Did HBO's The Gilded Age perfectly revisit the true story of Lina Astor's right hand Ward McAllister? Here's what we think

The Gilded Age begins with Marian Brook moving into her aunt, Agnes van Rhijn's, house after her father's demise, and witnessing the conflict between the old-money Rhijn-Brook family and the Russell family, who are new money. Over the seasons, the show has become a reflection of New York's upper-class society during the Gilded Age.

Many of the show's storylines are based on true events, such as the struggles of the Operas we saw in Season 2. Yet another incident of the show that is based on a true event is Ward McAllister's downfall. While he was a respectable and influential figure in society, his own actions led to his downfall in the show, much like it did in reality.

The Gilded Age depicts the real downfall of Ward McAllister

We are introduced to Ward McAllister (played by Nathan Lane) in Season 1 as a respectable member of the elite society in New York, who helps Bertha Russell climb the social ladder. He's also close with Lina Astor, with whom he created the Four Hundred. The Four Hundred included the names of all the elite families of the society. But his reputation suffers immensely when he decides to critique the society of his own creation, in his book, Society as I Have Found It.

In this book, he critiqued the exclusiveness of the elite society and its rigid rules. But what made Mrs. Astor, Bertha, Agnes, Ada, and Mrs. Fish get together and ban Mr. McAllister from society was the way his book spread invaded their privacy and aired their dirty laundry to society. McAllister did not mention the real names of the people he wrote about and used their initials instead. But that gave away their identity anyway. Thus, he went from being a respected member of society to one who was shunned.

Ward McAllister from The Gilded Age is based on a real person who had the same name and belonged to the same era. According to American Aristocracy, the socialite was a close acquaintance of Lina Astor, and as the show depicts, the duo did come up with a social register called the Four Hundred. In 1890, Ward McAllister published Society as I Have Found It, in which he criticized the upper-class society of New York and their affluent lifestyle.

The Gilded Age portrays exactly that, except it dramatizes the situation a little. In reality, Ward McAllister intended to critique the rules and lifestyle of the elite. While the show reflects that intent, it adds to exposing the personal problems of the elite as another social offense committed by McAllister. In the show, we see that the elite are more enraged because people now know that a polished life also has cracks.

In reality, after the publication of his book, Ward McAllister was banned from society and no longer received invitations to social events. He passed away when he was having dinner all by himself at New York's Union Club. We have already seen Ward McAllister getting uninvited from Mrs. Astor's party and then being banned from her house. The show will most likely show us more of how McAllister's own actions led to his downfall in the following season.

The Gilded Age is streaming on HBO Max.

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