Tuesday, 29 January 2013

On Death and Loss: Lessons from Downton Abbey Posted: 01/29/2013 10:20 am (HUFF POST)

Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW
Psychotherapist; Author, 'Overcoming Your Parents’ Divorce: 5 Steps to a Happy Relationship'



Once again, this week's episode of Downton Abbey is full of powerful insights about life, love and human nature. When 24 year old Lady Sybil's delivery of her first child takes a heartbreaking twist, viewers witness a telling exploration of grief and loss. Death is such a painful and taboo topic, and Sunday night's episode demonstrates the extent to which people tend to grieve differently and to process the death of a loved on in varied ways.

With the shocking death of Lady Sybil (Lady and Lord Grantham's youngest child) the upstairs and the downstairs of Dowton Abbey are paralyzed in a grief-stricken state of shock. Thomas the footman, Downton's purest villain who in three seasons of the show has yet to say or do anything remotely genuine or kind, sheds tears in a corner and sobs, "In my life... not many have been kind to me, and [Lady Sybil] was one of the few."


During Lady Sybil's final moments, her Irish husband and her American mother cling to her side and proclaim their profound love, while her British sisters, father and brother-in-law keep their distance and stare at her, jaws dropped, as if trapped in a mutual state of disbelief.

Immediately following her death, Sybil's brother in law, Matthew, inappropriately attempts to distract himself with business and financial matters. Meanwhile, the adoring chef, Mrs. Patmore, speaks lovingly of her memories:

"She wasn't much more than a baby herself poor love. When I think how I taught her to cook. She couldn't boil and egg...yet she was so eager."

READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisabeth-joy-lamotte-licsw/downton-abbey-death_b_2570899.html

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