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'Peaky Blinders' season 5: From Polly Gray to Ada Thorne, the fearless women who champion the cause of feminism on the show

Championing the cause of feminism since its inception, show creator Steven Knight has only taken the pace of equality for men and women one notch higher with every season in 'Peaky Blinders'.
UPDATED AUG 30, 2019

There's a dark cloud on the horizon as 'Peaky Blinders' heads over to its fifth chapter. Cillian Murphy plays the gang leader Thomas Shelby, who has now been elected as the Labour MP of Birmingham South. Set in the financial crisis of 1929, the series brings forth a deadly side of the Shelby headman. But, it's the ladies of the house, who truly have what it takes to be a victorious, fearless, independent woman.

If Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) is the boss lady in her free-spirited demeanor, Ada Thorne (Sophie Rundle) shatters glass ceilings to keep the Shelby family business clean. Not just that, Lizzie Shelby (Natasha O'Keeffe) and Linda Shelby (Kate Phillips)—wives of Thomas Shelby and Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson) respectively—are not one to sit silently while their husbands take control. They cross-question, probe and even snap back when needed. Championing the cause of feminism since its inception, show creator Steven Knight has only taken the pace of equality for men and women one notch higher with every season. But, the fifth chapter is particularly striking! It is more because the writer manages to bring it through in strong undercurrents without using big words.

 

Polly Gray

Polly Gray will dazzle you with her first appearance in season five. With a devil-may-care attitude that she is not the least bit apologetic about, she rules the roost and is no more just the matriarchal head of the Shelby clan. Her character arc has grown by leaps and bounds. In season one, she advised Ada to adopt her child saying: "You know the words. You're a whore. Baby's a bastard. But there's no word for the man who doesn't come back." But, it is she who tells Ada in season five: "The baby is Black, a bastard and it is Birmingham, But she has golden eyes and you leave him with Aunt Polly every day to look after."

A woman of substance and style, no one can stop her when she makes up her mind. She showed immense strength and resilience when Major Chester Campbell (Sam Neill) raped her in exchange for her son's freedom but gave it right back by shooting him dead. In season four, she leads the women's march to fight for their rights. From having an affair with a charming portrait artist Ruben Oliver to a sexual encounter with Romany Gypsy hitman-for-hire Aberama Gold, she is spirited and knows what she wants. "We are flying above the world now," she tells Ada in season five.  

No one can stop Polly Gray when she makes up her mind. (IMDb)

Ada Thorne

"I am not a Shelby," Ada Thorne repeats through the first three seasons. Headstrong and heedless, she has the guts to stand up for her beliefs even when she comes from a gangster family. She falls in love with Tommy's ex-best friend and communist Freddie Thorne and is not afraid to be with him—with or without her family's support. After he dies, she takes care of the baby herself and is still unyielding when it comes to contradicting the criminal side of her family. Later, in the series, she comes back to the family and takes a leading role at the Shelby Company branch in the United States, dealing mostly with the legitimate business of the company. "I came back for love. And common sense," she tells Tommy and is his advisor in season five as he steps in as the MP.

In season five, she is pregnant again with an illegitimate child but does not give a hoot about what people think. "We are bold people, aren't we?" she asks Polly, who replies: "That's the beauty!"

"I came back for love. And common sense," Ada tells Tommy. (IMDb)

Lizzie Shelby

She started off as a prostitute but soon became Tommy's secretary. After Grace's death, Lizzie was on-and-off Tommy's partner and later, after she gives birth to his child, she is shown as his wife. She has been continuously loyal to Thomas Shelby without him returning the favor. In season five, when she finds out Tommy is hiding his business plans, she storms off. To clear the air between them, she gives him a letter but realizes he burns it. Lizzie is not afraid to ask Tommy about the funds for the welfare of their kids. Incredibly protective about her children Charlie and Ruby, Lizzie shoots bullets into the air when Aberama Gold and Johnny Dogs create chaos in the middle of the night. "Get away from my house. Get away from my child," she screams at Tommy. It is to be seen whether she ever will be rewarded for her loyalty in the series.

Lizzie gives birth to Thomas's baby who is named Ruby Shelby in the series. (IMDb)

Linda Shelby

Linda has been at loggerheads with Tommy's beliefs ever since she entered the Shelby family. Thomas never really appreciates her presence in Arthur's life but at a point in the series, she manages to have more control over him than others. Linda's transformation from a God-fearing woman to an unruly wife is just another example of the kind of dominance the Shelbys have over the people around them. In season five, she tries to take more dominance over her husband by trying to pit him against Tommy. With a mean streak, she quizzes Tommy's about the company's hidden profits and when he tries to signal to Arthur, she sarcastically mocks him: "Arthur, can't you control your wife?" When Arthur burns her letter, she has another letter in store for him. Linda is definitely a woman who is not ready to back down. It will be interesting to see how she manages to shock the Shelby brothers as the series progresses.

Kate Phillips plays Linda Shelby in 'Peaky Blinders'. (IMDb)

Not just the four central characters, but almost all the women in the series have exhibited a fiery streak—right from Jessie Eden (Charlotte Murphy) to May Carleton (Charlotte Riley) and the Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Gaite Sara Kim Jansen). And who can forget Thomas Shelby's love Grace in the show?  The bold and brazen woman who took Tommy's heart. In season five, she returns back, but only as a ghost. "What am I, a genie?" Grace comes back into his arms and calms his tormented mind, telling him: "you summon me with a bottle of dope..." 

Grace Shelby held Thomas at his weakest in 'Peaky Blinders'. (IMDb)

With every step in the way, the female characters of 'Peaky Blinders' seem to bring Gloria Steinem's words true: "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life fairer for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie."

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