Bridget is a maid for the van Rhijn family. She carries the combined duties of a housemaid, kitchen maid, and lady's maid. She is an immigrant to the United States from Ireland, and is a hard-working girl with a troubled past.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Bridget was born in Ireland. She was sexually abused by her father, and resented her mother the most for doing nothing to stop what was happening to her. When she emigrated to the United States and started working as a maid to the van Rhijn family, she believed it was the first time that she had truly known kindness. She began to view the cook, Mrs. Bauer, as a mother figure.[1]
Season 1[]
Bridget is uncomfortable when Peggy Scott stays at the house as the guest of Marian Brook, Mrs. Van Rhijn's orphaned niece. She expresses concern about sharing the same water with a Black woman, and complains about African-Americans "stealing [white people's] jobs."[2]
When Bridget finds Mrs. Bauer very upset in the kitchen, she asks her what is wrong, but the cook declines to tell her what is wrong. She works with Peggy and Marian to discover that Bauer is fifty dollars in debt. The issue is settled when Marian is able to get Ada to settle Bauer's debt.[3]
The footman, Jack, asks Bridget to the theater, and she eventually accepts, with Bannister reluctantly arranging for them to have the same evening off, but that they must be back at ten o'clock. Bridget has also warmed to Peggy, and is enthusiastic when she learns that The Christian Advocate wants to publish some of her short stories. Bridget is entertained at the theater, but brushes off Jack when he tries to put her arm around her. She is insistent that they must return to the house by ten instead of going for ice cream as he suggests, and does not want him to hold her hand.[4]
After Bridget's night out with Jack, she begins to brush him off when he tries to talk to her. Jack asks what he has done wrong, but Bridget says that it is nothing. Mrs. Bauer tells her that she cannot have a love life if she acts the way she does, and offhandedly says that Bridget's own mother would agree with her, upsetting Bridget. At night, Mrs. Bauer enters Bridget's room, and asks what has upset her. Bridget does not want to talk about her past at first, but eventually ends up confessing it to the cook, wanting to "get it out". Mrs. Bauer is shocked, and embraces Bridget, doing all she can to console her.[1]
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Gilded Age, season 1 episode 4: "A Long Ladder"
- ↑ The Gilded Age, season 1 episode 1: "Never The New"
- ↑ The Gilded Age, season 1 episode 2: "Money Isn't Everything"
- ↑ The Gilded Age, season 1 episode 3: "Face The Music"