Why did Phineas waste so much time on Laura and Violet when Madame Max was there with what he needed--a woman who loved him and was willing to marry him?
Both Laura and Violet toyed with Phineas, why did he put up with them???
Phineas was quite the ladies man... I guess he liked to be toyed with.
Arthur (1981)
Susan: Arthur, take my hand.
Arthur: But that would only leave you with one!
Can anyone tell me who played Madam Max Goesler in the series?
shareBarbara Murray played Madame Max. The full cast listing is posted at
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0668935/
Phineas courted Lady Laura (Anna Massey)until she married nasty Mr. Kennedy for his money and position, then turned to Violet(Mel Martin)all while Madame Max was a consort of the Old Duke, and Phineas just had a girlfriend, Mary, back in Ireland. It wasn't until Mary got PREGNANT, and he knew he had to marry her, did Madame Max, Marie offer first her money to him, then her hand. He hurt her by saying he couldn't accept either, and he couldn't explain why (to protect his girlfriend's reputation). Phineas was a lady's man, but he was a gentleman and good enough to always do the Right Thing, which is probably why Marie loved him. Does this help?
shareAnd Madame Max was Jewish - that also wasn't done in those days by any man with political/social ambitions.
Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.
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The show used all the stereotypes that are used to denote someone who is Jewish; they meant to portray her as Jewish. And Judaism is not a race.
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Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.
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That's not race, that's Jewish law, which states that if your mother is Jewish, so are you. If it were racial, the father's religion would count, and it does not. I have, however, pointed out what the signs were.
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Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.
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I'm not so sure that is true. I think that is jewish tradition. Somewhere i read that even the some jews have ignored the law denoting jewish birth, relying on the mothers status instead since that is considered more reliable in a world without paternity tests.
I'd like if someojne can verify that.
You are quite mistaken, start to finish:
http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=318
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Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.
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Victorians had some issues with anti-semitism, but the Queen and Prince Albert, after some early doubts, both esteemed Bejamin Disreali. Disreali was Victoria's favorite prime minister. The Stuarts, as well as the Hanoverians (Victoria's father and uncles), all had positive relationships with their Jewish subjects. Aside from Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, whose pro-Nazi views became notorious, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas and the Mountbatten-Windsors all maintained those pro-Jewish policies. Edward VII, from his days as Prince of Wales, maintained an intimate friendship with the Rothschilds.
The upper classes (titled and untitled) depicted in The Pallisers indeed held many decided views about class, religion and status; however, there were exceptions to the rule. No group or time period is monolithic; there will always be those who are open to anyone, as long as that person shows strength of character.
Put puppy mills out of business: never buy dogs from pet shops!
Good analysis.
shareI am sorry but i did not like Phineas. He seemed he was always whining about something. It was always woe is me, i can't do this or i can't do that.
Don't get me wrong i love the whole series. But for some reason Phineas really got on my nerves.
"The show used all the stereotypes that are used to denote someone who is Jewish; they meant to portray her as Jewish."
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Yes she is described, even in the novels as a "rich Jewish adventuress", the widow of a Viennese banker, or as a "wealthy Jewess".
I noted that Barbara Murray either chose to, or was directed to play her with a "Jewish accent". With which other Jewish stereotypes would you say this production portrayed the character? I'm not saying it isn't so, I'm merely curious to hear your impressions.
In the later television adaptation of Trollope's "The Way We Live Now", for the character of Madame Melmotte, an actress with dark hair and eyes was chosen, presumably to hammer home her "Jewishness" despite the fact that the novel stated she was atypically fair (blonde). David Suchet as Melmotte was endowed with many "Jewish" traits although the character's faith is a mystery throughout the novel and the series. This didn't stop the production from stressing his "Jewishness" in stereotypical manner of speech, attitude and even filming him from angles that brought to mind the old antisemitic propaganda films of Germany in the '30's.
I saw none of this, however in "The Palliser's" treatment of Mme Max Goesler.
I never thought that Madame Max had a "Jewish" accent. I thought it was more of a generic German accent. That made sense to me considering she was from Vienna. That accent did not sound remotely like someone who spoke Yiddish (I have met people whose first language is Yiddish, and they do not sound like Madame Max).
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Yep, sounded generic German, certainly not a Billy Crystal Miracle Max accent.
shareActually, she was introduced to viewers as a Jewess. Barrington Erle refers to her as a Jewess when he explains who she is at one of the gatherings (I think he was speaking to Plantagenet, and/or Dolly Longstaffe?). I can't recall exactly to whom he was speaking, but I know for certain it was Barrington Erle who referred to her as a Jewess.
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