to follow her heart and does not afraid of saying it out even if she has to fight against her super elder sister Mary. Second， when in the war period， as a noble lady she has the courage to dive the car and works her part in the farm where she has some kinds of feelings for the farm renter， she does not control her emotion. Third， when both her old and little sisters are married with those handsome young men， she falls in love with the old cripple Anthony and tries to persuade her parents into letting her get married with him.

（2）Strong

For one thing， when she is about to marry the old cripple Anthony in the church and has a happy life fovever， she is refused by him in front of the public. A noble beautiful young lady is denied by a gray-headed lame man， which is a great shame for her. But she is strong enough to recover from this awful experience and restarts to find her own love. For another thing， when she is getting pregnant with her boyfriend Gregsons child she hasnt received any message from him and eventually loses him forever. Even though she suffers a lot， she picks it up in her career as the owner of the magazine of women and manages raising her child. Last but not the least， in the last season， she should have married Bertie Pelham but is being given up for her illegitimate daughter. In regard of great pain in her emotion， she suffers through it and goes on her job and life.

（3）Tolerance

The reason why she fails to get married with Bertie Pelham in the first place is because of her sister Mary who sells her out straightly. She shall hate Mary a lot for ruining her happiness. However， while Mary is getting married in the following day， Edith presents at her wedding site and sends her greetings to Mary who is deeply moved by Ediths tolerance.

3.Conclusion

Every figure in the drama has his own character which determines his actions， thoughts and life. There is no perfect man in the world. The Edith Crowley is a represent of the leftover lady in the world， and her characters like brave， strong， tolerance inspire a large amountof singles in finding and waiting their true love despite of thousands of difficulties and pains. When people are disappointed about love， are losing confidence about being love， are suffering from love， if they think about what lady Edith has gone through and her personality in dealing with them， they will find the ways out. This is also the reason why Edith Crowley is liked by an increasing number of people and what we learn from her.

【References】

[1] 申 琳. 于流行中尋觅经典—论《唐顿庄园》和《傲慢与偏见》的相似性[J]. 时代文学（下半月）， 2012（4）.

[2] 刘景坤. 《唐顿庄园》——女主玛丽 克劳利的性格分析[J]. 英语广场·学士研究院， 2013（8）.

【作者简介】

梁小佩（1992—），女，广东河源人，硕士研究生学历，单位：山东科技大学，主要研究方向：英语笔译。