“The opera is where society puts itself on display,” claims Bertha Russell, one of the main protagonists in season two of HBO’s The Gilded Age.
New York, where the show is set, was at the centre of the era of late 19th-century American history from which the programme takes its name. The Gilded Age was a period of marked economic growth and development during which many American cities, particularly New York, rapidly industrialised.
Individuals and families who made their money through these developments quickly came into conflict with those with inherited wealth. The Gilded Age’s second series highlights how these clashes manifested in the arts. Both Bertha and George Russell, desperate for societal acceptance, provide considerable support to the newly established Metropolitan Opera House, an emerging rival to old money’s Academy of Music.
