(Warning: Spoilers for Season 2 ofThe Greatahead)
Hulu’sThe Great’s self-purported “occasionally true” approach has left the writers free to reimagine the life of the real Catherine the Great in new and entertaining ways. Catherine’s ascension to the throne is greatly (ha ha) accelerated in the series, and has Catherine (Elle Fanning) enacting a coup on her husband within her first year of their marriage.
The series’s historical inaccuracy may rile some history buffs, but my advice to viewers is to let go of the facts and just enjoy the ride. The purpose of this article is not to challenge the writer’s approach, but to provide some fun facts on the true historical basis of the series.Elle Fanning(20th Century Women) andNicholas Hoult(The Favourite, also written by showrunnerTony McNamara) lead a talented cast of characters, some of which are based on real historical figures.
The choice not to follow historical events too closely makes for the sort of entertaining, fast-paced tone McNamara does very well. The spirit of the real Catherine’s legacy remains intact; her endorsements of things like women’s education, art,science, and inoculation inform and motivate much of the characters’ actions on the show. By capturing all of this and skipping over the duller parts of bureaucracy and monarchy, the series is a very entertaining watch.
The Coup’s Length
Season 2 ofThe Greatpicks up four months after the events of the Season 1 finale. Catherine’s coup against her husband Peter is still going, and the two sides have reached a bit of a stalemate. Catherine’s side is winning, but Peter remains safely holed up inside the palace, where he continues to do what he’s best at: drink, party, and evade death.
In real life, the coup lasted somewhere around a week or two. Rather than waking up and deciding that she wanted Russia for her birthday as she does on the show, one of her co-conspirators was caught by Peter. This forced Catherine and her allies to act quickly. The real coup had much more time to be planned and grown, whereas the series shows its planning and execution taking place over the span of roughly one year.
RELATED:Gillian Anderson on ‘The Great' Season 2, Why She Wanted to Be Part of the Series, and Filming the Slapping Scene
Just like in the show, Catherine and Peter’s first child was a son they named Paul. While there has been much debate over whether Paul was truly Peter’s son by blood in real life, the series makes this a bit more clear by introducing Catherine’s lover in season 1 as being “appropriate” because of his infertility.
Both on the show and in reality, Catherine and Peter’s aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow) was very invested in the two producing heirs. Bromilow’s Elizabeth cares because she swore to protect the family line, but the real Elizabeth had slightly different motivations.
In real life, Elizabeth was herself empress of Russia when Catherine first married Peter. Peter didn’t ascend to the throne until his aunt’s death in 1762, when he had already been married to Catherine for seventeen years. It was Elizabeth who requested that Catherine refrain from taking any lovers until she had produced an heir that would ensure the continuation of her line.
Peter’s Love for Catherine
Peter’s love for Catherine is a major plot point of Season 2. Instead of hating his wife for usurping his throne, the coup only makes Peter love her more (same here, man). After abdicating,The Great’s Peter plans to make Catherine return his feelings, and eventually ceases to care much about ruling Russia at all. Their romance, aided by the chemistry between Fanning and Hoult, is one of the most surprising and satisfying developments on the show.
The real marriage between Catherine and Peter wasn’t quite so romantic. According to written accounts by Catherine herself, her distaste for her husband never grew into a passionate love. Peter seemed to have felt similarly, as both he and his wife took lovers throughout their marriage (which led to Peter’s questioning of his children’s true parentage).
Catherine and Elizabeth
One of the best (and most surprising) relationships on the show is that between Catherine and Elizabeth. McNamara takes the skill in writing female relationships he demonstrated inThe Favouriteand applies it to the way he writes Catherine’s friendships with Elizabeth and Murial. Elizabeth does what all good aunt-besties should, supporting Catherine in everything from enacting a coup on her nephew to eating dirt. That’s a real one.
The real Elizabeth was also quite fond of her niece, though probably didn’t feed her dirt or put frogs on her stomach. Catherine’s efforts to integrate herself into the Russian court endeared her to her aunt, who cared for her niece despite her distaste for her mother Johanna.
Educating Girls
The Greatpays attention to the one historically accurate element that matters most: Catherine’s values and beliefs that define her character and her vision for Russia. In Season 2, one of the first things Catherine does is to open a school for the female children of Russian nobles. The real Catherine the Great also made education available to young women and girls, starting with the daughters of noble families and eventually expanding opportunities to non-nobles.
Both the real and fictionalized Catherine valued a Western European approach to education. Unlike the show, however, it is highly unlikely that a woman was hired to teach the young women subjects like philosophy, science, and literature. Most historical accounts list the names of men Catherine worked with on educational reform, but it is also possible that the names of any women involved have been left out of these accounts.
The Imperial Crown of Russia
Season 2 ofThe Greatfeatures a small but surprisingly accurate detail in Episode 2, which features Catherine’s coronation. The Imperial Crown of Russia was created especially for this occasion, and to this day remains one of the most valued historical objects in Russian history, having graced the heads of every monarch to follow Catherine until the abolition of the Russian monarchy in 1917.
Peter’s Fondness for Dancing
The real Peter was known for being rather intellectually stunted, as well as for being hedonistic in appetite.The Greattakes this and runs with it, giving Nicholas Hoult the opportunity to flex his comedic talents in his portrayal of the former Russian emperor. One historical story in particular claims that Peter would come into Catherine’s room in the middle of the night to “entertain” her by playing music and dancing.
The Greatuses this to heighten the humor and romance in Season 2. Peter spends much of his confinement failing to learn how to play the violin, and showing his love for parties at any chance he gets. While visiting Peter’s room one night, Peter surprises Catherine by asking her to dance with him. This winds up being an utterly adorable and romantically charged scene that nudges Catherine one step closer to realizing her love for her charmingly idiotic husband.
Joanna’s Character
Season 2 ofThe Greatintroduces Catherine’s mother Joanna, played byGillian Anderson(The Crown). While the series shows her being a terrible mother, cruel and uncaring to her daughter, historical accounts suggest that the real Joanna may have been even worse. In Season 2, Joanna arrives to visit her daughter and promptly tries to have sex with her husband. She succeeds and dies in the process by falling out of Peter’s window.
The real Joanna’s cruelty makes this act not much of a stretch. She allegedly disliked Catherine so much that she let her brother display his physical attraction to her underage daughter. She also tried to integrate herself into the Russian court, as seen on the show. However, the real Joanna never lived to see her daughter’s ascension to the throne (and didn’t die by falling from a window ledge).
