Who Was the Real Mrs. Astor of HBO’s The Gilded Age?

HBO’s The Gilded Age has introduced a lot of power players from history throughout its first two episodes, but the one I want to focus on this week is the enigmatic Mrs. Astor.

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (two New York City subway stops for last names), was born into New York money and, throughout her life, would cultivate a name that was associated with class.

Caroline married William Backhouse Astor Jr. at Trinity Church (which is still up and running in FiDi), and with Astor’s money and Caroline’s pedigree, they became a power couple.

Following the Civil War, as the culture of New York was slowly starting to change, Mrs. Astor (along with Ward McAllister, who will show up in the series later) decided to create a standard for behavior and etiquette. She and those she favored were meant to be the holders of old money and, with it, old traditions.

The Four Hundred, as they would come to be known, ran New York society, led by Astor. It was always hinted that 400 was the number of people who could fit in her ballroom. It was an aristocracy just as insular and incestuous as the British one—well, slightly less, but close enough.

While only playing a minor role in the show thus far, whenever Mrs. Astor is mentioned or shows up, there is a weight to her very presence—and not just because she is played by one of the queens of the stage, Donna Murphy.

When Mr. Russell buys out an event in order to shame the women who hurt his wife’s feelings, we see that despite all her airs, Mrs. Astor does appreciate the reality of what money means in this city.

One of the families that the Russells could be an analogue for is the Vanderbilts (yes, the family that gave us Anderson Cooper and Timothy Olyphant), a real-life new money family that got rich in the railroads.

Because Mrs. Astor saw railroad money as “dirty,” she never accepted the Vanderbilts into her ballroom until Alva Belmont, wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt, forced her hand by throwing a dress ball. Eventually, Mrs. Astor was forced to let Alva into the group, acknowledging it was her time.

If there is an endgame for Carrie Coon’s Bertha Russell, this is likely it. How long will it take her to get it? Well that’s the fun of watching.

As for Mrs. Astor, she remained the leader of the New York social scene until her death, and while some of her homes no longer exist anymore, her legacy has still been made permanent, not only in all of the streets that bear her family names, but also the cenotaph of her that is in small Trinity Church cemetery in New York City.

(featured image: HBO)

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