Thesis advisor: William Stanwood / Thesis advisor: Lindsay Hogan / Never before has it been so important to investigate the way in which televised historical drama recreates and represents the past, for, as Robert Rosenstone (2003) acknowledges, “the increasing presence of the visual media in modern culture and the vast increase in TV channels seems to ensure that most people now get their knowledge of the past, once school is over, from the visual media” (p. 10). Therefore, this research uses the popular PBS Masterpiece Theatre program Downton Abbey as a case study to examine the accuracy of depictions of historical periods in contemporary television programs with the intent of discovering the impact of historical fiction on audiences’ perceptions of the past and, subsequently, on the collective memory of the public domain. Using a reception analysis approach, this research considers both producer-encoded and audience-decoded content within the four categories of (I) Setting, Details, and Design; (II) History; (III) Behavior; and (IV) Agenda, Values, and Effects outlined by Paul B. Weinstein (2001) to form conclusions concerning the relationship between the encoding and decoding of Downton Abbey, in particular, as well as the larger implications these findings have for televised historical drama and society’s collective memory, in general. Ultimately, this essay argues that through its precision of post-Edwardian detail, Downton Abbey attempts to construct a veil of accuracy behind which the series’ narrative is theoretically able to operate freely and without rigid constraint by history’s “hard and fast rules” (Fellowes, 2012a, p. 60). The findings also reveal an incongruity between this philosophy of encoding and the subsequent decoding process of Downton Abbey’s audience members. Finally, this study offers two potential functions historical drama may serve in contemporary society: as either a catalyst for historical inquiry or as a purveyor of distinctly modern, as opposed to historical, lessons. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

The diploma thesis named Gender Stereotypes in Contemporary British Period Drama. The Comparative Analysis of Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge compares the marks of gender stereotypes and conservative principles in British period drama series. The analysis of their clash with progress in society and technology during the first two decades of the 20th century is performed on the method of qualitative content analysis of two examples of popular contemporary British costume drama Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge. The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on the concept regarding history in film. The main category of research is the work with female characters and their social roles in Edwardian Britain which is characterized by unprecedented social change. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the way a female character reflects stereotypes and conservative principles that are usually believed to be characteristic features of period drama series. Additional objective is to examine how the 21st century society is mirrored in manipulation with stereotypes and social values in the series. The content analysis is based on the three criteria most interconnected wih position and social change of women of that era. These refer to property and proprietorship, sexuality, and emancipation of women in...