Was ‘Downton Abbey’ Inspired by the Polish Play ‘Revenge’?

zemsta_tvp_rez_olga_lipinska.jpg, default, 'Zemsta', directed by Olga Lipińska, 1994, photo: TVP

The British period drama 'Downton Abbey', inspired by the Carnarvon family’s life in Highclere Castle, captivated U.S. and British audiences through six seasons and two movies. Viewers loved following relationships between the upstairs aristocracy and the downstairs servants, who in white gloves served exquisite dishes to the Crawley family. Many other artistic works have followed and will follow their lead.

The characters might be new, but the story is old. There have been many artworks exploring the relationship between the aristocracy and the lower class. One of these is an old Polish play by Alexander Fredro, which also found success with audiences. It served a well-known dish: revenge.

The fictional works of Zemsta (Revenge) and Downton Abbey were both inspired by real events. Downton Abbey found inspiration in the lives of the Carnarvon family: Lady Almina Herbert and her husband, George Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, who lived in Highclere Castle with their servants. Downton Abbey revolves on the fictional Crawley family, headed by The Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley and his wife Cora Levinson. The show takes place during the early 1900s – when the Carnarvon family members lived – and was filmed inside the real Highclere Castle. At some points of filming, the show turned into a reenactment, as the characters turned the house into a convalescent home for injured soldiers, just like the Carnarvons did.

fredro aleksander 1_4984888.jpg — Aleksander Fredro, author: Jan Styfi, source: CBN Polona

Fredro’s Revenge premiered in 1834 and was inspired by a feud between two real families. Fredro inherited the Kamienic Castle in Odrzykoń, Poland, as part of his wife Zofia’s dowry. The paperwork mentioned how the castle used to be owned by two feuding owners: Piotr Firleja and Jan Skotnicki. Piotr’s son, Mikołaj, ended up marrying Jan’s daughter, Zofia, a Castellan.

The main conflict in Revenge occurs between Cupbearer Maciej Raptusiewicz and Regent Milczek, the royal court notary. Cupbearer Raptusiewicz could be seen as an equivalent to Charles Carlson in Downton Abbey: both are servants who carry pasts they are ashamed of. Cupbearer Raptusiewicz comes from a noble family line but has little money to show for it, while Charles Carlson used to be in a two-man stage show, ‘The Cheerful Charlies’ at the Victoria Theatre, where he made a living singing and dancing. Now Cupbearer Raptusiewicz only has his honorary title, inherited from his family, and the duty of taking care of his niece, Klara, who owns half of the castle.

Regent Milczek and Downton’s Isobel Crawley are both rich widows living with a son. Regent Milczek and Cupbearer Raptusiewicz live in a grand castle together, but the conversations between them are quite minimal. They are separated not just by class but also by the physical wall dividing their living quarters. The wall needs repair, like their relationship. Regent Milczek hires a crew of workers to repair and close off the dividing wall, which infuriates Cupbearer Raptusiewicz, who wants the wall untouched. He sends his servants to shoo away the bricklayers from repairing the wall, and a scuffle ensues between the two groups, which is just the beginning of the revenge that Cupbearer Raptusiewicz wants to inflict on Regent Milczek.

The love story in Revenge centers on Cupbearer Raptusiewicz’s niece, Klara, and Regent Milczek’s son, Wacław. They live in the same place but their relationship is long-distance, just like Sybil and Tom’s in Downton Abbey. Both couples’ parental figures won’t let them marry. Regent Milczek knows that Cupbearer Raptusiewicz is planning on marrying three-time widow Podstolina (her nickname from her third marriage when she was married to a Podstoli, or a Deputy Pantler) Hanna Czepiersińska for her inheritance, and since Regent Milczek wants revenge on Cupbearer Raptusiewicz for the scuffle at the wall, he demands that his son marry Hanna instead, since she has always been in love with him. Regent Milczek tells his son that if either he or Podstolina breaks the marriage contract they will have to pay him $100,000.

View of Warsaw from the Terrace of the Royal Castle by Canaletto - Image Gallery

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Podstolina is a bitter, old, three-time widow who wants to get married again. The problem is that her love prospects are no more promising than Edith Crawley’s in Downton Abbey. Podstolina has no suitors outside of the much-maligned Cupbearer Raptusiewicz, who wants to marry her only for her supposed inheritance (which does not exist). At the beginning of Downton Abbey, Edith Crawley is in a similar situation: young but desperate for marriage, with the only one interested in her being a much older man. According to her dad, ‘Anthony Strallan is at least a quarter of a century too old.’

Podstolina agrees to marry Cupbearer Raptusiewicz but is still in love with her old flame, Wacław, who fell in love with Podstolina under the disguise of Duke Rodosław when he was a college student. Podstolina is undeterred once Wacław tells her directly that he only loves Klara. Once Regent Milczek offers her marriage with Wacław, Podstolina breaks off her engagement to Cupbearer Raptusiewicz. In Downton Abbey, Edith, like Podstolina, does not let the wall of unrequited feelings stop her, and she has an affair with a married man, John Drake, while working on his family’s farm.

Cupbearer Raptusiewicz’s servant Jozef Papkin is another key character in Revenge. In Downton Abbey, Thomas Barrow hates working at the castle, and at the end of the first season is furious that Robert passed him over for a promotion. He resorts to theft, and to avoid getting fired he joins the British Army. After World War I ends, with no other options, he returns to the castle. In Revenge, Papkin would also be penniless without his boss's employment. He does not like Cupbearer Raptusiewicz’s commands, but he follows them, for example when Cupbearer Raptusiewicz sends him to confront the bricklayers (although he ends up watching from a distance).

Papkin is also heartbroken, like Barrow in Downton Abbey. Barrow and The Duke of Crowborough fall in love, but the Duke abruptly cuts it off not, wanting to risk his reputation in early 1900s England. Papkin also falls in love. He is a cowardly man with no money who dresses as a regal French knight with his hat, short pants, and sword, and once he falls for Klara, she states that she will only marry him if: he stays silent for six months, eats only bread and water for a year plus six days, and fetches her a live crocodile. Papkin, though, is no Steve Irwin. He calls Klara’s crocodile request unhinged.

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Ruins of the Kamieniec castle, photo: Robert Neumann / Forum

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Cupbearer Raptusiewicz and Regent Milczek’s quarrels lead to a planned duel between the two men. Cupbearer Raptusiewicz decided marriage will be the best revenge, as he thinks Wacław and Klara hate each other, so he threatens Wacław with jail if the marriage does not proceed. The only problem is that this sweet revenge is missing the key ingredient: the knowledge that Wacław and Klara love each other. Papkin never told Cupbearer Raptusiewicz because he was paid by Wacław not to.

Tom Branson and Sybil also faced an ultimatum in Downton Abbey. Their parents did not want them to marry, so they moved to Dublin. But at the end of the series, they returned to Downton, on good terms with Sybil’s parents. Similarly, at the end of Revenge, the revenge Cupbearer Raptusiewicz and Regent Milczek agree to inflict on each other – the marriage – brings the families together. But this comes with a real cost as Regent Milczek agrees to the wedding after Klara pays him the $100,000 fee for the broken wedding contract. Wacław and Klara walk down the aisle, surrounded by the entire cast. Standing with everyone together, Cupbearer Raptusiewicz calls out:

Cupbearer

Let there be a wedding today

Both in hearts, as well as work

[Putting hands out to Regent]

My lord, we are in agreement

[Regent accepts his hands with a low bow]

Everyone

Agreement! Agreement!

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