Charlotte York Goldenblatt

Charlotte York Goldenblatt
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	Sex and the City 2
Created by	Candace Bushnell
Portrayed by	Kristin Davis
Information
Nickname(s)	Char
Aliases	Charlotte York (maiden name) Charlotte York MacDougal (former married name) Charlotte York Goldenblatt (current married name)
Gender	Female
Occupation	Housewife Former: Art dealer
Family	Stephen Foster York (father) Sandra Whitehead York (mother) Wesley York (brother) Lesley York (former sister-in-law) Bunny MacDougal (former mother-in-law) Patty MacDougal (former sister-in-law)[1] Charles MacDougal (former brother-in-law)[1] Mrs. Goldenblatt (mother-in-law; deceased)[2]
Spouse(s)	Trey MacDougal (ex-husband) Harry Goldenblatt (husband)
Children	Unnamed child Goldenblatt (child, with Harry; miscarriage)[3] Lily Goldenblatt (adoptive daughter, with Harry) Rose Goldenblatt (daughter, with Harry)
Religion	Episcopalian, later converts to Judaism

Charlotte Goldenblatt,^[4] (née York; previously MacDougal) is a fictional character on the HBO-produced television series Sex and the City. She is portrayed by actress Kristin Davis.

Character information

“

I've been dating since I was 15. I'm exhausted! Where is he?

”

Charlotte York is the daughter of Dr. Stephen Foster York and Sandra Whitehead York. She is an art dealer and Smith College graduate (where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, although in real life Smith has no sororities) with a Connecticut blue-blooded upbringing. She is the most conservative and traditional of the group, placing more emphasis on emotional love than lust, believing in many romantic ideals, and always searching for her "knight in shining armor." Presenting a more straightforward attitude about relationships, usually based upon "The Rules" of love and dating, she often scoffs at the lewder, more libertine antics that the show presents (primarily from Samantha). Despite her conservative outlook, she has been known to make concessions that surprise even her sexually freer girlfriends (such as her level of dirty talk and oral sex). She gives up her career shortly after marrying her first husband, Trey MacDougal, but divorces him due to irreconcilable differences regarding having children and also his twisted relationship with his mother. She receives a Park Avenue apartment as part of the divorce settlement. She subsequently marries, her divorce lawyer, Harry Goldenblatt, a man who seems the antithesis of all of the qualities she had decided her perfect man would have, but who actually ended up being the perfect mate. She also converts to Judaism. In the series finale, Charlotte and Harry adopt a baby girl from China.

As seen in episode 8 of season 6, the New York Times wedding announcement of her and Harry's marriage indicates that Charlotte is a writer and editor for Fashions Magazine, but this fact is not mentioned at any other time in the series or subsequent movies.

Background & personality

Charlotte is viewed by some to be the most naive of the four characters, often showing signs of belief in the old-fashioned, "love conquers all" notion. This type of outlook has even earned her the nickname "Park Avenue Pollyanna," coined by Carrie Bradshaw in narrations. Yet, her friends are sometimes envious and even in awe of her overall optimism on love and life, leading Carrie to dedicate her book to Charlotte. Charlotte is fiercely optimistic, although often anxious to make sure everything goes right. She also possesses a supportive personality with regard to her friends, always "being there" for them. Due to her conservative outlook in relationships, however, she sometimes clashes with the sexually liberal Samantha, once asking, after Samantha has sex with Charlotte's brother, "Is your vagina in the New York City guide books? Because it should be; it's the hottest spot in town, it's always open!" Yet in this instance she resolves the situation by baking Samantha a basket of muffins, demonstrating Charlotte's classic graceful and sweet-natured style. Her belief in romance leads her to decide to not have sex with fiance Trey until the honeymoon. However, she is confronted by the problems of this romantic notion when she discovers, the night before the wedding, when she tries to seduce Trey, that he is impotent. Later she realizes he has a madonna/whore complex, and the two of them go through a lot of work to solve the issue. She is also loyal to her friends (being uncharacteristically aggressive in cursing out Mr. Big after he abandons Carrie at the altar in the first film) and to her belief in the sanctity of marriage (she is the only friend to chastise and shame Carrie regarding her adulterous affair with Mr. Big). She also faces a comeuppance in her relationship with Harry Goldenblatt. She is completely unattracted to him, but has sex with him and calls it "the best sex of my life". She then tries to change him so he will be more like her ideal, but sees how much that hurts Harry and stops. Finally, she becomes hysterical after she converts to Judaism and prepares a perfect dinner for Harry, when he won't follow the romantic script in her head and propose to her, and she insults him by telling him how unsuitable he is for someone like herself, which causes him to break up with her. Only when she finally puts aside her romantic ideals and agrees to accept Harry on his own terms, does he propose to her, and they, independent of any of Charlotte's machinations, end up having a relationship that fulfills all of the ideals of romanticism.

It is revealed throughout the series that Charlotte enjoyed much social acclaim in her younger life, such as being prom queen, varsity cheerleader, track and field captain, teen model, and equestrienne. She is occasionally described as a WASP, an identity she seems to happily accept. However, Charlotte later converted to Judaism. Charlotte is a sorority member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Marriages

Trey MacDougal

Trey MacDougal (Kyle MacLachlan) is a doctor from an upper-crust family with an overbearing, frequently present mother who views Charlotte as a rival. Trey and Charlotte meet after Charlotte has resolved to meet her husband in the coming year. Their initial introduction is one in which he proves her knight in shining armor: having had a horrible date, Charlotte is nearly hit by his taxi. Trey, a doctor, gets out of the taxi to help her, and it is implied that they fall in "love at first sight." Charlotte feels Trey is the ideal boyfriend and husband-candidate. After only a month of dating, Charlotte becomes anxious to receive his proposal. When introduced to the blue-blood MacDougal matriarch, Bunny, Charlotte sees how easily Trey can be manipulated and cannot help noting his mother's methods. Frustrated with waiting, Charlotte uses Bunny's technique and suggests (at a restaurant) that they should get married, to which Trey casually and characteristically responds, "All righty." Charlotte is furious at this response, because it was hardly the proposal of her dreams—the next day she tells Carrie she proposed to herself. Later, Trey makes up for it by stopping in front of Tiffany & Co. during a walk and suggesting that they look for "the most beautiful engagement ring they have." They decide not to have sex until they are married, but on the day before their wedding, Charlotte gets drunk and visits Trey's apartment to have sex. Trey is unable to perform, possibly meaning he is impotent. Charlotte addresses her concern to Carrie before she walks down the aisle, but is comforted by Carrie and so the marriage between Trey and Charlotte takes place. After they are married, Trey continues to be unable to perform in the bedroom, and the two separate. They later get back together when Trey agrees to address the problem, and though he initially has problems, they eventually are able to have regular sex. After some time, Charlotte finds she has not been able to get pregnant, and discovers that she has some fertility problems. The couple starts trying IVF, but Trey, after initially agreeing to it, ultimately decides that he does not feel ready for children. The two divorce because there is no way for them to get what they want from the marriage.

Harry Goldenblatt

Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) is Charlotte's divorce lawyer. Although Charlotte is initially put off by Harry's constant sweating, messy eating, baldness, and hairy body, she ends up sleeping with him when Harry confesses his intense attraction to her. She finds it is the best sex she has ever had. She tries to keep their relationship strictly sexual but soon becomes emotionally attached due to Harry's kindness and obvious love for her. Initially she tries to change him so that he will more closely fit her image of the ideal man, but these attempts cause Harry distress and Charlotte realizes their futility, and gradually accepts Harry the way he is. Charlotte converts to Judaism in response to Harry's avowal that he can only marry a Jewish woman, but she soon ends up ruining the relationship in a fit of anger by telling him that she is angry about giving up Christ when he has not yet proposed, and that everyone wonders why a catch like her is bothering with a schlub like him. Hurt at hearing what he believes to be what Charlotte really thinks about him, Harry breaks up with her. But after several weeks of bad blind dates, Charlotte bumps into Harry at the local synagogue singles' night and admits her wrongs, professing her deep love for him and agreeing finally to accept him as he is, rather than molding him to suit her. She says that she does not care if he ever marries her, as long as she can be with him. Harry is touched and proposes to Charlotte on the spot. They marry in a traditional Jewish ceremony, which is attended by all their friends. In contrast to Charlotte's extremely romantic, idealized first wedding, her second wedding is a complete disaster, with many things going wrong, but the happy couple decide that just as the perfect wedding led to a failed marriage, the worse the wedding, the better the marriage. They explore their options of having children, with Charlotte at one point becoming pregnant followed (shortly) by a miscarriage, which emotionally devastates her. During this hard time, Charlotte meets a woman named Trudy in the park with a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The woman decides to give Charlotte her dog after seeing how the two bond and hearing about Charlotte's miscarriage. Charlotte and Harry name her Elizabeth Taylor. Harry is always trying to do things for Charlotte and is a very kind, warm, caring, husband. Finally, in the series finale, they are approved to adopt a girl from China named Lily. In the 2008 movie set four years after the finale, Charlotte discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl, Rose, named after Harry's grandmother. Harry remarks at this that they now "have a Lily and a Rose". He also states that it is his privilege in life to "be surrounded by beautiful women".

First Sex and the City movie

Main article: Sex and the City (film)

The movie begins with Charlotte's life with her daughter Lily and husband Harry and they are perfectly happy living in New York. When Carrie's wedding to Big ends in a mess, Charlotte goes with Carrie (along with Samantha and Miranda) to where she was to have her honeymoon with Big. Charlotte is extremely careful when overseas and refuses to eat any of the food there, instead bringing her own. On vacation she became so relaxed that for a moment, whilst in the shower, Charlotte accidentally swallows some water and then not long after, gets traveler's diarrhea. Even though she and Harry had stopped trying for another baby after they had adopted Lily, Charlotte finds out she is pregnant, much to her joy. At this moment, it seems that everything Charlotte has ever wanted is finally coming true, and Charlotte becomes "so happy, she's terrified." In the movie it is also revealed that Charlotte always believed Carrie and Big would end up together, and when she sees Big in the street she tells him, "I curse the day you were born." It is then that Charlotte goes into labour, and Big takes her to the hospital and waits until the baby is born. Charlotte and Harry are overjoyed when she gives birth to a baby girl they name Rose. The final scenes of the movie show Harry and Charlotte with their two daughters.

Sex and the City 2

Main article: Sex and the City 2

Charlotte is a wealthy stay-at-home mother with two children and live-in, full-time help. However, she becomes stressed with motherhood and feels incapable of being a good mother to her children, eventually becoming worried that her husband is sleeping with their nanny. Charlotte later escapes to Abu Dhabi with her friends where she is still unable to ease the stresses of motherhood.

Charlotte's conflicts are resolved when it is revealed that her children's nanny, Erin, is a lesbian, and her stress about motherhood is put to rest after confiding and receiving reassurances from Miranda while the two had a conversation in the private bar of their hotel room. From then on she uses Carrie's old apartment as an occasional "break" from her family life.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Season 3 episode 17
2. ^ Harry mention about that in Season 6 episode 1
3. ^ Season 6 episode 12
4. ^ http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/

External links

• Charlotte York at the Internet Movie Database
• Archive of the original Sex and the City newspaper columns