BBC One period drama Gentleman Jack, penned by BAFTA winner Sally Wainwright, is in full swing.
Based on the the real Anne Lister’s diaries, Gentleman Jack season 2 follows Anne Lister and Ann Walker (played by Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle) as the couple prepare to live together at Shibden Hall and combine their estates following their commitment to each other at the end of season 1.
However, it’s far from wedding bliss for the couple in season 2, with the dramatic return of Anne’s scorned lover Mariana Lawton (Lydia Leonard) threatening to put their romance to the test.
After dozens of emotionally charged letters between the pair, Gentleman Jack season 2 episode 4, which aired tonight (1st May), saw Anne pay Mariana a visit – with disastrous consequences.
But what happened between Anne and Mariana in real-life?
Read on to find out how much Anne’s relationship with Mariana on screen is based on fact, and how much is an embellished version of the diary entries. But be warned: spoilers for the full series follow below.
Did Anne Lister cheat on Ann Walker with Mariana?
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In Gentleman Jack season 2, we see Anne starting to have doubts – is Ann too boring, too insipid for her?
This is indeed based in fact. While it was in many ways a good match, Anne and Ann couldn’t have been more different.
Anne was fiercely intelligent and an avid traveller and, by the time Anne met Ann in 1832, she had lived many lives, and loved many women.
After visiting Crow Nest in 1833, Lister wrote of Walker in her diary: “I never saw such a hope¬less person in my life. ‘How miserable,’ said I to myself, ‘Thank God my own mind’s not like hers.’”
However, Anne Lister made it clear early on in her relationship with Ann that she was after loyalty and long-term commitment and, while Mariana did try to tempt Anne, she did not break her oath to Ann, as Suranne Jones’ Anne does in season 2, episode 4 of the show.
It was actually during a week-long visit to Shibden in November 1836 that Mariana tried to seduce Anne – two years after Ann had moved into Shibden Hall.
In Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister, Anne Choma writes of the visit: “At first Mariana was shocked at just how settled Anne and Ann were as a couple. Occasionally she tried to tempt Anne with an ‘open-lipped’ kiss but Anne resisted, refusing all intimacy. ‘The fact is,’ said Anne, when Mariana left to return to Lawton Hall, ‘I am not sorry she is gone.’”
And that was that. Anne and Ann lived a happy and settled life together, with Anne keeping Mariana and her other former lovers at a distance.
What happened between Anne Lister and Mariana Lawton?
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Anne met Mariana Belcombe in 1813 when she was 23 years old and Mariana was 24.
It was the most passionate of all of Anne’s affairs, and lasted 16 or 17 years but, despite Anne’s hopes they could ‘marry’, Mariana caved and married a man – 56-year-old widower Charles Lawton – for economic stability.
The newly-named Mariana Lawton continued to have an affair with Anne even after her marriage, with frequent visits between the pair and echoes of old love remaining a common theme in their correspondence.
But their relationship was also fraught with the pain of their romantic history, and Anne began to hope that someone else would appear with whom she could build a future together.
“I always look on the bright side. My conviction is strengthened that all things work together for the good,” Anne wrote in her diary following Mariana’s marriage.
By 1830 (well before Anne met Ann in 1832), writes Choma in her biography of Anne’s life, Anne’s feelings towards Mariana “had changed irrevocably” as she started to cultivate new and more exciting connections with women of higher ranks.
Read more: Gentleman Jack season 2 review – Suranne Jones is back with gusto
Gentleman Jack season 2 airs Sundays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Gentleman Jack season 1 is also available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer.
Looking for something else to watch? Take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage or check out our TV Guide to find out what is on television this week.
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