Responses to Upstairs Downstairs.

1. Is the representation of the chauffeur portrayed from a biased point of view? If so why?
- As the BBC created the series in the modern day as opposed to the 1930's, we feel that their may be a chance of bias explanations in each episode. The chauffeur plays his role as a server however in his spare time he was a Black Shirt. This mean't he followed some of Hitlers beliefs and showed the viewing audience that he had his own opinion of the matter. He was also shown to influence Lady Persephone to becoming a black shirt however she didn't feel as passionate to the matter as the Chauffeur.


2. In what ways could you say the upstairs family and downstairs staff are clinging to tradition in a changing world?
- The way each level is clinging to tradition is through the way they live. As they have two floors with different people living on each they portray the fact they still believe in seperating class. The upstairs belongs to the upper class people and the downstairs belongs to the staff for example the cook, chauffeur and maids. However the world and ways of living are changing due to the war therefore afterwards they will be forced to change their tradition into religion and beliefs.


3. Why do you think Lady Persephone wants to join the black shirts?
- The reason Lady Persephone wants to join the black shirts is because she was led to it through the beliefs of the Chauffeur. As she is controlled by her sister and her mother in law(therefore told what to wear, how to speak and what to do) she was led a stray and became a black shirt. She feels that becoming a black shirt will make her an indiviual and free from being controlled. She didn't believe in the actions of Hitler as such however she felt it nessasary to join the black shirts for her freedom and exitement rather than being serious about the belief of the black shirts.


4. Can you find similarities between Lady Persephone and Jenny from An Education?
A main similarity we found between Lady P and Jenny is that they are both egar to become indiviuals and independent. This is shown through they're behaviour as they both allowed themselves to be directed in a certain way by men. Another similarity is they were both previously controlled by their families as Lady P was told what to do by her sister and her mother in law and Jenny was told what to do by her dad and her mum.


5. Whose British collective identity is the strongest and why?
We believe that the strongest collective identity is the Black Shirts. This is because their attitude towards the beliefs of Hitler was inspiring therefore their behaviour was determined by this. It led to the Chauffeur getting in trouble with an upstairs character because he drove Lady P to the parade where she wasn't supposed to go.