Charlotte York Goldenblatt


Charlotte York-Goldenblatt, is a fictional character on the HBO-produced television series Sex and the City. She is portrayed by actress Kristin Davis. Davis received a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performances.

Character information

Charlotte York is the daughter of Dr. Stephen Foster York and Sandra Whitehead York. She is an art dealer with a Connecticut blue-blooded upbringing. Charlotte graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and a minor in Finance; she lived in Haven-Wesley House and was a member of the College Republicans and Kappa Kappa Gamma. 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.
Despite her conservative outlook, she has been known to make concessions that surprise even her sexually freer girlfriends. She gives up her career shortly after marrying her first husband, Trey MacDougal, but divorces him due to irreconcilable differences regarding having children, his dependent relationship with his mother and their incompatible sex life. She receives a Park Avenue apartment as part of the divorce settlement, although this is a battle fiercely fought by Trey's mother, Bunny. Charlotte 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 ends up being a funny, devoted partner. She converts to Judaism in order to marry him, and models herself vaguely on Elizabeth Taylor in this aspect; Charlotte also decides to name her dog Elizabeth Taylor. In the series finale, Charlotte and Harry adopt a baby girl, Lily, from China. In the movie, Sex and the City, she and Harry have a biological baby girl, whom they name Rose. 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 as this fact is not mentioned at any other time in the series or subsequent movies, it is possible it is merely a prop error- the rest of the newspaper has paragraphs taken from Big and Natasha's wedding announcement in Season 3.

Background and 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 has 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 apologizes by baking Samantha a basket of muffins, demonstrating her classic graceful and sweet-natured style.
Her belief in romance leads her to decide to not have sex with fiancé Trey until the honeymoon. However, she is confronted by the problems of this when she discovers, the night before the wedding, when she tries to seduce Trey, that he is impotent. Later, she realizes he has problems sleeping with her and they do a lot of work to solve the issue. She is also very loyal to her friends and to her belief in the sanctity of marriage. She also faces a comeuppance in her relationship with Harry Goldenblatt. She is not attracted to him but has sex with him and calls it "the best sex of my life". She tries to change him into her ideal man but stops when she sees how much that hurts Harry. Finally, she becomes hysterical after she converts to Judaism and prepares a perfect dinner for Harry, when he won't propose to her, and she insults him by telling him how unsuitable he is for her, which causes him to break up with her. Only when she finally agrees to accept Harry on his own terms, he does 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 but converted to Judaism.

Marriages

Trey MacDougal

Trey MacDougal is a tall, handsome doctor from an upper-crust family with an overbearing, frequently present mother who views Charlotte as a rival for her son's affections. 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 gets out of the taxi to help her, and it is implied that they fell 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 noticing his mother's methods. Frustrated with waiting, Charlotte uses Bunny's technique and suggests that they should marry, 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 seduce him. Trey is unable to perform, possibly meaning he is impotent. Charlotte addresses her concern to Carrie before she walks down the aisle, but Carrie attempts to comfort her and the marriage takes place. After they are married, Trey continues to be unable to perform in the bedroom. It is implied that his problem is not impotency, as Charlotte catches him masturbating in the bathroom to pornographic magazines. Because of their sexual problems, 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 of their different goals in the marriage.

Harry Goldenblatt

Harry Goldenblatt is Charlotte's divorce lawyer. Although Charlotte is initially put off by Harry's constant sweating, messy eating, shortness, 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, cleverness, 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 demanding he set a wedding date and telling him 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.

''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 to where she was to have her honeymoon with Big. Charlotte is extremely careful in Mexico 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 given up hoping for another baby, Charlotte unexpectedly discovers 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''

Charlotte is a wealthy museum docent 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 Harry 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.