Ye Usuale Olde Ramble
I'm trying to NOT let Tolkien and Austen dominate my current repertoire of icons. It's not working. :) (Those two seem to dominate pretty much every aspect of my life . . .)
Also, I am now about halfway through Season 2 of Downton Abbey, and there is just so much to digest! My goodness! I think the only way to get even half my thoughts on the page is to devote one paragraph to each character.
Since that will take a while, I'll start with the various Crawleys.
The Dowager Countess reminds me Lady Catherine de Burgh, but with sympathy and good-nature beneath her snappish wit. I'd love to sit and have a cup of tea with her, provided she didn't take it into her head to set me up with anybody. ;) I thought she couldn't possibly make herself more likable than she already was, until she contrived to get Mrs. Crawley to do good with an iron hand outside of Downton. Ahhhh, yes. Would she could do that with everybody that taxes one's patience!
The Earl of Grantham is very admirable--he's probably one of my mom's favorites. He tries to do what's best for everyone, especially his beloved home and estate, and when he's in the wrong, he's the first to admit it when it's brought to his attention. Not many men of his station have that grace.
Though she can be sometimes just as snappish as her mother-in-law, Lady Grantham, I think, is adorable in her own way. (And, no, it's not just because I immediately identify with her as the transplanted American in all these British hullabaloos. :D) I don't always like what she says or does, but she's still very sympathetic. My mom and I cackled when she discovered the soup kitchen of sorts that Mrs. Patmore and Daisy were helping, only to roll up her sleeves and pitch in with gusto. :D It's interesting to note that, so far, she and the Earl are the only couple that have been happily married. And they hadn't even married strictly for love in the beginning!
Mary Crawley calls up such a conflict of emotions. She goes through SO MUCH pain and discomfort, but she deals out so much pain and discomfort herself, it's very hard to maintain sympathy for her. (And I'm very well disposed to adore her, because she's an elegant brunette.) The way she and Edith fight, especially at the end of Season 1, makes me want to slap them both. Girls, take a hint from Anna and Gwen! Mary definitely seems like a destructive heroine. She's like a gentler, less extreme British version of Scarlett O'Hara--or is that just me? She also reminded me of a snarkier Elizabeth Bennet a couple times, though I can only remember one, when she says she really wasn't sure when exactly she fell for Matthew. :D
Edith Crawley is nowhere near as winsome as Mary, but she's definitely sweeter-tempered. Though she has definitely done some mean-spirited things, most of the time it's provoked by Mary. Still bothers me how the two of them fight for nothing so often! I was really glad to see them play and sing together at the little concert, acting as they ought. :)
Sybill Crawley is thoroughly endearing. She's the only Crawley girl that barely, if ever, squabbles, and she's constantly going out of her way to help people. First, with getting Gwen into the secretary job she's always wanted, and then learning to nurse the wounded during the war. I also got serious North and South flashbacks when she was wounded in the political ruckus. Kept waiting for Thornton (or Thorin) to come smashing through the crowd to glare at all and sundry.
Mrs. Crawley is one of the few characters that calls up little or no sympathy. I liked her when she saved the farmer's life, but by the time it came to setting up Downton as a place of recuperation, and she was constantly badgering Lady Grantham as if she were the real mistress of Downton, I wanted to slap her harder than either Mary or Edith. And she didn't just drive Lady Grantham to snap at her once--she did it twice. TWICE. Grrr.
Matthew Crawley, aka the generator of all fandom emotions. (Well, everybody is on this show, but Matthew especially). I'm not happy that I stumbled across a spoiler about him for Season 3, but I'm determined to pretend I didn't stumble across it. I love how he's unfailingly good-natured and well-meaning, and he even has the grace to let Downton change him for the better. Like how he comes to understand that letting Moseley go about his duties as a valet isn't about Matthew becoming spoiled or dependent, but about Moseley continuing to do what he's always done, and what he wants to do. Much as I liked smiling Matthew, I really, really liked sullen Matthew, too. I don't know why, but when he lets bitterness about his condition get to him, he made me think of the Phantom of the Opera. I became curious to see him in a mask and her him sing something besides a folk song with Mary. :)
Also, I am now about halfway through Season 2 of Downton Abbey, and there is just so much to digest! My goodness! I think the only way to get even half my thoughts on the page is to devote one paragraph to each character.
Since that will take a while, I'll start with the various Crawleys.
The Dowager Countess reminds me Lady Catherine de Burgh, but with sympathy and good-nature beneath her snappish wit. I'd love to sit and have a cup of tea with her, provided she didn't take it into her head to set me up with anybody. ;) I thought she couldn't possibly make herself more likable than she already was, until she contrived to get Mrs. Crawley to do good with an iron hand outside of Downton. Ahhhh, yes. Would she could do that with everybody that taxes one's patience!
The Earl of Grantham is very admirable--he's probably one of my mom's favorites. He tries to do what's best for everyone, especially his beloved home and estate, and when he's in the wrong, he's the first to admit it when it's brought to his attention. Not many men of his station have that grace.
Though she can be sometimes just as snappish as her mother-in-law, Lady Grantham, I think, is adorable in her own way. (And, no, it's not just because I immediately identify with her as the transplanted American in all these British hullabaloos. :D) I don't always like what she says or does, but she's still very sympathetic. My mom and I cackled when she discovered the soup kitchen of sorts that Mrs. Patmore and Daisy were helping, only to roll up her sleeves and pitch in with gusto. :D It's interesting to note that, so far, she and the Earl are the only couple that have been happily married. And they hadn't even married strictly for love in the beginning!
Mary Crawley calls up such a conflict of emotions. She goes through SO MUCH pain and discomfort, but she deals out so much pain and discomfort herself, it's very hard to maintain sympathy for her. (And I'm very well disposed to adore her, because she's an elegant brunette.) The way she and Edith fight, especially at the end of Season 1, makes me want to slap them both. Girls, take a hint from Anna and Gwen! Mary definitely seems like a destructive heroine. She's like a gentler, less extreme British version of Scarlett O'Hara--or is that just me? She also reminded me of a snarkier Elizabeth Bennet a couple times, though I can only remember one, when she says she really wasn't sure when exactly she fell for Matthew. :D
Edith Crawley is nowhere near as winsome as Mary, but she's definitely sweeter-tempered. Though she has definitely done some mean-spirited things, most of the time it's provoked by Mary. Still bothers me how the two of them fight for nothing so often! I was really glad to see them play and sing together at the little concert, acting as they ought. :)
Sybill Crawley is thoroughly endearing. She's the only Crawley girl that barely, if ever, squabbles, and she's constantly going out of her way to help people. First, with getting Gwen into the secretary job she's always wanted, and then learning to nurse the wounded during the war. I also got serious North and South flashbacks when she was wounded in the political ruckus. Kept waiting for Thornton (or Thorin) to come smashing through the crowd to glare at all and sundry.
Mrs. Crawley is one of the few characters that calls up little or no sympathy. I liked her when she saved the farmer's life, but by the time it came to setting up Downton as a place of recuperation, and she was constantly badgering Lady Grantham as if she were the real mistress of Downton, I wanted to slap her harder than either Mary or Edith. And she didn't just drive Lady Grantham to snap at her once--she did it twice. TWICE. Grrr.
Matthew Crawley, aka the generator of all fandom emotions. (Well, everybody is on this show, but Matthew especially). I'm not happy that I stumbled across a spoiler about him for Season 3, but I'm determined to pretend I didn't stumble across it. I love how he's unfailingly good-natured and well-meaning, and he even has the grace to let Downton change him for the better. Like how he comes to understand that letting Moseley go about his duties as a valet isn't about Matthew becoming spoiled or dependent, but about Moseley continuing to do what he's always done, and what he wants to do. Much as I liked smiling Matthew, I really, really liked sullen Matthew, too. I don't know why, but when he lets bitterness about his condition get to him, he made me think of the Phantom of the Opera. I became curious to see him in a mask and her him sing something besides a folk song with Mary. :)