Downton Abbey stands as a show with great potential to become a classic for generations to come. With its views of life from the upstairs and downstairs, it shows the perspectives of the happenings of early 20th century England's commonwealth. Aside from focusing on the reactions of different classes, Downton Abbey also highlights the changing effects society has on gender. Since the show is a period drama, it relies on events throughout history to keep the viewer informed on what year it happens to be in the show. Towards the beginning of the fourth season, the topic of of contraception is brought up. Once more the viewer is able to watch how England's commonwealth reacts to such subjects, while at the same time making a statement on shifting social tides. Through different female characters and social movements, Downton Abbey touches upon the liberation of women's freedoms. The emergence of contraception appears to, yet again, touch upon a theme of progression in women's agency in the turn of 20th century England by focusing on sexual freedom within the Crawley sisters and Edna.

In order to understand what some of the themes Downton Abbey repeatedly sheds light upon, like women's agency and sexual freedom, it is first important to understand what was happening in the history of England during the show's setting. Season four begins in 1922, which was a time when the view of contraception was starting to change for the better. Throughout the 19th century, contraception was heard of, but education on the subject was almost nonexistent. The best way to avoid pregnancy in the Victorian, going into the Edwardian era, was abstinence. Couples avoided sexual activity because what little they had heard about contraception seemed like an impractical thing to do. Condoms were made of poor substances that easily cracked, and they were terribly painful for the women if proper lubrication was not present. Condoms were a little known practice, and if they were used, it was mostly to prevent STDs from prostitutes. Aside from what was available to men, women could use caps or diaphragms, but these were expensive and were required insertion from a doctor (Frost 1). Even if a woman had the funds or privacy for these forms of contraception, society would still stigmatize her as a prostitute for wanting to have sex for any reason outside of reproduction. “In short, both men and women found the whole business [of contraception] messy and distasteful; using birth control meant that they had to change their approach to sexuality too radically” (Frost 1). In other words, contraception was heard of, but too inconvenient to be bothered with. Thankfully, as the 20th century approached, a handful of activists decided it was time to educate the public on contraception, but their agenda was not focused around women's health.

The 19th century was a bad time for women and men alike, and population control offered one possible solution. England was struck with a huge social crisis/depression that left a majority of its inhabitants in the grasps of poverty. With more people living in England than there were jobs, free-thinkers of the country set out to find a solution for the overpopulation problems. A man by the name of Francis Place was the first person to gain some influence with the budding birth control movement. Place was a man who fought for the rights of the poor, and with fifteen kids he knew the struggles of supporting a family financially (Langer 6). His philosophy was that, through the use of birth control, population would decrease, and jobs would be more openly available: “If means were adopted to prevent the breeding of a larger number of children than a married couple might desire to have, and if the labouring part of the population could thus be kept below the demand for labour, wages would rise so as to afford the means of comfortable subsistence for all, and all might marry” (Langer 7). Place is referring to the working class adopting the use of birth control on the basis of allowing the whole working class to live more comfortably due to controlling of the population. After distributing informative handbills to workers, word slowly spread. Most reacted negatively, especially the church, but a man named Richard Carlisle found Place's stance extremely brave, and he joined the movement. Carlisle viewed birth control in a different light – instead of population control in the means of controlling poverty, he used it to promote sexual freedom. Now, towards the end of the 19th century, historians see a shift from contraception being for social good to being for personal good. Needless to say, most people reacted negatively to this sexual revolution. That is, until Marie Stopes came onto the scene.

Shifting from the end of the 19th century to the turn of the 20th, contraception was still widely unpracticed, much to the dismay of the few men that fought so hard to push the idea. Even though they tried, there was still a negative stigma to women who used it. Even the poor, the class Francis Place targeted as his audience, thought they were being told to use contraception because people wanted to get rid of this class's children. Overall, the only people who embraced it in a somewhat positive light was the upper classes, who could afford the expensive means of contraception. Marie Stopes was a highly educated woman not only wanted to inform the population on how to use/what type of contraception was out there, but also to rid the stereotype of birth control being used only by sexual deviants. Stopes is considered to be the pioneer woman of birth control because she shifted the view from contraception as something political, to its use as contribution to women's health. She was a huge contributing factor on the Church of England's eventual relaxation to the use of birth control, and it all started with the publication of her book, Married Love. Its main goal was to show people that there was nothing scandalous about a woman using birth control – it should be used to promote healthy family life. She believed it to be a choice between a married man and a woman to use contraception (“Marie Stopes”). Downton Abbey cleverly places this piece of literature in the show to tie in where England is at in the time. The viewer sees this history through the reveal of Edna owning a copy of Marie Stopes' Married Love.

By viewing Edna possessing Stopes' book, Downton Abbey is bringing up the theme of women beginning to gain some of the sexual freedom that men had at this point in history. The use of contraception is starting to become more accepted by middle and upper classes in the setting of this episode, 1922, but it was still viewed as something women should use only if married. When Mrs. Hughes confronts Edna with the maid's copy of Married Love, Mrs. Hughes tells her that “In your case it was unmarried love. Wasn't it, dear?” (Season 4, Episode 4). By choosing her words in this way, Mrs. Hughes is representing the common idea that contraception out of wedlock is looked still down upon, and the Edna is considered to be promiscuous. However, the mere existence of contraception being available to any woman in this show portrays that women are beginning to have a choice in their sex lives. Therefore, contraception acts as an avoidance of mistakes. Edna knew that getting pregnant so quickly would not work to her advantage, so she practiced her sexual freedom in order to keep control of her own life.

While Edna’s use of contraception brings up the theme of women's agency through sexual freedom, the Crawley sisters enact this theme consistently. Even though Mary is the most proper and conservative of the Crawley sisters, she takes full control of her love life. Through Mary's character, the series addresses the changing times in controlling the marriages of women in upper classes. In the past, fathers would arrange for a proper suitor to marry their daughter off to so that they can make sure finances and estates go to another family of power. While Mary continues to court only men of wealth, she does not allow anyone to persuade her to marry any certain man. She is destined to find love, and because of this she has freedom over her love and sex life. When Matthew is first introduced, it is clear that he is the man she should marry in order to secure the Crawley legacy. Mary, on the other hand, refuses his offer of marriage until she is actually in love with him. Mary may be a frustrating character to most, but she is certainly a woman with agency and a firm grasp on whom she shares her love and sexuality.

Sybil is the Crawley character who acts as the most radical of the sisters, as far as the progression of women’s rights in general. While she does great things for lower classes and suffrage, Sybil also expresses her sexual freedom through her love for Branson. Sybil destroys class barriers by pursuing, and eventually marrying, the family's chauffeur. In doing so, Sybil rejects the notion of marrying inside one's own class. Up until this point in time in the United Kingdom, women simply did not marry below them – or men would not marry a woman of a lower class – because their family would not allow it. By marrying Sybil's character to a working class man, Downton Abbey portrays the shifting freedoms for women. Sexuality was becoming something they owned for themselves, not a possession a male kept. Women were beginning to marry for love, not solely for procreation.

The most glaring instance of the gain within women's sexual freedom is through the episode revolving around Edith's abortion in season four. Even today, abortion is still a sensitive subject that is viewed in a negative light by many. By bringing up this subject with one of the Crawley's very own, the series shows how women are beginning to have a choice with the course of their life. After the topic of contraception is introduced, something that will help women prevent unwanted pregnancies, Downton Abbey introduces the emerging options that women have after conception. Instead of being settled with an unwanted child, the 20th century allowed Edith with the choice of getting rid of her baby. She eventually decides upon adoption, and while not the first time adoption has been brought up, it is the first time we see it through the idea of personal choice instead of financial need. Edith had the opportunity to express her sexual freedom by getting pregnant before she was ready, and choosing not to keep the baby. Through the topic of abortion, the theme of a woman's choice is touched upon – a practice that becomes used more as the 20th century progressed.

Downton Abbey has been such a successful show because of how well it mixes history and entertainment. The series draws in millions of viewers, from numerous backgrounds, because it has topics that everyone can relate to at some point. Many of the shows viewers are female, perhaps because of the journey it takes its audience on, as they watch the women of the show become more independent. The series accomplishes this goal by showing the increasing agency women hold at the turn of the 20th century, exploring the possibility of sexual freedom with topics like contraception, freedom to love who a person wants, and abortion. Downton Abbey will continue to run more seasons, and the show will not let its viewers down when it comes to the strong female roles it holds.

Frost, G. "The Long Sexual Revolution: English Women, Sex, and Contraception, 1800-1975 :     By Hera Cook, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 2004, 412. Archives of Sexual Behavior 36.3 (2007): 467-8. ProQuest. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Langer, William L. “The Origins of the Birth Control Movement in England in the Early    Ninteenth Century.”  The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1975), pp.           669-686. Web. 15 April 2014.

"Marie Stopes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/567449/Marie-Stopes>.

Downton Abbey. PBS. 13 October 2013. Television.