Jenny and Magda's parentage?

[Julia99]

So . .i'm thinking Jenny has a different Mother than Magda (e.g. such fair skin, red hair and 10 year age difference?).  Anyone else care to hypothesize?  Is there any mention of Magda's family during the upcoming . ..way out there .. Great Gypsy Trial with King Johnny?  Like someone saying "you from a bad line of gypsy scum" or something silly like that?  

[Philippe Cordier]

I don't think there was any suggestion that they are anything other than full sisters, but I agree they don't look very much alike.  They could have darkened Jenny's complexion somewhat.  Most likely they thought that would give away too much.

[kuanyin]

I think it much more likely that they had different fathers. In a caravan lifestyle, I imagine that they would have barely known each other with different fathers. I think a ten year difference is being kind, but even with a bigger one, it wouldn't be that unlikely. My neighbor was pregnant at the same time as her teenage daughter, and it isn't that unusual.

[ProfStokes]

So . .i'm thinking Jenny has a different Mother than Magda (e.g. such fair skin, red hair and 10 year age difference?).  Anyone else care to hypothesize?

I agree with you that the two were probably half-sisters.  Although I haven't given much thought to the mother, something came up in a recent episode that made me wonder about Jenny's father.  She made a remark that he was a king (of India) and while I'm sure that part isn't true, I wonder if her statement might be rooted in some fact nevertheless (even Judith was willing to admit that most of Jenny's beliefs are based on truth.)

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I wonder if Jenny might be a daughter of King Johnny Romano's.  In a future episode, Magda mentions that he was always especially fond of Jenny; if they were related, that could explain why.  It might also explain why Jenny would think of herself as a princess (and deserving of a better lot in life than the other gypsies.)

ProfStokes

[Raineypark]

I have two friends who claim Rom heritage....one is originally from Ireland (black hair, fair skin, blue eyes) and the other is the granddaughter of Hungarians who came at the turn of the 20th century.  She has flaming red hair, VERY fair skin and brown eyes.

The most recent scholarship I'm aware of regarding the origin of the Rom people is that they came west out of a region of India (so whoever it was that came up with the "king in India" idea was either well read on the subject or astonishingly prescient!) and eventually could be found in every nation in Europe.  Because they were such tightly connected family units, it would not be unreasonable to assume that if Magda's mother had been widowed , she would have married (and born children) again as soon as possible to maintain her family structure.

I'm inclined to think they shared a mother.  A second wife would have to be a saint to prevent an older stepdaughter from being jealous of a younger child.   Magda is obviously devoted to Jennie and I can picture her promising their  dying mother that she would always take care of "the baby".

raineypark  

[Julia99]

I'm so glad to hear that folks think their Mother was same and had different Fathers. ..i was going to suggest that but thought it might be.  ..not controversial but  .. oh well whatever. . .And yes, I've read a few scholarly articles about the Rom and their origins in India.. . it's nice to see that bit of info is also known, as most people think their originally from Hungary, which is an area they settled in for a couple hundred years but not their origin point. ..As to the age difference, i don't know Marie's birthdate but Jenny looks about 30-32 to me, Grayson was 45 at the time (lying and saying in closer to 40 but who's counting. .oh yes, me!).  

[VictoriaWintersRox]

I can see Jenny having red hair, even though she's a gypsy. Red hair isn't a genetic trait, it occurs when something happens between two genes. I forgot what exactly, lol.

I agree though, they could've darkened her complexion. I would've liked to see them tell more about Jenny and Magda's relationship.

[Luciaphile]

I don't see how it could be controversial. Particularly given that it's only recently that people are living as long as they do (generally speaking, of course). There were tons of different diseases that regularly and persistently plagued communities all over the States.

Remarriage would not be at all uncommon.

On the other hand, DNA can be weird. And red hair has always been one wacky little genetic wildcard

Luciaphil

[Nancy]

On the other hand, DNA can be weird. And red hair has always been one wacky little genetic wildcard

Luciaphil

Yo, watch it girlfriend!!
Nancy
(wildcard and wacky redhead-at-large)

[Raineypark]

Red hair isn't a genetic trait.

Tell that to my friend, who's grandmother and father had the exact same shade of flaming red hair she has, and whose FOUR kids also inherited it!!

raineypark, who inherited "grey-hairs-by-the-age-of-twenty" from HER family

[Luciaphile]

Red Hair

There you go.

Luciaphil

[Cassandra]

I agree though, they could've darkened her complexion. I would've liked to see them tell more about Jenny and Magda's relationship.

I would have liked to have seen this too along with Jenny & Quentin's relationship, how they first met, and the early part of their marriage.

I go along with the same mother different father idea, although it's not totally out of the question that they DID share the same parents.  Genetic genes have been known to skip entire generations altogether only to show up in later generations years down the road.  My late Aunt who was a RN nurse at our local hospital had told me a story that she witnessed years ago when she first started out as a nurse.  She had been the attending nurse in the Maternity ward and had been present in the delivery room when a woman delivered a healthy baby. The only problem with this was that the baby was black and both parents were as fair skinned as snow! Back in the 30's interacial couples were far & few so it caused quite a stir in the hospital. The husband wound up leaving the wife becaue he thought she had had an affair out of wedlock.  The woman's father was a good friend of my Aunt's and as it turned out the woman's great great Grandfather had been black.  Apparently this genetic trait skipped mutiple generations only to show up at this particular time.  So, it's quite possible that the same thing could have occured in Jenny/Magda's heritage as well.

Sometimes genetics are just plain hard to figure out and can't be explained.  Mariah Carey was born out of an interacial relationship, yet she's very fair skinned while her sister & brother are dark skinned, so you just never know how these traits come about.

Cassandra[/font]

[Julia99]

. . .the baby was black and both parents were as fair skinned as snow! Back in the 30's interacial couples were far & few so it caused quite a stir in the hospital. The husband wound up leaving the wife becaue he thought she had had an affair out of wedlock.  The woman's father was a good friend of my Aunt's and as it turned out the woman's great great Grandfather had been black.

Cassandra[/font]

This wasn't the Dinah Shore story was it?

[Miss_Winthrop]

I agree that Jenny and Magda had different fathers. The King Johnny idea as the father works for me.  Jenny does remind me of a 'princess' if you will.  She must have caused quite a stir when Quentin first brought her home to meet Edward, Judith and Grandmama.  I would have loved to have seen that!

[Luciaphile]

I agree that Jenny and Magda had different fathers. The King Johnny idea as the father works for me.  Jenny does remind me of a 'princess' if you will.  She must have caused quite a stir when Quentin first brought her home to meet Edward, Judith and Grandmama.  I would have loved to have seen that!

From what Judith says, Grandmama liked Jenny. Go figure. Edward and Judith must have plotzed. Of course, all Quentin apparently knew was that she was a singer. Must have been joyous to realize that he married her for the shock value.

Luciaphil