Like many other anglophiles and romantics, I recently became hooked on the recent Netflix sensation, Bridgerton. The television series based on the book series by romance novelist Julia Quinn took the world by storm these past few months. Set in 1813 during the London season, featuring colorful regency costumes, witty banter, and steamy scandalous romances, the series isn’t one to miss. The show was produced by Shonda Rhimes through her company Shondaland (which also produced popular shows including Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away With Murder, and more).
Just like any popular series, Bridgerton has its pros and cons, and in my opinion, the pros do far outweigh the cons. For instance, I loved the casting choice of Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown, the society gossip. Andrews’ inclusion in the series gave Bridgerton a Gossip Girl vibe, and it also concealed the true identity of the scathing and popular regency society author. I also loved the use of modern pop hits for the instrumental music during the ballroom scenes, as it made it clear what remnants of regency society are still present in modern society. Popular songs that were included in the dancing scenes included Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood,” Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” and more.
Bridgerton not only featured music from today but also promoted female agency and ideas associated with modern feminism through several characters (specifically Daphne and Eloise). Both women assert that they have the right to choose who they should marry and when, and Eloise makes it clear that she hopes to pursue her education and improve her mind, despite the fact that societal norms dictate that she not do so. This is similar to the Apple TV series Dickinson, which documents the life of famed American poet Emily Dickinson, with some modern twists.
The best part about the series by far was the casting. The casting choices were great, and I feel that actors Regé-Jean Page, Phoebe Dynevor, Claudia Jessie, Jonathan Bailey, Nicola Coughlan, and Ruth Gemmell really brought to life the loveable characters from the book series.
I really appreciated the diversity in casting and the representation of people of color in Bridgerton, as most period pieces do not promote diverse casting.
My only concern with the inclusion of people of color in Bridgerton was that it was never addressed in the plot how minorities fared in regency England. The show completely brushed over the colonization and the blatant racism that was present in English society during the 19th century. While I love seeing people of color represented in a popular period piece, these tough historical issues were left unaddressed.
I also thought that there was a bit too much sex with watered down the plot a tad (even though the storyline was charmingly predictable). Don’t get me wrong, the scandalous hook-up scenes were entertaining, but a bit distracting and not super fitting for the regency era. My only other qualm with the show was this- although the plot did follow the book somewhat strictly, I found it odd that the series was filmed in Bath and yet set in London, and the show featured some of Bath’s most iconic historical sites.