After a year of debating of whether or not I should finally watch the Netflix series (that is loosely based on the book series from that came out in 2000), I finally decided to give the show a chance. Of course my hesitation came from the reviews of what a sexed up Regency Romp it was and I think someone almost likened it to Game of Thrones. So naturally I was cautious; however when I saw some scenes from the spin off prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, I was very interested, but I thought it would be best to get caught up with the prior seasons first.
The Bridgerton Family
While the premise of Bridgerton is romance, the heart if the story is family (hence the name).
In 1816 London, the Bridgerton siblings (named in alphabetical order), Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth, the children of the late Lord Edmund Bridgerton and his widow Lady Violet, navigate their love for each other and their unpredictable future romances while under the scrutiny of the 'London ton' (the highest echelons of London society), Queen Charlotte herself and most importantly, Lady Whistledown, the mysterious writer of the Lady Whistledown Society Papers that reports all the news, gossip and scandal of the residents of the ton.
Lord Simon Basset & Lady Daphne Bridgerton
Each sibling has their own book and the story begins not with the oldest Anthony, but rather the oldest daughter Daphne as she makes her debut in society with one goal in mind, find a rich husband. Which is the primary goal for every well bred young woman in the ton. However, Daphne gets a little help when she catches the eye of Queen Charlotte and names her 'the Queen's Diamond,' marking her as the most eligible lady of the London season. While Daphne has suitors a plenty, thanks to her overprotective older brother, very few men are given a chance.
Simon Basset, the newly minted Duke of Hastings arrives at the ton to settle family business that has been left to him upon the death of his father. The former Duke of Hastings cared more for his title and his family legacy and pushed everyone away including his son. Simon has spent his whole life separated from his hateful father, and years of pent of anger and resentment has built up in Simon who is determined that his father's line will end with him.
Daphne and Simon are unexpectedly thrown together in a false courtship to protect Daphne from scandal and the scathing words of Lady Whistledown. As their relationship develops, Simon's heart is warmed by Daphne's kindness and sensible nature. Eventually he must make a hard decision of whether his heart resides with his hatred for his father or his growing love and future prospects with Daphne.
Residents of the Ton
Queen Charlotte
The cold and demanding Queen of England, who privately hides her own heartbreaking secrets and fears, makes it her business to know everyone else's business and never misses out on a perfect opportunity to matchmake. Soon her primary concern is trying to uncover the identity of Lady Whistledown, who may have pushed her luck to far in her harsh opinions of the Queen. Determined to stop Lady Whistledown, Queen Charlotte enlists the help of a most unlikely person to get the job done.
Lady Agatha Danbury
The elegant and opinionated matriarch of the ton, confidante to the Queen, and beloved friend to the Bridgerton family, fiery and fearless Lady Agatha is an unstoppable force of nature and iron will. Lady Agatha's wisdom of life, love, family and friendship is much needed to everyone who confides in her. Ever stalwart and faithful, Lady Agatha is the rarest of jewels that has ever been cultivated in the society of the ton.
The Featherington Family
Unlike the respected and revered Bridgerton family, the Featherington's are a rather low brow family that are on the brink of losing everything. Lord Jack and Lady Portia and their three daughters, insipid Prudence, dreamy Phillipa and shy Penelope (whose friends with the Bridgerton's) are easily forgotten and are oftentimes avoided in the ton. The Featherington's lack class and grace and certainly never win any favors with the Queen or her court.
A few words of warning:
One: If you are planning on watching this from a historians POV don't bother. It's not meant to be historically accurate, but rather a fantasy take on the Regency era. It's meant to be fun fiction and not a documentary. So the clothes (although many of them are beautiful) are certainly not historically accurate. Also the sub story of the mixing of black and white residents. Accurately, there were very few privileged black people in London, however, Bridgerton changes that narrative for more inclusiveness, yet it lent well to the show. I thought I was going to have a problem with it, but to be honest it was an interesting take.
Two: The sexual content is not as bad as I was made to believe. The episode of Daphne and Simon's honeymoon is the most graphic, but my take was, "It's their honeymoon. It's what they're suppose to do!" And quite frankly you don't see a lot of stories where sex is valued within the marriage. Either than that, the content was toned down.
I need things to be either super historical and/or literarily accurate or intentionally fantastical. And I feel like Bridgerton is intentionally fantastical mostly. The fantasy feel, the Georgette Heyer melodrama and humor (although not sure everything I found funny was supposed to be), instrumental pop songs, the gorgeous costuming and scenery. I greatly enjoyed it. I looked at one of the books (the 2nd one think), and to me, reading it was more explicit? Or at least grosser? Also the books lack the humor and much of what make the series excellent.
ReplyDeleteWhat I enjoyed most about the show was definitely the characters, especially the Bridgerton family. I do also like the fact the the show itself markets itself as non historical based, which gives them the perfect artistic license. There's a lot of satire in the show too which makes all the more worth the watch.
Delete