Bridgerton Season 3 is on its way and fans are eagerly waiting for its return on May 16. This season will adapt the third installment of author Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, and center around the love story between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. So far, we’ve seen fake dating in Season 1, enemies-to-lovers in Season 2, and now romance fans prepare for childhood-friends-to-lovers in Season 3.
According to the new season’s synopsis from Netflix, this season will focus on Penelope trying her best to put her feelings for Colin behind her after being scorned by Colin in the previous season. Now, Penelope is on the hunt for a real relationship but is struggling. After returning from his summer travels, Colin returns home to find Penelope has grown cold and distant towards him.
To try and rekindle their friendship, he offers to help her search for a husband by giving her advice, but what happens when this advice works a little too well for his liking? Will a new connection form? And lurking in the shadows is still Penelope’s job as Lady Whistledown. After last season’s fight when Eloise discovers Penelope’s secret, the former best friends’ relationship is on shaky ground. How will this affect both Eloise and Penelope?
The Bridgerton series has taken much inspiration from Edwardian and Victorian love stories, but I find its take on love most similar to the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. By analyzing what we know now about the new season through the lens of Pride and Prejudice, we can assume how Season 3 will play out in the world of platonic and romantic relationships.
penelope and eloise
The dynamic and views on romantic love between Eloise and Penelope resemble a similar dynamic to that of Jane and Elizabeth (Lizzy) from Pride and Prejudice. Jane, like Penelope, dreams of a fairytale love story. Eloise, on the other hand, holds Lizzy’s “what are men to rocks and mountains” attitude.
Eloise sees people who chase after the affections of men as foolish, much like how Lizzy views her mother and sisters. These views are challenged later in the story when Lizzy meets Darcy and they become infatuated. Last season, Eloise had her first meaningful potential romantic relationship with Theo Sharp, but if the show plays out as the books, Eloise will have a much different romantic interest. Possibly, this story will take place in Season 3.
colin and penelope
In a romantic sense, the love story between Colin and Penelope starts with a childhood crush, an intense pining on Penelope’s part, and Colin’s ignorance of this affection. Penelope’s dream romance with her childhood crush isn’t going entirely to plan by the end of Season 2. As shown in teasers we have received so far, Penelope is visibly hurt, which spurs her to forget about pursuing Colin romantically, completely cutting off contact and not answering his letters. This is similar to Lizzy’s love story. At the beginning of Lizzy and Darcy’s story, Lizzy overheard Darcy calling her “barely tolerable” while talking to Mr. Bingley.
What does this mean for Penelope in Season 3? Well, it’s how Lizzy handles this assault on her pride that draws Darcy to her. The same may be true of Penelope and Colin. According to what we know so far, Collin will attempt to mend bridges with Penelope after assaulting her pride by helping her find a husband, but it might just be these lessons on how to get a man that draws Colin to Penelope.
We may get to witness a jealous Colin as Penelope starts gaining attention from the other gentlemen. Darcy was never very jealous in Pride and Prejudice, but it was when he was challenged by Lizzy that he fell for her completely. Likewise, now that Penelope isn’t chasing Colin, it might just take Penelope breaking out of her shell and talking to other men to challenge his perception of her. When this perception is changed, Colin might just realize, in the words of Taylor Swift, that “you belong with me.”
One question still remains on the table. Will Colin find out Penelope is Lady Whistledown? For that, we’ll just have to wait and see.
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