Warning! Spoilers ahead for Bridgerton season 1.
Eloise Bridgerton should have been revealed as Lady Whistledown in the Bridgerton season 1 finale. The series, which is based on the books by Julia Quinn, introduced Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews) as the mysterious gossip columnist who was attuned to all the ins and outs of the Ton, a term used to describe London’s high society. She knew everything about everyone and her identity was shockingly revealed to be none other than Penelope Featherington, Eloise’s best friend.
Penelope being Lady Whistledown didn’t make much sense within the scope of the season 1 story, however. For one, it was unclear what Penelope’s motivations were for taking on the role, and her writing wound up hurting her family and especially Marina, the Featherington’s distant relative whose pregnancy outside of wedlock became the scandalous talk of the Ton. Penelope very clearly wanted to get married and had her eyes set on Colin Bridgerton. However, considering that she purportedly had no problems with the society she was critiquing so often, Penelope writing about the social structures of the Ton and the lives of others didn’t track with her history. Rather, the reveal actually made her actions and characterization inconsistent in Netflix's Bridgerton and, at worst, incredibly petty.
Eloise, on the other hand, disparaged the lives of socialites. She pointed out how sexist and unfair it was that men were able to get an education while women’s roles were limited to finding a respectable and wealthy husband. Eloise admired Lady Whistledown and believed her to have a lot more freedom than any of the other women in the Ton because she could write about whatever and whoever she wanted without being held back by the constraints of high society. Eloise’s ideology greatly differed from that of her elder sister Daphne and Penelope, who actually wanted to get married and have families of their own.
With all that in mind, revealing Eloise as Lady Whistledown would have been much more impactful considering how often she complained about having to get married and the obvious double standards that allowed men to behave in ways that women couldn’t lest there be a scandal in the Ton. What’s more, as Lady Whistledown, Eloise could have actually contended with the ideas she took issue with in a column. Rather than one-sidedly discussing topics such as women’s right to an education, Eloise could have condemned the obvious sexism to a much wider audience, potentially changing others’ minds as well.
Plus, Eloise being Lady Whistledown would have transitioned her from a passive participant to an active feminist with a lot of power and influence over the Ton. Yes, Eloise being the face behind the pen name would have changed Penelope's backstory from Quinn’s books, but Bridgerton is a television adaptation and there are bound to be a few creative changes that may better suit the story. If the mystery of Lady Whistledown's identity had remained a secret for much longer, the series could have better explained why Penelope decided to lift her pen. As it stands now, Bridgerton missed a great opportunity to explore Eloise's frustration with being a woman who is constrained by the traditional values of the Ton.
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January 13, 2021 at 05:34AM
