History Characters / TheGildedAge

[[folder: George Russell]]

[[folder: Bertha Russell]]

-->'''Played by:''' Morgan Spector

* UnexpectedInheritance: Amongst that many papers she has to go through following her husband's death, she discovers that his grandfather had a thriving textiles mill in Boston that he renounced profiting from when he joined the Clergy, but retained enough of an interest in that Ada is able to use the money to save the house on East 61st Street.

* SpoiledSweet: She came from OldMoney, and returned to it by her aunts. She is very kind and sweet, and a good friend to Peggy, but is also shown to be somewhat naive about the ways of society (such as the racism Peggy faces).

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: She's a stand in for Consuelo Vanderbilt, whose new money mother wanted her to marry someone of her choosing to get accepted in society. Conseulo became what's known as a Dollar Princess, a wealthy American woman who married a titled European man for clout.

The protagonist of the series. A young woman from Pennsylvania forced to move to New York to live with her aunts after the death of her father who squandered his family's wealth.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Makes several assumptions about Peggy Scott and her family. She tries to do her a good turn during a tense reunion with her parents by taking a gift of used shoes-- when the Scott's are actually well off, owning a pharmacy and a brownstone in Brooklyn, and Peggy herself loaned money to Marian in the pilot episode after she was robbed.

* BigSisterBully: Holds having to marry husband who's implied to have been odious and abusive over Ada's head and dismisses Ada's feelings when she deems them unsuitable.

* StraightGay: By necessity to pass in New York high society, even being considered something of a gold digging ladies-man.

A NouveauRiche industrialist family originally from somewhere vague in the Midwest, now trying to insert themselves in New York Society.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: A late 19th century robber baron who was also a devoted family man and fought to get his wife accepted by New York high society? [[https://parade.com/1328513/michelle-scheraga/the-gilded-age-true-story-downton-abbey-prequel/ That sounds like Jay Gould]].

* TheMatchmaker: She doesn't do it as an actual service mind, but her social circle is such that she often introduces suitable members of society to each other, such as Oscar to Maud Beaton.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Having been saved from ruin because of George's mercy after the alderman try to short him over the train station, Aurora is enlisted to help launch Bertha into society and actually seems to hold no grudges against her and grows to be genuine friends with the Russells.

Agnes's nephew by marriage who is introduced in season 2. He is a widower who recently moved back to New York from Washington with his young daughter who attends the school Marian teaches watercolors at.

* TheMourningAfter: Its clear that despite caring for Marian a great deal, he is still deeply grieving for his late wife, enough that Marian decides to break off their engagement rather than living under Harriet's shadow.

** She throws in some of her money to support a servant's clockmaking, wanting to be supportive of an inventor.

** When Marian [[spoiler: breaks up her engagement with Dashiell, she considers it a "strike," yet isn't too mad about it, as if understanding that Marian wasn't going to find love in the marriage]]

-->'''Played by:''' Audra McDonald

** When Marion [[spoiler: breaks up her engagement with Dashiell, she considers it a "strike," yet isn't too mad about it, as if understanding that Marion wasn't going to find love in the marriage]]

[[folder:Ada Brook]]

* UnexpectedInheritance: Amongst that many papers she has to go through following her husband's death, she discovers that his grandfather had a thriving textiles mill in Boston that he renounced profiting from when he joined the Clergy, but retained enough of an interest in that Ada is able to use the money to save the house of East 61st Street.

* SocialClimber: Markedly so, but for good reason, she wants to ensure Gladys and Larry's futures. However she is quite ruthless in her efforts. Her lady's maid Ms. Turner notes that the old money of New York would see right through her as a NuveauRiche social climber with no manners, and the plot of the first episode is essentially how her naive attempt to enter high society with a dinner at their mansion, with the draw being the pure curiosity to see the house, fails spectacularly and she goes from a mostly idealistic Social Climber into a snobbish and backstabbing one. Even before this, she pointedly doesn't want to socialize with her old friends, and wants "new friends" from the upper crust of New York society.