I have always liked this movie and watch it quite a bit... It just dawned on me that Lady Trentham is completely shocked and mortified when Ivor Nevello talks to her en route... He greets her and says he is William's cousin...Now, doesnt that make him her cousin too?? LOL..Thats how it works.. So why does it appear that they dont know each other?
shareSorry. WRONG. Lady Trentham is William's wife's aunt. William's relatives are Lady Trentham's "connections" not relatives.
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
I see, I thought she was his sister.. Why would he pay her an allowance "for life" if she is not related?
shareOne can only assume it was the result of complicated marital negotiations.
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
Ok thanks for the info.. The character lineage can get confusing and I just thought they were brother and sister.. That clears it up thanks!
shareKey character points for William McCordle are that he may be wealthy and married into the aristocratic upper class, but he comes from the working class with no family credentials, charm, manners, nor ethics.
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
He also hasn't been very lucky at cards.............
shareaGuilySoul - I had a question about Commander Anthony Meredith that you may be able to answer since you have the lineage worked out. I can work out all of it except for... Why, when dining at table, does the Commander's wife, Lavinia, sit next to William across from Lady Trentham, signaling her/their rank ABOVE Lord and Lady Stockbridge? It may not even have be spelled out in the story - but I did think of it while watching Gosford today.
Also, in the servant's hall at dinner, the butler confronts the Stockbridge's maid, who takes her place next to him, and he says, "Since when does a Baroness (Stockbridge) out rank a Countess (Trentham)?" Then the maids shuffle around and the Meredith's maid sits across from Mary, reflecting the upstairs rank. So clearly Stockbridge is a baron but are you aware of what the Merediths are? Certainly the Commander seems to be a Viscount or also an Earl, as was Trentham's husband. Thanks.
A woman's rank never falls below the rank of her birth. She may marry into a higher rank but even if a Lady marries a commoner, she is always a Lady. We don't know the Commander's rank, although we assume he has one to have been a Commander since officers inevitably came from the peerage. However, Lavinia, his wife, would retain her birth rank after her marriage if the Commander's is not higher. However, we also don't know what rank her father had. I believe we only know he was of the peerage, had an estate, three daughters, no money, and has retired to the continent, after surrendering his daughter and his estate to Sir William for a sum of money.
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
Thanks for the reply. It is impossible to work out the Meredith's rank - but it appears Lavinia out ranked Louisa because otherwise William would have had a reason for Louisa to be seated next to him.
Also, thanks for pointing out that a Lady's rank, even when marrying a commoner, remains the same regardless. I didn't know that.
I think that earlier in the film. Elsie (the household maid) mentions to Mary (the Scottish maid) that the Ladies' Sylvia, Louisa, and Lavinia's father (now deceased) was the Earl of "Cartham". He must have been the brother of Countess Trentham.
shareCheck the faq for this film, the internal relation between all participants are explained in some detail there.
But basically, it's all about the money. And the "noble" family of Sylvias marrying into Sir Williams money. He wanted a name and recognition, they wanted money to sustain their lifestyle. Aunt Constance is a sister to either Sylvias father or mother. And she seems to depend on others for money. When Sylvia and William married, some sort of deal was struck that made William pay for all those poor relatives. It was a marriage of convenience, of sort...
Don't think so- lady Trentham is Williams Aunt on his Mother's side, and Ivor was his cousin from his Father's side of the family. She is not William's wife's aunt.
shareSo, tell me? Where is this stated? If you state a contradictory claim in lieu of all the evidence put before you, you have to back up that claim with hard evidence.
To my knowledge, it is never stated anywhere in this film that Aunt Constance should be an aunt to Sir William. What is stated several times, is that Aunt Constance is an aunt to the sisters Sylvia, Louisa, and Lavinia. It is never stated though to which of the parents lord or lady Carton aunt Constance is a sister to.
Thus, there's no conflict in the thought that Aunt Constance had no idea about Ivor Novello, simply because they aren't related. The only relation they have is through Sir William, and that is through marriage and not by blood.
i also think that constance is related to sylvia and not to William. Because sylvia seems to be on good terms with Constance, like they knew each other since childhood. Also Constance knew Sylvia and Louisa cut cards for William, william would not have known this at the time of his wedding.
Besides it is very clear that William is not of noble descent, his mother was a teacher (as we hear Ivor Novello explain to lord Stockbridge). It is higly unlikely that William, son of a teacher, was related to a countess. Let alone that his mother the teacher was the sister of a countess.
What sort of a gestapo officer are you, saying somebody is innocent?
Though actually, they could both be William's relatives without being related to each other. If you have cousins, don't they also have relatives 'on the other side' who are no relation to you? For example: my uncle and his wife had kids, who of course are my cousins. My uncle's wife (who is my aunt by marriage) had family, too, of course, who would be my cousins' grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc. All those people are related to my cousins, but they're no relation to me. All of them may be complete strangers to me and could reasonably introduce themselves as "So-and-so's aunt [or whatever]," and I could say "So-and-so is my cousin"--but we're still not related.
shareSylvia refers to her as Aunt Constance at one point.
shareYes, you can have relatives that are not blood relations. The example given above about aunts and uncles is an example. We all refer to the spouses of our mother's and father's siblings as "aunt" or "uncle" even though they are no blood relation.
But I don't call the 1st cousins of my 1st cousins "cousin". I don't even recall if I've met any, but I might have.
Consider the parents of your 1st cousins. One will be a blood relative, the other the spouse (whom you will nevertheless also address as aunt or uncle). Now consider the siblings of that aunt or uncle by marriage. Their children will be 1st cousins to your 1st cousins, but nothing to you.