Research on UK Housekeepers from Downton Abbey

【Abstract】Downton Abbey， a popular UK TV gives us a full view of UK housekeeper system. This paper aims to talk about the UK housekeepers.

【Key words】Downton Abbey; housekeeper

【作者簡介】李黛釗（1988.04.15-），女，漢族，四川成都人，四川電影電視學院英語教學部，碩士，助教，從事英語語言文學研究。

Downton Abbey， a popular UK TV， describes all kinds of disputes and frictions of the Granthams are caused by the property inheritance， demonstrating all aspects between the British upper nobility and its servants under the severe hierarchy between 1912 and 1914.

Speaking of the British steward， the scene of men with swallow-tailed coats， zebra pants， white bow tie and white gloves serve at the table comes to our mind. In fact， the British butler has a history of nearly 700 years. As the highest level of household service in the world， the British butler is usually hired by hereditary nobles and billionaires， which symbolizes the gilt-edged life. And the traditional images of the UK butlers are characterized by courtesy， consideration， calmness without bothering their masters. Whats more， everything in the house is kept in good order by butlers whose behaviors are the symbol of etiquettes of higher society.

Luckily， in Downton Abbey， Mr. Carson， the butler of the Granthams reproduces the standard British housekeeper in that year. Butler is a word from French word “bouteillier” which means the man with wine bottles. Actually， butlers， who were first responsible for pouring wine， then evolved to the administrators of cellar. As for the parties and activities hosted by their masters， butlers should always handle well at any time. Before the party， butlers are required to keep tableware orderly and decorate the table. During dinner， they need serve at the table， running errands for guests， giving food and pouring wine.

In the later time， the responsibilities for butlers have gradually increased until Victorian era when the UK butlers reached its peak， responsible for commanding all the servants and managing the family income and expenditure. Moreover， the butler took the responsibility for hiring servants， buying and storing the food and daily necessity， educating and comforting servants work. Taking care of precious belongings and making informal paper were also his jobs. All in all， maintaining the reputation of his lordship and making sure of a comfortable life for the lordship family are their priorities.

Just as Mr. Carson， the butler in Downton Abbey， besides solving all kinds of troubles for his lordship， should know well about trivial formalities of the country life. He must be rigorous， loyal and thoughtful. And a group of servants including stewardess， cook， driver， male valet， female valet， and housemaid and so on are under the management of Mr. Carson.

In 18th and 19th century， a big house in UK usually owns more than 10 servants， including butler， under-butler， stewardess， cook， male valet， female valet， kitchen maid， washing maid， cleaning maid， sweeping maid and driver and so on.

However， not all British noble family has many male servants. In Victorian age， most servants were females with one stewardess in charge. The number of female servants was 20 times more than male ones until 1880. It was at the end of Victorian age when male servants were rare and dear， so to some extent male servants were the symbol pf fortune. Only the very big house could afford the male servants. Take Downton Abbey as an example， apart from Mr. Carson， the butler， Mr. Bates， the valet for the lordship， William and Thomas and other male servants are in the house.

But how can be a perfect servant？ In Victorian time， employers attach a great importance to prudence， loyalty and whole-hearted devotion of a servant who can be regarded as a perfect servant. Loyalty comes first among all characteristics. Because the employer gives his house， family， property and other things to the butler to manage， nothing is more important than loyalty. The last thing that the lordship doesnt want to see is that his property is gone， everything in the family is in a mess， family members are poisonous because of food or his property is transferred. What the employer wants to see most is that everything is handled smoothly and quietly even in the face of major accidents. And a perfect servant doesnt have his own life.

However， after 30 years of silence， the industry of senior butlers has gone through an unprecedented revival.As for the rich people， what interests them most is to develop some first-class butlers according to the standards of UK royal family. Therefore， more and more butlers are needed. Even the first UK housekeeper certification has been issued.

In the 21st century， the UK butler is the symbol of taste and status. The manager of lifestyle or personal assistance and other new names have been given to the UK housekeepers.So no matter how this kind industry develops， it will never disappear.