Gentleman Jack: a revolutionary — and real — love story
THIS ARTICLE HAS SPOILERS
You might have already heard conservatives saying that “being gay is now fashionable” and that “there wasn’t those things back in my days”. Bullshit. There have been LGBTQ people since humans started walking on Earth. There seemed to be less LGBTQ individuals in the past because they lived closeted, in fear and unable to be their true selves. That’s why the few LGBTQ people who decided to live unapologetically must be celebrated: after all, they usually played a very high price for being themselves. One of those people is Anne Lister, who in the first half of the 19th century lived freely and loved women. Anne’s diaries, whenever they mentioned her lesbian relationships, were written in code, a code that was only deciphered ninety years after Anne’s death. Her diaries served as inspiration for the BBC and HBO series “Gentleman Jack”.
The series tells the love story between Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle). Miss Walker fell in love with Miss Lister the moment she looked at her, and Miss Lister realized that she was the object of her desire even before Miss Walker could understand her own feelings and express them with words.
Anne and Ann are past their “expiration dates” — meaning that there are no hopes for them to get married. Anne Lister is 41, Ann Walker is 29. The age difference is the least of their issues. It’s 1832 and these are hard times. Kind of. Many people mention that two men had been hanged in the city of York accused of “unnatural acts” — that is, being homosexual. Miss Lister says they have nothing to fear: back then, homosexual males were targeted by the law, while homosexual females were simply ignored. Of course, they were silently — and sometimes not so silently — judged by society and given the usual sermon that they wouldn’t go to Heaven because of their behavior.
While Miss Walker faces the judgement of people she knows, Miss Lister finds only support in her family. Her sister Marian (Gemma Whelan), her aunt and father want to see her happy and support her idea of having Ann Walker as her lifelong companion. It’s refreshing to see this support, as LGBTQ-themed shows are often full of hardships for the main couple.
Ann Walker has many cousins, who are only interested in her money, and a sister, Elizabeth (Katherine Kelly), who lives in Scotland. Elizabeth has an unhappy marriage and is fed up with her children. Elizabeth’s husband tells her that Ann should get married and have her own children, so she won’t spend so much time “thinking about herself”. To this absurd, Elizabeth stands up and replies that giving birth doesn’t erase one’s life problems. This is, unfortunately, the only time Elizabeth is the voice of reason.
In the fifth episode of season one, Miss Lister has a beautiful monologue about how she has always loved women and how God made her like this — therefore, for her, to lie down with a man would be going against her God-given nature. At this moment, Miss Walker is having doubts and even considering to get married only to keep up with appearances.
Episodes five and six of season one are particularly sad, with Miss Lister being assaulted on the way home and called a “Jack” — a pejorative term for lesbian used back then — , and later there is her conversation with Miss Walker in which she says that it has become natural for her accepting herself, but she understands that people can’t accept her — even though Miss Walker has come close to doing so.
Besides the love story, Miss Lister has something else to worry about: her business. In Halifax, she has the Shibden Hall estate, many rented houses and cottages and a coal mine she wants to start exploring again. The Rawson brothers, Christopher Rawson (Vincent Franklin) in particular, have been stealing from her coal mine and she wants this to stop. With the spreading of railroads, Anne has the opportunity to become a real businesswoman in the coal industry.
Parallel to Anne Lister’s story there are the stories of her servants and tenants. We have, for instance, her new French maid Eugénie (Albane Courtois), who, in season one, is pregnant with a child fathered by Anne’s deceased fiancé. Eugénie tries to drink all the rum she can to induce an abortion, but her plan fails. Right after accepting a marriage proposal from another of Anne’s servants, John Booth (Thomas Hawes), Eugénie has a miscarriage. This breaks John’s heart, especially because Eugénie starts flirting with another new servant.
There is also the Sowden family, whose son, Thomas (Tom Lewis), kills the abusive patriarch of the family and feeds him to the pigs. Thomas has a noble character, but his humble origins are an obstacle to his romance with Suzannah Washington (Amy James-Kelly).
In season two, the main obstacles to Anne and Ann’s happiness are the Walker family, especially Ann’s old spinster aunt, and the presence of Anne’s former lover Mariana (Lydia Leonard). Mariana calls Anne her “Freddy” and is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who doesn’t even give her attention. Nevertheless, Mariana believes she can “read between the lines” in Anne’s relationship with Ann and give the verdict that Anne is not in love.
Also in season two, there is more focus on Anne’s business, especially the coal mines. There is also political turmoil, and mind you, women still didn’t have the right to vote back then — something that doesn’t prevent Anne from getting involved in the elections.
All the episodes of the first season of “Gentleman Jack” were directed by women. In season two, however, most episodes were directed by men. The relationship between Anne and Ann was already established and stable by the end of the first season, so season two focused more on Anne’s business, as well as Ann’s attempt to summon her sister to divide their properties. With this change of focus, with only Mariana serving as a threat for the main couple, the series lost steam and interest.
“Gentleman Jack” was the pejorative way Anne Lister was referred to by the inhabitants of Halifax. By naming the series “Gentleman Jack”, creator Sally Wainwright reclaims the term, giving it a positive meaning, especially through the song in the closing credits. The song was actually composed in 2012 by the folk duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow, who are also a couple in real life. The second verse of the song, one that does not appear during the closing credits, is the one that best describes Anne Lister:
Proud and stout ‘nd full of clout
She played the fellas at their game
Sharp of mind, she’s one of a kind
Devilish ways the men couldn’t tame
As “Gentleman Jack” ended without a proper ending, we celebrate Ann Lister and her enormous courage as in an obituary:
“Anne Lister died in 1840, at age 49, surrounded by her loved ones — including Ann Walker”.
