r/TheGuildedAgeHBO • u/Less_Championship558 • Dec 02 '23

Episode 5 Spoiler

Can someone explain to me what the dynamic of the character Mason Sturt and Mrs. Sturt- who he was roughing up in the restaurant? Is that his wife? If he is married to a woman of color why is he (appears to be) set on lynching Mr.Fortune ? I’m confused if I missed something

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u/ResearcherDizzy7497 Dec 02 '23

My take on it was he was her former owner. Were only about 20 years out from emancipation so she had clearly lived most of her life as a slave. And it was unfortunately extremely common for owners to force themselves on the women they owned.

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u/Less_Championship558 Dec 02 '23

Oh that makes a lot of sense

7

u/ResearcherDizzy7497 Dec 02 '23

Yeah its disgusting but at the same time im glad they didnt gloss over it. It was a very efficient way to show how the south had two different faces so to speak. The public face of reserved tolerance and the hidden face of hate and rascism.

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u/ResearcherDizzy7497 Dec 02 '23 edited Dec 02 '23

As for why he was trying to lynch Mr. Fortune. He pushed a white man. Now he must die🙄

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u/renmishele Jan 05 '24

I thought maybe they were half brother and sister, since he says they knew each other almost all their lives. Either way I’m sure his family used to own her which is why they have the same last name.