A Guide to The Gilded Age Families: the Scotts, van Rhijns, and Russells

The Gilded Age is ultimately a story about society and class, so it’s unsurprising that family ties and marriages are central to the plot. That also means that it can be difficult to sort out who’s who and how they’re all related. As the fourth season continues to gather steam, here’s a guide to all the players in the Scott, van Rhijn, and Russell families.

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The Scotts

Peggy Scott (Denée Benton)

Peggy grew up in a prosperous Black family but has a difficult relationship with her father, a pharmacist who is unhappy with her decision to become a writer. Peggy was previously married and had a son, Thomas, whom she believed was stillborn. She later learns that her father lied to her and that Thomas is alive and living with an adoptive family. She meets Marian Brook when she is traveling home to her family and begins living with the van Rhijn family. Peggy becomes a reporter for the prestigious Black newspaper, the Globe, and writes a novel. She becomes engaged to Dr. Kirkland, a physician from a prominent family who treats her when she is seriously ill.

Arthur Scott (John Douglas Thompson)

Arthur is the father of Peggy and the husband of Dorothy. He was born into slavery but became the successful owner of a pharmacy in Brooklyn. He has a difficult relationship with his daughter.

Dorothy Scott (Audra McDonald)

Peggy’s mother, Dorothy, is a pianist from Maryland who meets her husband in New York City when he saves her from men who were following her. Peggy is her only child.

Thomas Spring

When Peggy learns that Thomas, the son she believed had died, is alive and living in Philadelphia with the Spring family that adopted him, he is 3 years old. Shortly before Peggy finds out about him, Thomas dies from scarlet fever along with his adoptive mother.

William Kirkland (Jordan Donica)

Dr. Kirkland is a physician whom Peggy’s parents bring to treat her when she has a serious respiratory illness. He knew Peggy’s father when he was a child, and Arthur’s pharmacy career inspired him to become a doctor. He and Peggy date and then become engaged at the end of season 3.

Elizabeth Kirkland (Phylicia Rashad)

Mrs. Kirkland, Dr. Kirkland’s mother, is from a wealthy Newport family. She expects her son to marry someone from a more pedigreed family than Peggy, and when she meets Mr. and Mrs. Scott, she treats them poorly, emphasizing her family’s status and Arthur’s former enslavement. She doesn’t approve of Peggy’s political activism.

Frederick Kirkland (Brian Stokes Mitchell)

Dr. Kirkland’s father is a pastor in Newport who grew up in a wealthy and well-known family.

The van Rhijns

Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski)

Agnes is a widow and mother to Oscar. She was married to Arnold van Rhijn, an investment banker from a wealthy, early New York family. She is an aunt to Marian and lives with her sister Ada in a beautiful home on East 61st Street.

Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon)

Ada is a devoted sister to Agnes, whom she lives with, and aunt to Marian and Oscar. When she meets Reverend Luke Forte, they marry quickly, and Ada begins living with him in the church rectory, which upsets the balance between her and Agnes. When her husband dies, Ada unexpectedly inherits a fortune, making her now wealthier than her sister.

Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson)

Marian is the niece of Ada and Agnes, the daughter of their estranged brother. After her father dies, Marian finds out she’s been left no money, and she comes to live with her aunts, from whom she had been estranged. She becomes engaged to the widower Dashiell, who is Agnes’s nephew by marriage and Oscar’s cousin from his father’s side, but she later ends it. She has an on-and-off relationship with Larry Russell, George and Bertha Russell’s son.

Luke Forte (Robert Sean Leonard)

An Episcopal reverend, Luke meets Ada after moving to New York from Boston and assuming a position at the Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas. He dies shortly after marrying Ada, leaving her the textile fortune he inherited from his mother.

Aurora Fane (Kelli O’Hara)

Aurora, who is a major figure on the society scene, is a cousin of Oscar and the niece of Agnes. She becomes close with Marian through their family connections. Aurora is devastated when her husband, Charles, asks for a divorce.

Oscar van Rhijn (Blake Ritson)

Oscar is a banker and the calculating young son of Agnes, who is gay and closeted but eager to marry a wealthy woman. He proposes to Gladys Russell, but he loses interest when he believes her family might go broke. Oscar has a secret relationship with John Adams IV, a descendant of the political family. In season 4, he marries Enid, a widow with a fortune who shares his interest in social climbing.

Enid Turner Winterton van Rhijn (Kelley Curran)

Enid was once a maid for the Russell family, but she was let go after trying to seduce George. Enid reappears in season 2 as the wife of Joshua Winterton, an older man, and inherits his money and his place in society when he dies. When Enid gets to know Oscar, they become close and eventually marry, making her the daughter-in-law of Agnes.

Pumpkin

A Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Pumpkin is the constant companion of Ada. Larry Russell rescues Pumpkin from a scary run-in with a horse.

The Russells

Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon)

Bertha Russell and her husband, George, move to New York City after his work in the railroad industry makes them very wealthy. Bertha is calculating and desperate to be admitted into high-level Manhattan society. She’s eager for her daughter Gladys to marry someone with a pedigreed background. She is also the mother of Larry.

George Russell (Morgan Spector)

Bertha’s husband is a cutthroat, often cruel, railroad magnate with a distaste for union workers but is deeply loving toward his children, Gladys and Larry. He moves out of his home after believing that his wife’s interference in her children’s love lives is inappropriate.

Larry Russell (Harry Richardson)

Bertha and George’s oldest child is an aspiring architect and Harvard grad with a more modern approach to hierarchy and social norms than his mother. He has a flirtation with Marian Brook.

Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga)

Gladys is the overprotected daughter of Bertha and George. Her mother is focused on finding the right kind of husband for Gladys. Gladys is proposed to by Oscar van Rhijn, but her father doesn’t allow her to marry him because he questions Oscar’s intent. Gladys wants to be with Billy Cotton, a man she met at a party, but her mother believes she should be with the Duke of Buckingham, Hector Vere, a royal figure. Gladys marries Hector and lives with him in England. They have a child.

Hector Vere, Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb)

Everyone is atwitter when the fancy Duke of Buckingham visits New York. Though he has royal lineage, he has no money. He marries Gladys, knowing that marrying her will bring him significant wealth.

The Marquess of Sidmouth

The Marquess of Sidmouth is the son of Gladys and Hector. He is their only child.

Lady Sarah Vere (Hattie Morahan)

Sarah is Hector’s sister and lives with him and Gladys in their castle.

Monica O’Brien (Merritt Wever)

Bertha has a tenuous relationship with her sister Monica, whom we first meet when she attends Gladys’s wedding.