Photo: HBO/ Karolina Wojtasik
Then, there’s the matter of seeking a divorce, something that more than one character grapples with this season. No-fault divorce didn’t exist in America until the 1960s, making a legal separation in the late 19th century, when The Gilded Age is set, almost impossible to secure—no matter how unhappy (or monied) the union.
But even when a split could be legally granted, singledom was arguably worse. A taboo, divorce carried the risk of social ostracization—and for women without careers, society was all they had. When Alva Vanderbilt (the loose inspiration for Coon’s Bertha Russell) divorced William K. Vanderbilt in 1895 on the grounds of adultery, she found herself shunned from the very circles that she had once ruled; it was only after marrying Oliver Beaumont a year later that she regained her footing.
And at least Alva received a lump sum of money from her ex-husband. There were few to no legal protections for women during the Gilded Age, and most didn’t have access to their own bank accounts, let alone enough cash for a quality lawyer. “A working-class divorce was out of the question. You just didn’t have the money to do it,” says Fellowes.