History Series / TheGildedAge

''The Gilded Age'' is an Creator/{{HBO}} series by Creator/JulianFellowes. It follows the lives of two [[TheGildedAge Gilded Age]] families in 1880s UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, [[NouveauRiche the Russells]] and the [[OldMoney van Rhijns/Brooks]], living across the street from each other on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Debuting in 2022, the series has aired two seasons and is currently renewed for a third.

* AnswerCut: Mrs. Astor wonders what Betha could have offered the Duke of Buckingham besides money to convince him to attend the Met. The show then cuts to [[spoiler:Gladys, sitting right next to the Duke]].

* PetTheDog: Agnes is extremely conservative in her views about society, particularly about new versus old money. However, she also supports the Black community, donating to a Black college and employing Peggy as a secretary, which raises eyebrows even among her own staff. She also sympathizes with Peggy about [[spoiler:the loss of her child and the forced annulment of her marriage, having lost children of her own and suffered through an unhappy marriage]]. When she learns that her personal maid is being rude to Peggy, Agnes sides with Peggy and threatens to fire her maid unless she cuts it out.

* WorthyOpponent: In the second episode, George Russell closes down a charity bazaar because the women running it snubbed his wife offer to use their ballroom at no cost, instead taking it to a hotel and paying for rent. He does this by going to each stall and offering to buy everything for $100, when most vendors hoped to make $30, on the condition it is to be delivered to the Russell mansion in one hour and the shop is closed. Within 10 minutes of the bazaar opening, it closes, netting the charity over $2,000. Mrs. Astor witnesses this entire affair and recognizes how soundly George bested the organizers. She later confides to her daughter a day before she wouldn't have thought much of George Russell but now considers him "formidable." She also relishes the free morning this has given her.

* PetTheDog: Agnes is extremely conservative in her views about society, particularly about new versus old money. However, she also supports the Black community, donating to a Black college and employing Peggy as a secretary, which raises eyebrows even among her own staff. She also sympathizes with Peggy about [[spoiler:the loss of her child and the forced annulment of her marriage, having lost children of her own and suffered through an unhappy marriage]].

** The Metropolitan Opera is shown to have a center box on the first tier of boxes, and it is one that is coveted by some becoming patrons of the Met. The real life Met that opened in this era didn't have such a box. The space was used for a different purpose.

* TheIdleRich: Being rich in New York City means spending all of your time jockeying for clout by throwing parties, attending social engagements, arranging marriages, going on vacations in Newport, and gossiping. While some men do maintain professions, such as in politics or banking, it's just to grant them an air of respectability. Although the van Rhijns are only among the rank-and-file of New York's elites, it says something that when [[spoiler:Oscar loses "almost all" of their wealth, they will still have enough to move into a middle-class neighborhood and keep a few servants without needing to get jobs]].

** Hector, the fictional Duke of Buckingham[[note]]In 1883, there was a real Duke of Buckingham ''and Chandos'', Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, who is about 20 years older than Hector[[/note]] is a stand in for Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, as the impoverished aristocrat who seeks to marry into American money, to Gladys Russell's Consuelo Vanderbilt.

* AtTheOperaTonight: Bertha's storyline in season 2 centers around the "Opera War" between the established Old Money Academy of Music and the soon to open New Money Metropolitan Opera. When refused a box at the Academy, in spite of, or as Bertha suspects, ''because'' of Mrs. Astor's influence, she decides to throw her lot, and her money, in with the Metropolitan Opera and outshine the shortsighted Academy in every way. She is adamant that a box at the opera, especially one at the right opera house, is vital for their social standing, as it's one of the best venues for the elite to mix and mingle, see and be seen, and make deals for their and their children's futures.

* BigSisterBully: Agnes holds her having to marry Arnold van Rhijn and saving Ada from having to live alone in poverty over her head, and is dismissive of Ada's enthusiasm if she deems it unsuitable.
* BigSisterInstinct: Despite being a BigSisterBully, Agnes is also very protective of Ada if someone should try to take advantage of her, [[spoiler: as Mr. Eckhard found out in episode 3]] she will protect her from the perpetrator.
** In Season 2 the second Agnes gets news [[spoiler: of Luke Forte's death she dashes to Ada's side and pulls her into a hug, despite initially opposing the marriage]].

** Peggy gets a job writing for a Black newspaper with a Republican political bent. At the time the show is set, Republicans were in the middle of a half a century’s worth of dominance of the country and had strong support with Black men in states such as New York where they could more easily vote. The modern pattern of Black loyalty to the Democratic Party started in the 1930s--50 years after this series starts--with the efforts of UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt[[note]]Who incidentally was a member of "Old New York" Society during the series, albeit an extremely young one—he would have been an infant as of Episode 1. (FDR was born in January 1882.) Carrie Astor mentions his much-older half-brother James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt at the end of the first episode; Rosy Roosevelt had married her older sister Helen in 1878.[[/note]] is to win over Black voters (who emphasized how the New Deal would materially benefit the great bulk of poor Black families, as opposed to the Republicans' racial policies that by the 1930s amounted to mostly symbolic support for reforms that mostly only benefited the tiny Black upper class[[note]]Stuff like letting students at Howard University (a Historically Black university) eat in the cafeteria of the House of Representatives and reducing social discrimination against Black federal employees.[[/note]]--people like the Scotts, basically).

** Young ladies of the upper classes are expected to remain chaste until marriage, so any physical relationships with the young gentlemen courting them are out of the question. Said young gentlemen deal with their own physical desires by having affairs with widows, or visiting sex workers.

** Had Bannister [[spoiler:shown more humility in educating Mr. Church in the English serving system to help his fellow butler and not taken the job of serving the luncheon for $100, Church wouldn't have struck back by sending a note to Agnes at the time of the luncheon. This results in the above mentioned moment when Agnes storms into the house and catches Bannister outright]].

* TheLostLenore: Mr. Church lost his wife thirty years ago during a cholera outbreak in the 1850s. He still remembers her fondly and [[spoiler:on the anniversary of his wife's death, went out and got completely drunk]].

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: The real Duke of Buckingham was considerably less dashing and about 20 years younger than he is portrayed in the show.

** Creator/OscarWilde appears in the third episode of season 2 when Aurora organizes a viewing of one of his plays during his tour of the US for her social circle. The play they watched ''Vera; or, The Nihilists'' was written during a creative slump of his and folded after only a week due to poor reception. None of the characters in the show cared for the play.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: For much of season 2, Jack is tinkering with his alarm clock which is going off at wrong times because of the oil for a cog degrades. [[spoiler:To fix the issue, he makes a new cog which runs without the need of oil. When the vice-president of the Clockmaker's Guild comes to see his invention, he is shocked at this radical development and compliments Jack on knowing more about clocks than most of the official members. He fast-tracks Jack's membership to the guild so Jack can get a patent on his new device]].

* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: The Metropolitan Opera is shown to have a center box on the first tier of boxes, and it is one that is coveted by some becoming patrons of the Met. The real life Met that opened in this era didn't have such a box. The space was used for a different purpose.

** For all of season 2, Mrs. Astor is shown to be clearly on the side of the older Academy of Music over the new Metropolitan Opera. In real life, [[spoiler:as the self-proclaimed gatekeepers for high society, the Astors acknowledged keeping up with both sides and they had boxes in both establishments. As for which establishment Mrs. Astor chose to support on the dueling opening nights, she chose neither. Mrs. Astor went to Newport to wait and see how both came out]].

* EveryManHasHisPrice: When Bertha Russell is in need of [[spoiler:an English butler to impress Ward [=McAllister=], she asks Bannister for assistance]]. While the man at first refuses, Bertha offers him $100[[note]]That is approximately $3,000 in 2023[[/note]] without even blinking. The person is flabbergasted and graciously accepts.
** Subverted with the union boss Henderson in Season 2. He rejects the attempts from George Russell to bribe him to avoid a strike and accept current (unsafe) working conditions and lower raises. Had it not been for George Russell being [[spoiler:unwilling to have state guards open fire on them, it might have cost him his life.]]

** In season 2, [[spoiler:Watson, George's valet, is one. His upper class daughter Flora [=McNeill=] has not seen him in many years and had been told by her mother that her father had gone down in the world since her birth, but never expected him to end up as a servant. Watson might not even be his real name, since he when introduces himself to Flora in season 1 it was with the name of Collyer.]]

** Clara Barton, the founder of the US branch of the Red Cross, isn't a naive woman who sees only the best in people. She is aware of people using her charity to rise up the social ranks, and when [[spoiler:Bertha Russell chooses the Red Cross and makes serious donations]] Clara happily takes the check as it lets her open three branches from it alone.

** For most of the first season, Agnes does all she can to ignore the presence, if not the existence of, the Russells across the street. [[spoiler: Even when she has stormed into their dining room because her butler is moonlighting with them for an important luncheon, she addresses the room generally rather than responding to anything George or Bertha says directly.]] To her credit, Bertha knows exactly the game Agnes is playing.

* WorthyOpponent: In the second episode George Russell closes down a charity bazaar because the women running it snubbed his wife offer to use their ballroom at no cost, instead taking it to a hotel and paying for rent. He does this by going to each stall and offering to buy everything for $100, when most vendors hoped to make $30, on the condition it is to be delivered to the Russell mansion in one hour and the shop is closed. Within 10 minutes of the bazaar opening, it closes, netting the charity over $2,000. Mrs. Astor witnesses this entire affair and recognizes how soundly George bested the organizers. She later confides to her daughter a day before she wouldn't have thought much of George Russell but now considers him "formidable." She also relishes the free morning this has given her.

''The Gilded Age'' is an Creator/{{HBO}} series by Creator/JulianFellowes of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' fame. It follows the lives of two [[TheGildedAge Gilded Age]] families in 1880s UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, [[NouveauRiche the Russells]] and the [[OldMoney van Rhijns/Brooks]], living across the street from each other on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

The series, which premiered on January 24, 2022 and concluded Season 1 on March 2nd, 2022, is an original story and not an adaptation of the Creator/MarkTwain and Charles Dudley Warner novel ''Literature/TheGildedAge'' that originated the era's name. A second season premiered on October 29, 2023, and concluded on November 18. 2023. It has been renewed for a third season.

** Bertha and Larry clash over his affair with Mrs. Blane, a widow far older than he is. Bertha is worried about Larry's good name being tarnished by such a liaison and that there are other, far more suitable young ladies he could pursue; Larry points out (if in more veiled words) that unlike ''those'' ladies he's actually able to have a physical relationship with Mrs. Blane and his only other recourse is visiting sex workers, bluntly asking his mother if that's what she'd prefer.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Oscar and John break up over their different outlooks on how to live in a society that doesn't accept them. However, each of their points of view is presented as understandable. John refuses to marry a woman and is more comfortable about the rumors surrounding him because he views being what we would call closeted as living a lie. Oscar believes they ''are'' living a lie no matter how it's spun and that marrying a woman is in his best interest. He also believes that John has the luxury of living as close to being openly gay as the time would allow because he doesn't have the familial obligations Oscar does; John has brothers who can carry on the family name and easily support any dependant relatives, whereas Oscar is an only child who has the weight of ensuring the next generation of his family resting on his shoulders and could use the cash a wealthy bride could provide in a dowry as he is responsible for providing for Agnes and Ada as they age.

** Marian Brook is penniless but is forbidden from working by her aunt because it is below her station. She's also told not to go out in public unattended.

** Oscar is what we would call gay today and in a relationship with John Adams IV but they have to keep it secret since they’d be arrested or worse if it got out. He also plans to marry [[TheBeard to keep up appearances]] and for money.

** Peggy goes to [[spoiler:Tuskegee, Alabama with Mr. Fortune to cover the opening of Booker T. Washington's school for black students. Marian warns Peggy to be very careful about not causing a scandal because she's a woman traveling alone with a married man even though it's for work. Mrs. Scott is terrified for her safety because she believes Peggy who's grown up in comfort that she and her husband fought tooth and nail for her to have in New York is naive about what happens to black people below the Mason-Dixon lines where she'd be considered subhuman.]]

* SmokingIsNotCool: ZigZagged. For the most part, the lower class, such as the street sweeper, are seen smoking cigarettes. The only exception to this is Oscar van Rhijn and John Adams, and even then only in situations where they won't be noticed--at home or in lower-class bars. TruthInTelevision for the time: In 1880s America, cigarettes were associated with two groups: the poor, and Europhile aesthetes (which isn't to say homosexuals, but...). Real well-off men were supposed to smoke cigars and pipes. Of course, with the advance of time, the aesthetes' love of cigarettes became increasingly mainstream, but the series hasn't gotten there yet.

* SpannerInTheWorks: During the later half of season 2, the Scott family are working together to save the all-black schools from being closed by the New York City school board. After a fierce publicity campaign, which includes articles in The Globe, a meeting is called. [[spoiler:The board then moves the meeting back one day and doesn't inform the Black families. However, when one white board member who is also one of Arthur Scott's suppliers for medicine tells him of the change is to that day and not tomorrow, it allows the collation to get to the meeting in time with their presentation and facts]].

* DeusExMachina: After Oscar bungles away the Van Rhijn family fortune in Season 2, it seems the household will have to adopt to a radically lowered standard of living--sell the house, dismiss most of the servants, find humbler lodgings. Then they find out that the late Rev. Forte, Ada's husband, who was living a humble life as a minister, was actually the heir to a vast fortune. The family is rescued, although now the power dynamic has been reversed as Ada is the rich sister and Agnes is the poor one.

* DueToTheDead: Jack, the van Rhijn's footman, lost his mother years prior to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_fire Peshtigo fire]] in Wisconsin. His father buried his wife's clothes and would come regularly. Now Jack comes every week on the month of her birthday and brings flowers to the grave.

** Subverted with the union boss in Season 2. He rejects the attempts from George Russell to bribe him to avoid a strike and accept current (unsafe) working conditions and lower raises. Had it not been for George Russell being [[spoiler:unwilling to have state guards open fire on them, it might have cost him his life.]]

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Knowing Agnes would never forgive her hand being forced on a matter, Marian and Ada leave Agnes completely unaware of Marian's [[spoiler:near-elopement with Tom Raikes]].

** The note which implicates George in the train derailment actually refers to him [[spoiler: looking for a decorator to renovate his office after the firm which also did his new mansion asks for too much money.]]

*** She has many things she dislikes about Bertha. She does concede, however, Bertha's use of a governess still to help guard and control Bertha's daughter Gladys from any societal harm is Bertha's "only virtue."

** While she is eager for Marian to move on with her life, she does permit Tom Raikes to come to tea when he comes to visit New York because the man waived his lawyer's fee when handling the details of her late brother's estate. Such an act needs to be repaid in kind, but doesn't want the relationship to go further.

** George Russell will use his power to bully and blackmail his enemies when more civil tactics fail. That said, he takes pride in the things he makes and pays well for the safety of his trains. [[spoiler:He is shocked to learn someone embezzled money from his company to buy used train axles resulting in the deaths of five men and injuries of countless others, and wants to prove to the public that he isn't the villain in this story]].