<p>Chedva–a son of Mary would still be passing the inheritance through a female member of the family, which is why that wouldn’t work. The entail has to go directly from one male in the family to the next, no skipping through women (and yes, i’ve read a lot of Victorian novels.)</p>
<p>^^Got it - thanks, garland!</p>
<p>It’s hard to remember how far character development goes in each season and I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but you will see a lot more to Edith in the next two seasons. I like her more and more. And I think Mary is just more traditional than either of her sisters, despite her “transgression,” and knows her role as the eldest daughter. She was quite cruel in season 1, but she improves with age and experience.</p>
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<p>This is exactly the same problem the four Bennet girls faced in Pride and Prejudice. They had no brother, so when their father died the house would pass to the nearest male heir, which was the odious Rev. Collins.</p>
<p>Fortunately, entails were never legal in the US. In the US an heir cannot dictate what subsquent heirs will do with an estate once control of it has been passed on. If a rich man in America wants his daughter to inherit all the land and money, his dead ancestors cannot stop him.</p>
<p>Favorite character is Sybil around these parts…</p>
<p>I, for one, am growing bored with season 3…but I will stick with it for now…</p>
<p>"Fortunately, entails were never legal in the US. In the US an heir cannot dictate what subsquent heirs will do with an estate once control of it has been passed on. If a rich man in America wants his daughter to inherit all the land and money, his dead ancestors cannot stop him. "</p>
<p>Not exactly true. It definitely existed, and still does, although in a much less “dire” form.</p>
<p>Fee tail has been abolished in all but four states in the United States: Massachusetts, Maine, Delaware and Rhode Island. However, in the first three states, it can be sold or deeded as any other property would be (the fee tail would only control on death without a will). In Rhode Island, a fee tail is treated as a life estate with remainder in the life tenant’s children. New York abolished fee tail in 1782, while many other states within the U.S. never recognized it at all.</p>
<p>No season 4 yet anywhere!</p>
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Even without fee tails, property can, in all states, be controlled by the “dead ancestors.” All you need is a sufficiently detailed and legally vetted trust, in which title to the property is vested, not in the heirs, but in the trust. Those can go on for generations. (A lot of property, including millions of dollars, donated in wills to universities have just these types of trust provisions, limiting the use of that property. To change the terms of the trust, the beneficiaries must go to court.)</p>
<p>I guess it just struck me as strange that, since a woman can (could) ascend the throne if there were no male heirs (that’s changed now, too), daughters could not inherit the estate.</p>
<p>Trusts are common but they are very different from an entail. If a rich man puts all his money into a trust then he hasn’t restricted what his children can do with it so much as he has in fact disinherited them. He left the money to the trust instead of to his kids. The trust is the new heir, and the trustees control the money according to the terms of the trust. There were no restrictions (no entail) on to whom the rich guy could leave his money, and he just happened to chose to leave it to a trust. </p>
<p>If a male-heir entail were in effect he could no more leave his estate to a trust than he could to a daughter.</p>
<p>I do not find Edith plain at all, I saw a picture of her IRL and she is quite pretty. I keep wonderig what it is like to get a role as the plain sister, but I gues a job is a job.</p>
<p>I think they just made Edith look plain in the first season through makeup, hair, and a rather petulant expression most of the time. She is much prettier in season 3 (this isn’t a spoiler) with a more modern hairdo, a better attitude, and smiling more often.</p>
<p>I think that was evident for me even without seeing subsequent seasons. We are supposed to perceive her as “plain” owing to hair, expressions, and the fact that everyone in the house sees her that way. </p>
<p>OTOH, sometimes the casting of “plain” and “pretty” in English drama confuses me. For instance, in the BBC P and P, I thought the actor playing Jane was not particularly striking, but she was supposed to be the “beautiful” one.</p>
<p>I noticed that as well, garland. The actresses playing Elizabeth and Jane were really equally attractive. Perhaps because the Jane actress was blonde? </p>
<p>I have watched that version of P and P at least four times. I never tire of it.</p>
<p>^One of my very favorites!</p>
<p>I couldn’t get over how pretty Siobhan Finneran is in real life (the actress who plays O’Brien).
[Siobhan</a> Finneran | Characters | Downton Abbey Season 2 | Masterpiece | PBS](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/season2_characters_finneran.html]Siobhan”>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/season2_characters_finneran.html)</p>
<p>^Wow–that’s sortof amazing! Well done.</p>
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<p>The actress who played Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) is also in the current movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” where she does a very creditable American accent.</p>
<p>They always do! (see also: Vivian Leigh and Hugh Laurie).</p>
<p>Hugh Laurie is amazing - he never slips! And Vivian Leigh? I had no idea! I wonder how some of our British friends feel about American actors’ British accents? Johnny Depp anyone?</p>
<p>Dominic West and Idris Elba in The Wire did uncannily good American accents. If I hadn’t seen them in British shows, I’d have had no idea they weren’t American.</p>