The Gilded Age

Summary

The Gilded Agetime period depicted in the HBO serial of the same name is a real historical epoch of the United States . premiere in January 2022,The Gilded Ageis a historic drama series that follows Bertha Russell ( Carrie Coon ) and her " raw money " family as they endeavor to break dance into New York City high society during the eponymous era . The Russells move across the street from the old money van Rhijn - Brook family led by matriarch Agnes van Rhijn ( Christine Baranski ) and get a line that fitting into the rigid societal aspect of nineteenth - century Manhattan is not simple . The Gilded Agefeatures faultless costumes , outstanding production intention , and howling performances for a well - rounded and memorable series .

The first season ofThe Gilded Agetakes place in 1882 , while season 2 occurs the next year , in 1883.Much likeDownton Abbey , The Gilded Agedeals with class mobility and societal expectations . However , unlike that popular serial , The Gilded Ageis also concerned with the plight of Black Americans and America ’s domestic workforce , groups that suffered during the period as they tried to find a position for themselves military post - Reconstruction . The series ' success has been in part due to its exact delegacy of tardy nineteenth - century America , imagine the materialistic , often tainted , but chance - filled time menses .

The Gilded Age Takes Place In The United States Between 1877-1900

The Gilded Age is a fourth dimension period specific to the United States of America that isgenerally take to have submit seat between 1870 and 1900whenThe Gilded Ageis set . This set the era just after Reconstruction and just before the Progressive Era ; both also US - specific time periods . Reconstruction Period take place right after the Civil War and saw efforts to rebuild the land after the brutal and destructive conflict . While the South encounter depressive disorder and stillborn efforts to reconstruct their infrastructure , the North and West saw a immense boom in their various economies .

Related : Renewal , Cast , Story & Everything We Know About The Gilded Age Season 3

Why Was It Called The Gilded Age?

The term " Gilded Age " actually comes from the present-day author Mark Twain . The political corruption and material use of goods and services of the earned run average gave way to many books and writing criticise and lampoon the era , viaBritannica . One of these , The Gilded Age : A Tale of Today(1873 ) , is a satirical feel at the rampant capitalist economy and corruption that infected America shortly after Reconstruction . The term " Gilded " is purposeful . Twain see the epoch as one wherethe excesses and dissipation of the metre geological period were just a tenuous layer of richnessoverlaid on a corrupt and ridiculous society .

While the original intention of the term was satiric , it shortly became the commonly used way to refer to that era . The claim of " Gilded Age " can also be a reference to the estimate of a " Golden Age " . A gilded Age for any high society is its height , so to relate to this period as " gold " connote that while it was still a cultural and economic prime , it was much less substantial . It only has the appearance of greatness , while the reality is that the decades were hollow .

Julian Fellowes ’ next period drama , The Gilded Age , include a huge cast of entertainment industry veterans and newbie quick to make their debut .

The Gilded Age TV Poster

The Important Figures Of The Gilded Age

Beyond Mark Twain , there are a turn of substantial historical figures who rise to prominence during the Gilded Age . For one , the Russell family are partial pedestal - in for the Vanderbilts ; Bertha represents Alva , and her husband George ( Morgan Spector ) is William Kissam Vanderbilt . As new money , the transport and railroad magnate Vanderbilts were not straight off accept into New York City in high spirits guild , but their wealth could not be ignored for long , viaVogue . Caroline Schermerhorn Astor ( Donna Murphy ) and Ward McAllister ( Nathan Lane ) were salient social gatekeepers of the era and also come out as recurring characters in the series .

T. Thomas Fortune ( Sullivan Jones ) , Mamie Fish ( Ashlie Atkinson ) , Carrie Astor ( Amy Forsyth ) , and Stanford White ( John Sanders ) are a few more figures from the clock time period of time who seem inThe Gilded Age . BecauseThe Gilded Ageis more focussed on the high society of NYC rather than a wide - reaching examen of the clip period , there are plenty of significant hoi polloi not act in the series . Susan B. Anthony , Harriet Tubman , J. P. Morgan , William Frederick Cody " Buffalo Bill " , and Andrew Carnegie are just a few of the name calling responsible for for the culture , politics , and economic system of the Gilded Age .

The Gilded Age season one is useable for leverage on Apple TV+ , Google Play , Vudu , and Amazon .

Collage of characters from The Gilded Age in a ballroom and Larry Russell.

Major Advancements Of The Gilded Age

The newfound wealth of the Gilded Age go to many economic , cultural , and technical advancements . From an invention standpoint , the telephone , phonograph , incandescent lightbulb , kodak camera , automobile , and even airplane were all contrive during this time period , viaHistory . Railroads led to the increased interconnectivity of the country and to the riches of many far-famed families of the sentence , like the Vanderbilts , Carnegies , and Morgans . The modern American economic system also arise out of this time period with entrepreneurship and rising wages , a positive , but widening class disparity , a disconfirming , viaDigital History .

labour unions also began to mould around this clock time , withthe National Labor Union being founded on August 20 , 1866 , viaLibrary of Congress . Labor relations , tariffs , the effect of the railway line on community , and the high charge per unit of expatriation from Europe result to political turbulency and drew well-defined lines between the Republican and Democrat party that still continue today .

What Was Happening In the Rest Of The World During The Gilded Age?

While America was experiencing the Gilded Age , other parting of the world had memorable decades of their own . Around the same time , the Victorian Era was happening in England . This was also a time of technical and societal progress that ended at the start of the 20th century . The relief of mainlandEurope know a like time period collectively known as the Belle Époque , or " The Beautiful Era " . It was during this time , after the demolition of the Napoleonic Wars , that graphics and science fly high and country knew proportional peace .

How Well Does HBO’s The Gilded Age Depict The Era?

In terms of costume and set design , The Gilded Agegoes to great lengths to mime how people dressed and how they lived . According to Erica Armstrong Dunbar , the show ’s historical consultant and co - executive producer , " The habiliment that our histrion are wearing , the carriages that they ’re step into , the teacups that they are using , all of this is accurate , " viaSmithsonian Magazine . It is not only how the show see and the historical figures who appear in it that makeThe Gilded Agean precise representation of the time period , it ’s the radical of the series that pose it soundly in the earned run average .

The serial does not shy off from the race and sex divides that still existed despite the strides made in social mores . Women in the serial are often granted some freedoms but still do n’t have near the same rights as the mankind in the show . The situation of Black the great unwashed is also accurately picture . Though thraldom had been made illegal after the Civil War , calamitous people were still treated as inferior in most circle . One graphic symbol from history and the show , T. Thomas Fortune ( Sullivan Jones ) , was born enslaved but rose to become a prominent newsmanbefore exert his weapons platform to defend for the right of other Black citizens .

The Progressive Era Ended The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age eventually came to an end around the head start of the 20th century , when the Progressive Era set out . In some ways , a response to the Gilded Age , the Progressive Era sought to reform the business and political sector that had been infect with waste and corruption , viaLibrary of Congress . Ideas about business regulation , women ’s right hand to vote , preservation , and other popular nonesuch began to become popular and helped lead into the " Roaring Twenties " . The overabundance of the Gilded Age also led to prohibition becoming popular in the United States .

The time menstruation ofThe Gilded Agedid not end with a exclusive , far-famed event as some others in American history did . rather , the surplus and richness of the era proved to be unsustainable . With the average mortal get more wealthiness and access to breeding , reform was eventually call for and the United States enter into a very different point of account in the twentieth century .

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Marion in a yellow dress smiling in The Gilded Age.

Gilded Age Featured

Taissa Farmiga as Gladys and Louisa Jacobson as Marian dressed in white and smiling at each other in The Gilded Age.

Bertha Russell holding George Russell’s arm in The Gilded Age.

Marian Brook and Montgomery smiling at someone off screen in The Gilded Age.

Taissa Farmiga, Carrie Coon, and Donna Murphy among other women in The Gilded Age Season 2

Cynthia Nixon as Ada Brooks smiling at someone in The Gilded Age.

The Gilded Age