QUASHIA'S

BACKSTORY
Building A Character
 T HE POL ITICS OF OL D
G LASSTOWN
Quashia Quamina is the real prince of Glasstown. He spent the
first years of his life being raised in the palace by his parents,
his father was his primary carer. Old Glasstown was a
matriarchal society so Quashia’s mother had the duties of
‘king’. Quashia’s mother was elected king by the people of
Glasstown, a position that lasts for life. I think the Brontes
would have made it a matriarchal society since they wanted to
play out with feminist ideals in a fictional world, this is also
shown in Lady Zenobia. Lady Zenobia is a powerful woman,
her independence inspires Anne to seek more from life and
turn William down when he asks for her hand in marriage.
Lady Zenobia is also from Old Glasstown and can therefore
own land and inherit riches. 
 G LA SSTOWN
CO NQUO RE D
When he was 7 Glasstown was conquered by
Northangerland, who then took Quashia in as a
political symbol. When Northangerland broke in
Quashia was with his father playing a game,
Quashia was told to hide when they heard the
invaders coming. Quashia’s father did all he could
to protect Quashia but was killed by
Northangerland. Northangerland found Quashia
crouching behind a chest of drawers and took him
home. Quashia either didn’t see his father’s death
or the memory was too traumatic and his brain
blocked it out. This unconscious removal of
childhood trauma is called Dissociative Amnesia. 
 I have given a lot of thought as to what Old Glasstown could
have been like. What was their culture? What of their culture
remains after Northangerland took over the land? Why was the
land so easily conquered? To come up with ideas I looked up
Napoleon conquered France and the History of the Kor-I-Nor
diamond (an example of understanding the way Britain treated
conquered India). What I came up with was a mixture of the
two, with a few of my own ideas thrown in:
 MY IDE AS ABOU T OL D
G LASSTOWN
Before Glasstown was conquered by Northangerland, Napoleon, and their pirates,
Glasstown stood as a country.
It’s main export was textiles, the people believed in mother moon overseeing all and had
better ideas of gender equality compared to the nations around them. But Glasstown’s
secret treasure was its diamonds. For many years the royal family kept the diamonds as a
Glasstown secret to protect itself from bigger countries, but when times got hard the people
rebelled. Why should they not share their greatest treasure with the world? They should be
the ones reaping the benefits.
The people overtook the crown (with the help of The Warriors) and set in place a new
government system which elected a king. King was a position, men and women could run
for the position.
Other small revolutions happened in this time just like in France, the people remained
restless. But the one thing they all agreed on was trading diamonds. However
Northangerland and Napoleon heard of the treasure and in Glasstown’s restless state swept
in the conquered the land.
 MY IDEAS ABOUT OLD
GLASSTOWN
Mary Percy is adorned with the treasures of the people, diamonds.
She does not realise the blood spilt to get them.
Lady Zenobia used to live in a society where women could get a
world class education and inherit their riches, but she does not
realise until too late that that is not the world Northangerland is
building.
Quashia was only 7 when his country was taken.
Glasstown’s small town life is interrupted by Glasstown being united
with all the other lands taken by the pirates, expanding the borders.
These borders are then shut firmly, cutting off Glasstown from aid
from other nations. 
Women are not encouraged to run for political positions, which are
all rigged by Northangerland anyway. 
The code for men in the society branches out from the code of
chivalry (the original Glasstown ways) to that given to Victorian
gentlemen.
 HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN OF
GLASSTOWN:
• Never let a lady stand while you sit
• Be loyal to your lord, family and friends
• Act with humility
• Defend the weak and poor
• Stand when a lady enters the room
• Keep a tidy appearance
• Show skill in battle
• Remove your hat when entering a building
• Acknowledge other gentlemen. A bow should always be returned, even to an enemy.
• Never curse or discuss ‘impolite’ subjects when ladies are present
• Never greet a lady in public unless she acknowledges you first
 GRO WING UP WITH
NORTHA NGE RL AND
Quashia grew up in the palace with Northangerland and his
daughter Mary Percy. Northangerland told Quashia he was rescued
from being an orphan on the streets, and so Quashia is
Northangerland’s adopted son. However Quashia is not given the
same rights as an actual prince, he is trained as a gentleman but he
is isolated. It is never expected that Quashia will inherit anything if
Northangerland dies. In the script it confirms that Quashia felt more
like a prisoner than a guest in the castle. This lack of love and
attention caused Quashia to hyper fixate on the only friend he did
have, Mary Percy. Mary Percy is easily the most popular person in
Glasstown, and Northangerland’s favourite child, this makes
Quashia idolise her into something more than she is. As they both
grow up Quashia begins to fall in love with Mary, however she
remains oblivious. Though it may seem strange for Quashia to fall
for his adopted sister, Quashia is constantly reminded by
Northangerland that he is not a ‘real’ member of the family. 
 RAISED AS A GENTLEMAN  
Northangerland’s distant parenting, along with Quashia’s
isolation leave Quashia desperate for love and attention. He
also feels he owes a debt to Northangerland for taking him in
and would do anything to make it up to him, make him proud. 
In the current Glasstown Quashia is considered a gentleman,
he is trained in fencing, English, Maths, History and other
subjects' boys were taught. He is expected to go to social
functions with Northangerland so would have been trained in
ballroom etiquette and dancing. This is why when Charles
Wellesley pulls Quashia onto the dance floor Quashia does not
just walk away, he has in trained in the social etiquette of
dancing. He cannot abandon his partner on the floor no matter
who they are, it would be dishonourable. 
 QUASHIA IN
POLITICS
As he grew older, Quashia was used as a political symbol
in a similar way to the way Pocahontas was used by the
British. Pocahontas was a Native American princess who
was taken by the British to stop her tribe from fighting
back against the British. Eventually she was taken to
England and forced to convert to Christianity and change
her name to Rebecca. She was used as propaganda to
convince more Brits to go to the new world, this is similar
to how Quashia was used by Northangerland to gain more
power and votes in the elections. I researched Pocahontas
because she seemed like a possible inspiration for
Quashia’s character and an example of something similar
happening in history. 
Quashia helps Northangerland get Zamorna elected king.
He quite looks up to Zamorna to begin with, he agrees
with a lot of polices. He has yet to figure out that Zamorna
has no intention of keeping any of his polices. 
QUASHIA QUAMINA 
I have also researched Quamina Gladstone,
who is most likely who the Brontes based
Quashia off of. However the Brontes
representation of him was quite racist and I
decided to go my own way with the character.
It’s also clear that the Brontes didn’t know
much more about Quamina Gladstone other
than that he was a rebel slave leader. In reality
he was much older than he is portrayed in
Glasstown, and was ultimately against violence,
this is the opposite to the young rebel leader
portrayed in Glasstown.