Gentle readers, it has been an age since I’ve written on these pages…er, wait, that’s not the Duchess…that is Lady Whistledown…the season has begun!!
What season?
BRIDGERTON SEASON!
Weeeee!!!
This Duchess happened to be sunbathing in the Caribbean for a week, frying her vampire skin and soaking in as much Vitamin D as possible, but the season is upon us with the premiere of Bridgerton, Season 3: Part 1 late last week on Netflix and oh did it not disappoint!!
But first, doesn’t my cherry tree give off Bridgerton-y vibes? I think so.
You know the actual Lady Whistledown, the voice of her, she gets very little cred and fanfare but it is, in fact, Julie Andrews (MARY POPPINS!) who this Duchess has a kinship with because we share the same birthday.
Me, Julie, and Walter Matthau. We are a fun group!
Anyway, the four episode Part 1 of Season 3 was a BREATHE OF FRESH AIR compared to all of Season 2 (it got to the point faster that’s for sure) and I have a few quick take aways that I wanted to share with all of you after diving in and shredding all four episodes in a day…and then spending more than a few hours promenading around with the rest of the Bridgerton base on various social platforms over the past week with inside intel.
This is our favorite time of year, after all!
For context, Season 3 is based on Book 4 (urggh!) because they - and by THEY I mean Shondaland, although I can’t really be angry with her - feel the need to torture the readers and book lovers who commit timelines to memory and scrutinize every misplaced detail.
It has been a wild ride the past week I’ll tell ya!
Book 4 is Romancing Mister Bridgerton and it is the story of Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton.
Note, this Duchess also started to re-read this book (for a 3rd time) on vacation, per below, which leads to a kaleidoscope of emotions when watching the show.
Yes, I have the original mass market paperback book, not the Netflix cover. A weird badge of honor I wear proudly.
Spoiler alerts ahead so be warned if you have not yet poured yourself a large glass of wine (like a bucket of it) and started to binge watch. And dare I say also smoke a fake cigarette because Episode 4, ooof….the carriage ride…STEAMY.
TOP FIVE QUICK TAKE AWAYS FROM BRIDGERTON: SEASON 3, PART 1…IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
WHY FRANCESCA AND WHY NOW?
I was not happy, at first, when Francesca’s storyline was introduced this season in episode 1.
Francesca’s story is told in Book 6 of the Bridgerton series (Daphne, Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Eloise, FRANCESCA, Gregory, Hyacinth).
Not to be confused with their birth order (Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, Hyacinth).
It didn’t make sense to me as to why they would interrupt Colin’s story with Francesca’s (and, let’s be real, it’s Penelope’s story more than Colin’s so why must we disrupt?)
But…I think my feelings were more about my absolute LOVE of Francesca’s story - When He Was Wicked - and not wanting it to be tarnished in any way. I have read WHWW three times (the cover is falling off) and it is my favorite of all of the Bridgerton books.
Something about it taking place in Scotland perhaps? I don’t know.
By episode 4, if you have read the books, you understand why they did all of this now. She does in fact meet John Stirling, her future husband, and her actual story picks up well after this meet-cute. In WHWW they have already been married for a time.
So, I’m going to delight in having the chance to see their relationship develop which you don’t get to experience in the novel.
The piano scene from the book will make a lot more sense with how they’ve portrayed her. I can only imagine what they will do with that one in a live-action scenario in her season (I’ll take that fake cigarette now!)
Another little easter egg, I thought, was when Francesca was talking to Lord Samadani (who she is “set up” with by Queen Charlotte when she is chosen as the “sparkler” of the season) and she mentions her loneliness in being part of such a large family with 7 siblings and doesn’t desire as such in her future and how he feels the opposite, also being from a large family, and wanting to have a large family.
Francesca, we learn in her story, has fertility issues, which in the early 1800’s are not nearly explored enough. Which brings me to my next take away…
THE LACK OF FEMALE SEX ED IS ASTOUNDING AND HORRIFYING
There I’ve said it.
I have been holding that one in for a while.
Women during this time period (and for a long time before and after and through) had virtually no rights. They could not own land. They could not vote.
Education? Hahahaha!! As you see with Penelope and Eloise, reading books was almost frowned upon.
But, what really bursts my bubble above all is that the expectation was that most women, their soul purpose was to engage in sensible sexual activity with their husbands to provide heirs and secure the line of succession while never ever having been taught, told, or shown anything about sexual health, behavior, etc.
While I’m sure the books and the shows exaggerate (I mean honestly I hope they do because EEEK!) these things were just not discussed amongst women or proactively to them.
In Season 1, Daphne learns how babies are made from a maid because she is legit confused as to why Simon is saying he can’t have children and then also not uh, we’ll say “finishing”, when they are in bed together.
In this season Philippa and Prudence Featherington, Penelope’s sister’s, are recently married and in order to secure the Featherington future, are guided by their mother, Portia, to produce an heir.
While a true bit of comic relief after Portia asks them if they have been having sex with their husbands and Philippa responds “inserting himself where?” and realizing that both girls have not been performing the act correctly in any way, shape or from…I mean, it’s funny but it is also very much not.
IS THAT LEMONADE EVEN COLD?
I’m continually curious (and impressed) at how these lavish parties and balls were thrown without the following:
a. Refrigeration
b. Electricity
c. Plumbing
Me and ten other people sat through multiple seasons of The Food That Built America and the level of food spoiling prior to proper refrigeration being invented will curdle your stomach.
The only thing I think stopping many of the Ton from dying of food poisoning was that ingredients were locally sourced and freshly grown - not shipped halfway around the world before they landed on their plate like we have today.
And wine and beer was safer to drink than water!
In terms of electricity - you actually see a scientific character in the show hold up a “lamp” (not part of the book in anyway and I swear neither is the hot air balloon scene nor Lord Debling for that matter!) but it was primarily candles.
EVERYWHERE.
Some books mention the wax dripping on you while you’d be dancing. There must be stories of hair going up in flames and I don’t think any of the clothing they were wearing was the least bit inflammable.
Plumbing? No. The Ton, maybe they had an enclosed “ladies retiring room” where you could do your business in a chamber pot. That was upper class! I did read one book once that took place a little later and they did add some indoor plumbing. And in the Sarah Maclean series I just finished one character has a pool in their townhouse but the water is heated by a multitude of fireplaces.
This all leads me to…
THE LACK OF PERSONAL HYGIENE AND SELF CARE
On top of the stench of rotting food, the level of body odor wafting across the dance floor, especially during the warmer months…my nose burns just thinking about it.
There wasn’t deodorant, certainly not anti-perspirant. Definitely powder and maybe perfume. Bathing was an absolute luxury most did not do daily.
Mouthwash? Nope. Tooth powder and again, I don’t think this was a daily ritual.
Need an advil? Nope. You’d be given a tincture of laudanum which is opium. Francesca’s story describes this in more detail as her husband suffers from migraines.
No advil!! No advil!! How did society function?
Makeup was mostly lead-based so women would get lead poisoning from painting their face.
Those wigs, like the one’s you see Queen Charlotte donning (a little bit more Georgian than Regency), they’d stay on their heads for weeks and any number of items were used to keep the accessories and feathers in place - wax, even tar!
THEY ARE DOING BENEDICT DIRTY
We are annnnggggrryyy about the way they are portraying Benedict. No mention at all of Lady Tilley Arnold in the books - the widow he is now bedding. Not only was his book skipped they are making him out to be a restless rake. Many hopes for a lady in silver to appear somewhere at the end of Part 2 and I’m hoping we get to see “My Cottage” at some point to get this tied in a bow.
That is all!
We are all pretending that we are totally cool waiting for Part 2 to premiere next month but personally, I am counting down the days!