pensiveSo, about Jezebel Disraeli and Cassandra Gladstone, and... the other Disraeli and Gladstone. Am I the only one who finds Kaori Yuki's choice of last names for these two very intriguing? Given that irl Gladstone and Disraeli were political rivals, it works
To wit: irl Disraeli was charismatic and seen as somewhat frivolous and decadent; Crehador has a scornful attitude toward Cassandra for similar reasons. While Jezebel is apparently charismatic (at least, when he wants to be) and definitely pretty, he's not... frou-frou per se, certainly not in the way Cassandra is. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder what Jezebel's actual standard of living even is. Does Daddy pay the bills for him, or does he have a private practice somewhere in which he, you know, doesn't murder his patients?
Disraeli had close ties with the Queen, but also wanted the support of the common people; one of his means of achieving this was to support brewing interests. That being said, he was definitely conscious of class differences. Likewise, Cassandra makes a show of giving to the poor
On the other hand, irl Gladstone was seen as much more dour and serious; he was also extremely devout. He would whip himself when he felt that he had sinned. Aside from the whipping part, which is... yeah, we already know that's you, Jezebel.... I do actually think that by his own standards Jezebel is extremely moral. Granted, it's not a morality shared by anyone else. (Fortunately.) But it does exist. And he's very serious-minded about it. Furthermore, Jezebel also definitely does have religious connections. I'm ambivalent as to whether I think he actually believes much of anything, but he
Also, just going by political platform, Disraeli was a conservative, Gladstone a liberal. While it's really hard to say for sure, given that most of his views come from Crazy World rather than any political grouping that has ever actually existed, Jezebel does to some extent seem rather more liberal* to me. *In, of course, the sense that liberal was meant in the 19th century, not that of today. There are definitely a lot of things that don't match and/or that we just don't know Jezebel's views on, but something about the way he approaches things does remind me of the perfectionistic/utopian origins of some strands of liberalism. I can more confidently say that Cassandra definitely seems conservative.
At any rate, they both do seem to correspond to the main groups supporting each party. Gladstone is clearly an aristocrat; Jezebel, in spite of his noble background, is also a doctor, and therefore I can see him as more of a representative of the (liberal) middle class. (Anyway, as I said above, we don't know if Jezebel's getting any family money or not. He doesn't really seem to be living an aristocratic lifestyle, at least not that we see.)
Therefore. Jezebel = Gladstone, Cassandra = Disraeli. Y/Y?
Surely someone's done a more thorough meta of all this, right?
Also, it just occurred to me this morning, and has been bothering me ever since: Disraeli. Disraeli. Holy fuck, is Jezebel Jewish? Or, rather, part Jewish? Given the severe religious overtones of everything that happens in this series, is that meant to mean something?
