Gentleman Jack episode 4 live stream: Watch online

HBO’s new period drama Gentleman Jack continues tonight. Here’s everything you need to know to watch “Most women are dull and stupid” online.

HBO period drama Gentleman Jack continues this week, as we all get ready for whatever the fallout from a nosy neighbor walking in on a, shall we say, somewhat heated moment between Anne and Ann might turn out to be.

And it must be something, right?

For all that Gentleman Jack portrays Anne Lister’s sexuality – and her openness about it – in an extremely positive light, the fact of the matter is that the time period she lived in would have been extremely unaccepting of it.

Being gay just wasn’t something people could do. This is part of the reason that Anne’s life is so extraordinary. Not only was she a lesbian, she was fairly frank about her preference for women and engaged in a long string of semi-public relationships.

Granted, she wasn’t exactly leading the Halifax Pride Parade, but she didn’t exactly hide her feelings either. (Though she did encode the explicitly sexual bits of her diary, which suggests she knew there was a limit to how far she could push public tolerance on this issue.)

Despite Anne’s ahead of her time understanding of her own sexuality – she was actually very devout, and considered her situation a God-given one – that doesn’t actually change the fact that homosexuality was still considered sinful and generally of a questionable legal standing.

The death penalty for sodomy wouldn’t be abolished until several decades after Anne’s death, and a law was passed defining marriage as being between a man and a woman in the late 1860s. Of course, given that Anne was a woman ,she had it slightly easier, as the laws concerning homosexual acts focused on the activities of men. (Believe it or not, an apocryphal story insists that Queen Victoria was insistent that lesbians simply did not exist.)

On some level, Anne Lister’s money and station would offer both her and Ann some protection from the worst of things. But that doesn’t meant that they’re immune to things like public scorn, shame or pressures from their families. How will being found out – by even one person – affect their relationship?

We’ll have to tune in and find out.

Here are all the details you need to watch Gentleman Jack tonight.

"Date: Monday, May 13Start Time: 10 p.m. ESTEpisode: “Most women are dull and stupid”TV Channel: HBOLive Stream: Watch live on Fubo TV. Sign up now for a free seven-day trial. You can also watch on HBO or HBO Go."

Gentleman Jack continues Monday, May 13 at 10pm EST on HBO.