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The Gilded Age mixes fact with fiction, but does it always do it faithfully? While the HBO series does take upon a fair share from history, it often reshapes said events/people, along with timelines to fit its dramatized world.
The result? A story that feels real, but one that isn't always true. So, how much freedom does The Gilded Age really take with historical facts and figures?
Here are five surprising moments where the show rewrote the past, and somehow made it work on screen.
Here are 5 times that The Gilded Age bent the truth:
1) George Russell’s strike story skips over the violence
In The Gilded Age, George Russell tries to handle a steelworkers' strike with a calm head and a generous offer.
He visits the union leader, Bill Henderson, personally, and he is the one who calls off the troops before any violence breaks out. He even offers temporary perks to workers. It paints him as a reasonable businessman who puts off the chaos around him with logic and care.
But this plot was inspired by the 1892 Homestead Strike, which was far bloodier. The real-life version involved harsh crackdowns, gunfire, and loss of life. The show leaves out the brutality that actually defined these labor disputes, softening the reality for a more comfortable watch.
2) The servants' lives are shown in a polished light
The Gilded Age paints a picture of life in the "Downstairs", but the truth was far grittier than what was depicted on screen. Historically, domestic workers back then endured intense manual labor. Yet, instead of exploring their difficulties, the show often shifts focus to their employers.
Historically, servants were tied to their bosses, often in unfair ways. Even well into the twentieth century, despite claims of growing equality, many domestic workers still had little power.
Traditional live-in roles gave way to casual jobs like nannies or cleaners, often without legal protections. Workers faced social judgment, job insecurity, and in many cases, no real recourse if dismissed without a reference. For young women, migrants, and orphans, especially, these jobs could be isolating and harsh.
The show may have spotlighted the elegance upstairs, but the real story downstairs was far more difficult and rarely acknowledged.
3) Mrs. Astor’s opera drama is more fiction than fact
The clash between Mrs. Astor and Bertha Russell over the opera world makes for gripping television, but it's not quite how things unfolded. Mrs. Astor's loyalty to the Academy of Music was real, and yes, the elite families did shun the upstart Metropolitan Opera at first.
But The Gilded Age mixes reality with invention by drawing from the famous feud between Caroline Astor and Alva Vanderbilt. While Astor did eventually give in and attend the Met, the timeline and character dynamics are changed.
The emotional tension, personal rivalries, and final acceptance make for a good story, just not an accurate one.
4) Peggy Scott’s position is a stretch
Peggy Scott is a smart, capable character in The Gilded Age, and her storyline is powerful. But her job as Agnes van Rhijn's secretary doesn't reflect how things worked back then.
A wealthy white woman hiring a Black secretary in 1882 would've been extremely rare. Even the show's historian has said it likely wouldn't have happened. Peggy's school activism also borrows from real figures like Sarah Garnet, who fought to keep schools for Black students open.
But the show adjusts the timeline and mixes multiple events for storytelling. It uplifts Peggy's journey, but the real picture was much more complex.
5) The Duke isn’t who he seems to be
In Season 2, The Gilded Age brought in the Duke of Buckingham as a possible match for Gladys Russell.
He's young, charming, and a sign of success for Bertha's ambitions. But here's the catch: the real duke would have been in his sixties at the time. He was widowed and didn't remarry until later.
The version we see is a fictionalized twist, aged down for drama and possibly romance. It's not unusual for period dramas to play around with timelines or ages, but in this case, the adjustment is a big one that completely reshapes the historical figure.
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The Gilded Age may draw from real events, but it bends facts to fit its story. From softening harsh truths to blending characters, the show reshapes history for drama. It might not be accurate, but it keeps audiences watching and guessing.
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