[Editor’s note: The following article contains some spoilers for “The Gilded Age” — and actual history.]
Welcome back to “The Gilded Age,” a vaguely historical retelling of the lavish, game-changing era of American history that followed the 19th century possibility of poor people figuring out how to exploit other poor people until they finally got rich.
But which events of this drama, written by Julian Fellowes of “Downton Abbey” fame, are based in real history? And which parts are completely made up? The answer is: it’s complicated.
An important note to consider when comparing the events of “The Gilded Age” the TV show to the events of the Gilded Age in American history is that the show timeline does not and never will match up exactly with reality. For example, the first two episodes and the Season 3 trailer contain historical storylines that actually happened in reverse order — the Charlotte Drayton (neé Astor) scandal was featured in the New York Times in 1892, while the publication of Ward McAllister’s salacious book “Society As I Have Found It” (which “The Gilded Age” will cover later this season), actually happened two years earlier in 1890. So, as with most period adaptations, it’s best not to get stuck on the details.
Unless the details are funny, which they very often are. Let’s begin.
Was being divorced really a social death sentence in late 19th century society?
The short answer is yes and, with apologies to poor Mrs. Aurora Fane, the consequences were substantially worse for divorced women than they were for divorced men. To understand why, recall that the late 19th century in America coincided with the Victorian Era in England, and much of the moral pearl-clutching associated with the Victorians was directly echoed across the pond, especially in wealthy circles.
Unlike annulment, divorce was viewed as an avoidable and intentional dissolution of the family unit, even in cases where the husband cheated on the wife. The technical reason for this was later described in an early 20th century royal commission to examine the subject of divorce, which flatly stated that male adultery was not as bad because “the man imposes no bastards on the wife,” which brings the whole issue down to a huge, society-wide fear of being cucked.
So that much hasn’t really changed, huh?
Nothing new under the sun.
What options did a rich divorced woman have back then?
Literally move to Newport or die. OK, maybe not die, but Newport did become a repository for wealthy divorcees back then. There they remained, forever on the outskirts of society, regardless of their previous position or power. Even women like Alva Vanderbilt, the historical inspiration for Bertha Russell, were shunned after their divorces.
How were the Newport divorcees shunned?
Well, in Alva’s case, in the months after her very public divorce, the New York Times society column straight up bullied her by writing stories about all the super fun parties and balls her sister-in-law Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt threw while Alva was in exile. The July 26, 1895 edition of the column titled “A Small Dinner at the Breakers” (The Breakers was Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt’s mansion in Newport) couldn’t help snarking that while the married Vanderbilts were entertaining, “Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt has cards out to a very large company for luncheon tomorrow.”
“Cards out” as in, no confirmed RSVPs.
Wait, if Alva Vanderbilt inspired the character of Bertha Russell, wouldn’t she rather burn Newport to the ground than let that stand?
Good catch! She did not take that standing down. Which brings us to our next big fact vs. fiction check on Season 3 of “The Gilded Age”: Gladys and the Duke of Buckingham.
Did Gilded Age millionaires really marry their daughters to British nobility in exchange for funding their estates?
Hell, yeah they did. “The Gilded Age” creator Julian Fellowes’ previous superhit “Downton Abbey” tells the story of such a pairing, with American heiress Cora Levinson marrying the Earl of Grantham and having three half-American, half-British daughters in earth 20th century England.
The exact historical event echoed with Gladys Russell and the Duke of Buckingham is inspired by the marriage negotiations for — you guessed it — Alva Vanderbilt’s daughter and the Duke of Marlborough in 1895.
1895? But Alva was divorced by then!
Exactly. Unlike in “The Gilded Age,” where Bertha’s idea to set her daughter up with a duke is portrayed as a novel concept, several American heiresses had already made high-profile matches with dukes and other lower-ranking members of nobility by 1985.
One of them, a Cuban-American heiress named Consuelo Yznaga, married the real Duke of Buckingham in 1876. The IRL Consuelo, Duchess of Buckingham was a friend of the Vanderbilt family — she was Consuelo Vanderbilt’s godmother and namesake — so Alva Vanderbilt was very aware of the weakness American society had for a duchess.
A few weeks into her post-divorce exile, Alva invited the Duke of Marlborough to stay and court Conselo in Newport, where his arrival was a sensation big enough to eclipse the Vanderbilt divorce. Checkmate, snobs.
Gladys doesn’t seem thrilled about potentially becoming a duchess. Is her elopement with Billy Carlton based in historical fact?
Yeah, Conselo, the inspiration for Gladys Russell, wasn’t nuts about her duke either. A recently unearthed letter written by the Duke of Marlborough shows that he was very aware that Conselo Vanderbilt was in love with someone else when he courted her, and that Conselo did attempt to elope before her mother dragged her back into compliance.
Conselo’s almost-husband was Winthrop Rutherford, whose mother was a Stuyvesant. In “The Gilded Age,” Billy Carlton’s mother tries to pull rank on Bertha by saying her ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence, and while no Stuyvesant signed the Declaration, they were still one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York society (there’s a whole neighborhood named after them on the east side of Manhattan!).
What’s all this about Mrs. Astor’s daughter’s affair and a possible duel?
Strap in, because this is a hilarious example of a historical-ish drama touching upon a bonkers real-life event and only using the most boring parts of it on screen.
It is true that Mrs. Astor’s daughter Charlotte was married to Mr. James Drayton. It is also true that she had an affair with Mr. Hallett Alsop Borrowe. The third true thing is that upon learning of the “attentions” Mr. Borrowe paid to Charlotte, Mr. Drayton challenged him to a duel with actual swords.
The duel did not happen because a Parisian layman’s jury ruled that Drayton couldn’t legally say he was impugned by Mr. Borrowe, so Drayton instead fled Europe by buying passage on the steamship Majestic at Liverpool. It was then that Mr. Borrowe, who has unfortunately not been cast for “The Gilded Age” Season 3, realized he had an opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.
Oh, no.
He got ahead of James Drayton and boarded the steamship Majestic a day after Liverpool, trapping himself on a boat with his girlfriend’s husband, just to prove that Drayton didn’t have the stones to actually kill him. At the time, the ship from Liverpool to New York took about five days to cross the Atlantic, so newspapers had plenty of time to speculate on what the hell was happening on the SS. Charlotte Astor’s Homicidal Boyfriends, with the New York Times dispatching a reporter to board the ship and publishing a “sea duel watch” in their paper.
When the Majestic landed in New York, hundreds of people were waiting at port to find out if either man had stabbed the other, but as it turns out nothing violent happened on board. Drayton spent most of his time in his cabin and Borrowe, who was clearly the more fun of the two, spent his trip drunk as hell and partying in first class. He danced at balls, hung out in the smoking lounge, and even won trivia one night in the state room!
How did this absolute legend not make it into “The Gilded Age” Season 3?
Because Mrs. Astor being mad at Charlotte for two scenes is fun too.
New episodes of “The Gilded Age” Season 3 will be released weekly and available on Max.