in the hands of a better, more radical show runner, season 3 of the gilded age could have been about how marriage as an institution was (and still is) inherently oppressive for women, how the quality of your life was completely in the hands of the man who decided to marry you (“marriage is a gamble” ), and how even the most besotted “wife-guy” still had the power to destroy you socially, emotionally, and financially. this season could have been about how upper class women, dealt a less shitty hand than most, took advantage of this system to protect their daughters socially even if it meant violating their personal autonomy and forcing them into a dangerous situation where they could be legally abused, sexually assaulted etc. it could have been about how even all of bertha and aurora’s wealth and status could not shield them from their own husbands. it could have been about how women like peggy and marian, who have very little material power (one far, far less than the other), are still held to impossible standards and are thus forced to make difficult choices to protect what little social standing they do have. it could have been about how women were only protected by kindness of the men of their family, and that any perceived offense could cause them to be evicted from their own homes. and once again, this season could have been about how marriage is a gamble that is based on the whims of a husband, and that regardless of all of bertha’s planning and love for gladys, there is very little either of them could have done to protect gladys if the duke decided he wanted to exercise his power over her in the domestic sphere (such as pressuring her into sex on their wedding night)
but jfells (in love with and belonging to the british aristocracy) wanted to have his cake and eat it too, which is why we get gladys being in a happy marriage with a well-meaning, kind duke who respects her (because we can’t ever malign the aristocracy in this show), yet somehow bertha is the villain for pushing for this very marriage. we get dr kirkland’s prejudice and missteps being resolved in a grand total of ten minutes without any follow up conversation between him and peggy, and we also get larry having the final word and blaming marian’s justified fears for their failed engagement. i can only imagine that season 4 will begin with the most intense doylist and watsonian defamation campaign against bertha yet. the tory strikes again
