Analysing Class & Status in Downton Abbey

In the first scene the mis en scene depicts a young man in practical, dull looking clothes riding an old looking bike. From what he is wearing we can tell that he is probably not very wealthy and is working class. The music is dramatic and fast pace while the camera pans to follow his movement in a long take which makes it seem as if he is in a rush. In another scene we can see him handing a paper to another man, however this man is very different in appearance. He is very smartly dressed in expensive looking clothing and speaks very clearly and confidently, unlike the young man who speaks more commonly. From these things we can see a huge difference in class between these two characters. In terms of status, the man in the suit raises his voice and patronises the young man, who doesn't stick up for himself or significantly answer back. This shows that the smartly dressed man has more status than the paper boy because he is the one being listened to and respected. When the paper is being passed from the boy to the man in the suit the camera pans to show that the smart man is standing higher up that the boy, so the camera slightly tilts upwards. This is to emphasis that fact that the man in the suit is not just physically, but in terms of status higher up than the paper boy.

Two scenes are shown one after the other which are very contrasting in terms of class and status. In the first of these two scenes, the mis en scene depicts a room full of people, some dressed in suits like the bultlers and servants, some dressed in more practical clothes such as the cook. Each of these people have a different amount of status and class, for example one of the servants who is dressed in a formal suit and looks very clean, well groomed, and of high class who speaks very clearly and politely has a lot less status than the messy looking cook wearing dirty, practical clothes who speaks very commonly as she is ordering him about and he is obeying. This is a good example to show the difference between class and status. Bells can be heard ringing and the clash of cutlery and pots and pans. The editing is very quick and there is a lot of camera movement to make the atmosphere seem busy as the servants and cooks are working hard, however shortly after this another scene is shown which is very contrasting with this atmosphere. In this next scene a character is shown who had previously been ordering a lot of the other characters about, so we already know he has more status. This man who is very neat and tidy looking wearing a smart suit and speaking with good grammar and pronunciation is shown walking down the stairs. Slow and relaxed classical music is played which creates a relaxed atmosphere, and he does not at all rushed, unlike the cooks and servants. Very long takes are used to emphasise that he can take his own time and does not need to rush for any reason. A dog follows behind him and the mis en scene depicts huge old paintings on the wall behind him. The details of the room he is in shows that he is very wealthy as he can afford to live in this very large place, which shows he is upper class. He also does not need to go to any trouble and has the luxury of doing everything in is own time. This highly contrasts against the previous scene where the cooks and servants had to rush about to complete certain jobs.

In the last scene of the clip, the camera follows behind a man and moves about as if it were the point of view of someone walking behind him. The man asks a maid "is her ladyship awake?". From this title we can tell that the character we are about to see is very well respected and therefore has high status. Something else which suggests this is the sudden burst of music which is played during the long take of the man walking towards the door. This emphasises the importance of the character behind the door. When we see inside the room, the mis en scene depicts a large mirror, expensive looking accessories around the room, large curtains made of expensive looking fabric, and a very large luxury bed which a woman sits in. She is wearing very expensive and fancy looking bed clothes, and this as well as the rest of the room shows that she is upper class as she is wealthy enough to afford it. Most of the room is dull and shadowy but a rectangle of light lies on the woman in be to emphasise her importance and status. A maid places a tray on her lap with her breakfast, and she says "that'll be all for the moment". From this we can see that she has a lot more status than the maid, as the maid is waiting on her and obeying her without saying a word.