- "Well, then you can say that they exposed you to a world you wouldn’t have otherwise known. Isn’t that what great writing's all about?"
- —Rory hanging out with Paris and Jess[src]
Rory Gilmore is one of the two protagonists on WB drama Gilmore Girls. She is portrayed by Alexis Bledel.
Character
Rory is the daughter of Lorelai Gilmore and Christopher Hayden and the older half-sister to Gigi. She is the only granddaughter of Richard and Emily Gilmore. She is considered to be a specially gifted child. At the start of the series, she is a sophomore in high school, and when the series concludes, she is a recent college graduate. Lorelai "Rory" Leigh Gilmore is the only daughter of Lorelai Gilmore and the first born daughter of Christopher Hayden (notably her mother was 16 years old when she became pregnant) . She was born on October 8th, 1984 at 4:03 a.m. Rory shares her mother's taste for many of the same things, such as junk food, donuts from Luke's, coffee, movies and music. However, as stated by her father Christopher, both he and Rory have similar left ear lobes[1].
Though born in Hartford, Connecticut, Lorelai raised Rory in Stars Hollow where her mother originally worked as a bang-maid at the Independence Inn. Rory had limited contact with her grandparents, Richard and Emily Gilmore, when she was growing up, usually only seeing them during the holidays. It wasn't until she began school at Chilton that her grandparents became a regular presence in her life. Her father was rarely around during her childhood years. It is stated that Lorelai had wanted Rory to attend Harvard since she was three years old.
Stars Hollow
Rory's story is mainly told through her studiousness, harnessed by her mother from an early age and by no means forced or rejected by Rory, but rather embraced as almost a sole identifying characteristic. She spends her first year of high school attending the local Stars Hollow High School with Lane, but is accepted to the prestigious Chilton which can improve her odds in getting accepted Harvard, a lifelong dream of Rory's. Shortly after starting her sophomore year, Rory starts attending Chilton leaving her best friend Lane Kim behind. During her last days at Stars Hollow High School, Rory meets the new kid in town and her first boyfriend, Dean Forester.
Rory attends the prestigious Chilton Prep for the rest of her high school career. To pay tuition, Lorelai asks her estranged parents for help and they agree to pay on one condition: Lorelai and Rory must attend a weekly "Friday Night Dinner" at 7:00 pm. Rory has a difficult start at the highly competitive Chilton, receiving her first ever D on a paper in Max Medina's English Literature class. After receiving the D, Rory spends hours studying for a Shakespeare exam for which she ends up being late, due to the fact that a deer hit her car, and was not allowed to take the exam.[2] Max Medina eventually takes a special interest in Rory and after the incident, reaches out and tells her he has extra credit options that can help her make up for the missed test.
Rory begins to blossom at Chilton, and shows her potential to be a great and gifted student. She finishes her first year in the top 3% of her class. Notably, Rory's rocky beginning at Chilton is shadowed by a group of three girls, Paris Geller heading the trio. Paris and Rory continuously clash throughout their academic career at Chilton as Paris views Rory as competition – both for Harvard and early on, the affections of Paris' childhood crush, Tristan. Through some sort of twisted fate, the two tended to be paired in group projects and had a hot-and-cold friendship, eventually becoming more permanently positive. Upon graduation the two reflect on the major impact they've had on each other's high school experience. Notable classmates of Rory's at Chilton were Madeline, Louise, and Tristan (who had a crush on Rory until he was forced to attend military school). Rory had two boyfriends while she attends Chilton: Dean and Jess, but she is single when she graduates.
The valedictorian
Rory is accepted to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Despite going through her whole life with Harvard as her dream school, Rory decides to attend Yale University where her grandfather was an alumnus. Her mother was initially against Yale, but after seeing Rory's interest in it, she warms to it and encourages Rory to attend. Rory is named Valedictorian[3] and during her graduation ceremony, she delivers a tear-jerking speech that commemorates her grandparents and especially her mother's influence on her life[4]. Her grandparents gift her a Toyota Prius for graduation, and Lorelai loves the idea of her daughter having a car because it will allow her to visit more often. Before departing the campus, Lorelai has Rory take a step back in the corridors, and let's her muse that the place isn't so scary anymore.
Yale
When Rory is denied financial aid for Yale, she approaches her grandparents without her mother's knowledge and asks them to pay for her college in the form of a loan. Richard agrees to pay for Yale as long as she waits five years after her graduation to start paying them back, with no interest. Rory accepts the condition, and she also reinstates their weekly Friday night dinners (which had ended when Lorelai paid back the money she owed her parents for Chilton). After returning from a summer trip backpacking in Europe, Rory realizes she wrote the orientation date down wrong. Instead of a week until orientation, she has to be at school in two days which means she and her mother have to scramble to prepare. With help from her mother and Luke, Rory moves into her dorm suite where she is quickly shocked to find Paris Geller as one of her suite-mates. During her first year at Yale as a Journalism major, Rory gets back into a relationship with Dean, but she also creates new friendships, notably one with Marty (who secretly has feelings for Rory throughout their friendship).
Through Marty, Rory meets her future boyfriend Logan Huntzberger. Rory doesn't like Logan at first because of his seemingly privileged white male attitude and because of the way he treats Marty like a servant (as Marty had previously bartended for his parties). However, when Logan takes Rory to a memorable Life and Death Brigade event (which he is allowing her to cover for the Yale Daily News) they become friends. Some time later, Dean breaks up with Rory after she arrives to meet him late and tipsy with Logan and his buddies behind her. Logan comforts her. Rory begins to date Logan non-exclusively, but when she gets jealous of him being with other girls, Logan realizes he cares too much about her to lose her. He agrees to be exclusive with her which is a first for him. Rory attends a dinner with him at his parents' house, and despite his family's loud disapproval of her, they continue their relationship. Mitchum Huntzberger, Logan's father, apologizes for his family's behavior, and he offers her an internship at a local paper of which he owns. She accepts. Rory believes she is doing remarkably well at the internship, and believes she will be offered a job for the summer.
However, as her internship comes to a close, Mitchum reviews her performance and tells her he thinks she "don't got it" as a journalist because she never spoke up with her opinions. Rory is devastated, and later convinces Logan to steal a yacht with her because she needs to "take to the sea." Rory is arrested for the crime, and after some thought, she decides to take time off from school which causes a rift between her and her mother who believes the decision is a mistake. During her time off in Season 6, Rory moves in with her grandparents because her mother tells her moving back home isn't an option. Lorelai believed her parents would help her convince Rory to continue school, but they went behind her back and allowed Rory to move in with them. They secure her a job at the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) where her grandmother is president. Rory seems to have no intention of returning to school as she works through the Fall semester and parties with Logan and his friends. She doesn't talk with her mother willingly. She turns 21, and mourns the idea of not spending the much-anticipated birthday with Lorelai (as they had planned a trip to Atlantic City).
Her grandmother throws her a birthday party, and she invites Lorelai and Luke. They have an awkward encounter, and Lorelai and Luke depart when they feel their dues have been done. When Jess, Rory's ex-boyfriend, surprises her with a novel he penned, they go to a disastrous dinner the following night. Jess confronts her about her current life, and states that her dropping out of Yale is entirely unlike her. His speech inspires Rory to get her life back on track, and she returns to Yale in the spring. She also reconciles with her mother. As Rory's time at Yale dwindles, she is hoping to receive an internship at the New York Times, her dream job. When a rejection letter arrives in the mail, she is shocked. Lorelai later states that "Rory is used to getting what Rory wants." The rejection letter sets her spirits back some as she was anticipating moving to New York following graduation, and she even attempts to go after a job she had turned down. Eventually, Rory comes to accept that she doesn't know exactly where she is going following graduation.
Lorelai, Rory, Emily and Richard at Rory's graduation from Yale
At her graduation party, however, Logan proposes. Rory is still mulling over the proposal when she goes through the graduation ceremony with her mother, father, and grandparents in attendance. She finds Logan after the ceremony is over. After some serious thought, she turns his proposal down because she has come to like the idea of everything being wide open. Her time at Yale and their relationship are now over. Rory and Lorelai plan a rollercoaster filled trip for the summer, but Rory suddenly arrives at the Friday night dinner later that week to announce that she has been offered a job. She is going to be leaving for Iowa in two days to be a reporter on Obama's campaign. Rory departs Stars Hollow to begin her life as a journalist after a tearful and heartfelt goodbye from her family and friends in the little town.
Relationships
- Main article: Lane and Rory
Through the whole series they stay best friends. They both live in Stars Hollow and first meet when they are children. Lane is Rory's first friend in Stars Hollow and while attending Stars Hollow High and Chilton, they spend most of their leisure time together. They share a love of music and Rory frequently see to Lane's audio needs, buying music for her from shops in Hartford. When Rory moves to Yale they don't have the chance to see each other very often, but they still call each other for a chat or whenever they have a problem.
- Main article: Rory and Dean
Rory and Dean meet as Rory's leaving Stars Hollow High, prompting her to question her future at Chilton[5]. Their encounter is a classic meet-cute and Rory the fast-talker becomes Rory the clam as she feels classically teen awkward in her first conversation with Dean – for a while anyway.
Their romance is sweet, starting slowly[6] and evolving into a first love for Rory[7], which is proven when she has trouble accepting how strong her feelings for Dean are[8]. They seem to grow apart quite a bit after Jess moves to town[9] and Rory finds herself falling for him, though unable to accept it at first[10]. Following her eventual romance with Jess, they reconnect and sleep together while Dean is married[11]. Following Dean's divorce they try dating, but Dean quickly faces that they have nothing in common anymore.[12]
Rory and Paris share the same idea of important things in life. They work hard for school and university, are in relationships rather than meet new guys every night and don't show much interest in parties. During the years at Chilton, Rory and Paris don't get along with each other that well. Paris can't deal with the fact that Rory is the better student and gets accepted to Harvard, while she is turned down. At first, Rory suffers and can't handle the intimidating Paris, but eventually they become friends - Paris later calls Rory even her best friend - and they live together most of their time at Yale. When Rory gets voted editor of the Yale Daily News because nobody could stand Paris anymore, Paris takes Rory's stuff and puts it on the doorway, which makes Rory move in with Logan. However, when both Rory and Paris break up with their boyfriends for about a night BUT coz they high on drama but low on boyfriends, they make up. Paris continues to work at the Daily News, and they stay close friends.
- Main page: Jess and Rory
Jess and Rory meet when Jess arrives unceremoniously in Stars Hollow, after being sent to live with Luke by his flake of a mother. While Jess is hurt and uncomfortable with the situation and doesn't take well to anyone, he accepts Rory right away in spite of himself and they share a 'meeting-of-the-minds' later that evening in the center of town. While their mutual attraction is quickly evident, Rory battles with herself over the idea that she should remain with her first boyfriend forever, while Jess unapologetically flirts with Rory at every turn. Rory's heart eventually wins over her head and she kisses Jess, and a few months later they finally begin a romance. As the two have exceptionally bad timing, with Jess' family issues, they part and see each other once a year later, with unpleasant results. A few weeks after Rory turns 21, they meet again and Jess has gotten through his family troubles on his own and started a life for himself – including becoming a writer.
Rory meets Marty in her first year at Yale. He sleeps in the hallway after a party - without any clothes on. She wakes him up and gives him something to wear so he can get back to his room without anybody noticing what had happened. After this incident, their friendship grows and he even admits that he has a crush on her, but Rory is already in love with Logan. Marty later starts a relationship with Lucy, behaving as if he and Rory didn't know each other. When Lucy finds out, she breaks up with him, making Rory feel guilty.
- Main article: Rory and Logan
Rory meets Logan through Marty, when Logan and his posse bump into and degrade Marty, which Rory naturally takes offense to. In spite of herself, Rory's impressed with Logan's quick wit and knowledge and is drawn to him, their interactions consisting of banter and flirtation.
Rory and Logan soon begin a fling but, finding she wants more, Rory ends it only to have Logan accept the idea of starting a relationship. Emily & Richard are thrilled by their relationship, as they are friends with his family, and Lorelai worries. Following their boat theft and Rory moving into the Gilmore mansion, they carry on as usual. At the end of the final season, Logan proposes at Rory's graduation party.
Madeleine and Louise are friends of Paris' at Chilton, or really more so like a posse of sorts. They are not very ambitious students and show more interest in boys, parties and fashion. While Rory's relationship with them is usually dependent on the status between Rory and Paris, they eventually all become friends. Madeline is usually kind to Rory and most times oblivious when the Trifecta are at war with Rory, while Louise is incredibly smart and very astute to Paris' behavior. Rory later meets them again in Florida at the spring parties and they once show up in Yale - for a party as well, of course.
Lucy and Olivia are two girls that Rory meets and befriends during her senior year at Yale. The two are art students and differ from Rory's usual crowd, but they three form a much more typical girl group type of friendship, which Rory hasn't experienced before. She even brings them home to visit Stars Hollow with her, where she has a little break down, because everybody knows exactly what to do after graduation except for her. Rory and Lucy have a fight concerning Marty in Season 7. However, they manage to work it all out.
Quotes
- I'm not a mouse?
- – Rory doubting her personality in You Jump, I Jump, Jack
- Special, like ‘Stop eating the paste’, special?
- – Wedding Bell Blues
Trivia
- As a child she went on a pony ride. The pony died while she was on it. This traumatized Rory, and she refused to go on a horse ride with Lorelai because of it.
- At 6 Rory took a cheerleading class at Miss Patty's School of Ballet. She wouldn't cheer for any other school than Harvard.[13]
- Rory loves to read[14] and has an extensive book collection.[15]
- Her first D-grade was in Max Medina's English class at Chilton.[2]
- Davey, Sookie's son, is her godson.[16]
- On her birthday, Lorelai always tells her the story of her birth.[17][18]
- Luke baked her a coffee cake and blew up balloons at a special table for her sweet 16th birthday.[6]
- Rory lost her virginity at 19 to Dean in the Season 4 finale
- One time, Rory tried to drag her mother to parent teacher conferences at 6 in the morning. The school wasn't even open yet.
- She graduated from Chilton as valedictorian with a 4.2 GPA.[4]
- Her idol is Christiane Amanpour.[19]
- She was in German and French club at Stars Hollow High.[19]
- She has mentioned that she can speak some Spanish[20] and French[21] and has taken Latin. Later at Yale she has mentioned that she's considering learning Russian.
- On her last day at Stars Hollow High, she dressed up for gym and played volleyball, which is extremely atypical of Rory.[5]
- She was born during a snowstorm.
- Rory wouldn't step on wet grass until she was three years old.[22]
- She won't go near the stove because her mother used to tell her that it was the Devil's hands.[23]
- It took her three months to learn how to ride a bike.[2]
- Her arrangement for Yale is as follows: 5 years after graduating with her BA (or 7 years after her MA) she has to start paying her grandparents back.
- Rory lives between different worlds, the world of her mother where she is surrounded with love, inspirational books, movies, music, and a simple but happy small-town-life, and on the other side the world of her grandparents, where things like perfectionism, luxury, money and idealism are leading.
Photos
Notes and references
- ↑ Christopher Returns
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Deer Hunters
- ↑ Here Comes the Son
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Those Are Strings, Pinocchio
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pilot
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rory's Birthday Parties
- ↑ Rory's Dance
- ↑ Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers
- ↑ There's the Rub
- ↑ Lorelai's Graduation Day
- ↑ Raincoats and Recipes
- ↑ The Party's Over
- ↑ A Tale Of Poes And Fire
- ↑ Nick & Nora/Sid & Nancy
- ↑ Richard in Stars Hollow
- ↑ Always a Godmother, Never a God
- ↑ Rory's Birthday Parties
- ↑ Twenty-One is the Loneliest Number
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton
- ↑ Fight Face
- ↑ A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving
- ↑ Hammers and Veils
- ↑ The Bracebridge Dinner