I
was intrigued by the idea of Gentleman
Jack when I first heard the series was being created, since I love
historical LGBTQ stuff, and Suranne Jones has had my fealty since she played
the TARDIS in “The Doctor’s Wife.” But man oh man, do I love Anne on Gentleman Jack. A great character to
scratch my costume drama itch in a way that I’ve rarely seen before (some
spoilers.)
Anne
Lister, a well-to-do young woman living in Victorian Yorkshire, assumes the
running of her aunt’s estate, which she is due to inherit. Both her aunt and her
father are ailing, and Anne takes it upon herself to be the head of her
household, particularly where business is concerned. She thoroughly confuses
the residents of Halifax by dealing with her tenants directly and undertaking a
venture to sink her own coal pits when she realizes that the men she’s
contracted to handle it for her have been skimming. No one there is used to
women who talk about money or get their hands dirty, certainly not women who
aren’t easily manipulated or flattered into backing down. Anne’s bluntness and
ambition is hard for them to wrap their heads around.
On
this front, I very much like that Anne has a definite learning curve to deal
with. Yes, the men she approaches in business often underestimate her, but that
doesn’t mean she never makes mistakes or that she’s always as self-assured as
she presents herself. She takes both pride and pleasure in the great time and
effort she spends learning new skills, from her studies of anatomy abroad to
her crash course in the coal industry from a local advisor. She can be reckless
and her gambles don’t always pay off, but she’s always prepared to put in the
work needed to make what she feels is the soundest choice.
Of
course, her boldness and business acumen aren’t the only things that turn heads
wherever she goes. Anne is also a lesbian, one who wears skirts in the most
masculine fashion possible and whose romantic exploits are widely whispered
about in Halifax and beyond. Anne is lively and gregarious, often acquiring
both lovers and casual friends on her extensive travels, but she also knows how
some view her as a curiosity to be displayed and wondered at.
Most
of her lovers leave her when they marry, and even for those who keep seeing her
on the side, Anne knows the real score. She dreams of having a wife, a companion
to take back to her manor house with her, and in her low moments, she regards
her married lovers as cowards for giving into the societal expectation of
marriage with men. But while it’s true that she is brave to live pretty openly as herself, she also has the benefit
of being the heir to the family estate, financial independence that can allow
her to make her own way in the world. And she knows that it isn’t just her own strength of character that
keeps her forging her own path. Her lovers can blend into what society says
women should be, how how they’re meant to look, but Anne has never been able to
do that. She admits to Miss Walker that, if women were punished for
homosexuality the way that men were, she would be condemned because she’d be
incapable of hiding.
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