Gossip, whispers, hearsay, tittle-tattle. Find out how the Netflix series Bridgerton (2020) invert the act to display girl power!
I know that I am sooo late in talking about Bridgerton, but at least what we're going to discuss is still going to be around. I mean who doesn't do gossip right? Even if you don't partake in it, you would still overhear it anywhere anytime about anyone, be it about your neighbor or the recently famous celebrity. To be fair, a romance flick with gossip as the main theme is not a totally foreign concept. Who doesn't know Gossip Girl? But how does Bridgerton differ from Gossip Girl?
Bridgerton is set in a speculative British aristocrat society of the early 19th century. The audience can infer this particular time frame from the frequent mention of the anglo-Spanish war. The initial impression I grasp from watching the first episode is that this might be another type of Gossip Girl narrative, the only difference would be that it is set in the regency era. There was the archetypical display of dresses and parties, women and frills, with the sound of a mysterious woman who narrates the story as well as calculating all these women and grades their worth through information/gossip chain.
Gossip on an ambivalent scale of gender roles representation
After going through all the episodes, I reckoned that there is more to the gossip than meets the eye. Particularly through how the gossip helps invert the traditional gender roles. Throughout the series, the scandalous gossip from Lady Whistledown’s paper shapes and turns the tide in the competition of the marriage market. Who-did-what-with-whom kind of talk is often considered to be feminine affairs. Women enjoy creating and spreading them, fussing over the shocking tales of other people. Perhaps this explains why women are frequently shown to hold Lady Whistledown’s paper throughout the series.
A word from the paper had almost absolute authority over both man and woman. The paper could bring callers to certain debutante or drive them away from another. If it favors a lady, then men are guaranteed to be shown flocking into her house the next day after the party. On the contrary, one bad review from the lady would cost the young lady to lose her desirability. Despite its supposedly feminine nature and a general idea of men being out of or even beyond such trivial, the series also captured how the paper often ends up in men’s hands, in men’s space, and even causing a racket between men.
Does this mean the patriarchal display is no more? Well, not quite.
The traditional gendered roles are still somewhat shown here in a way that the ladies were more enthusiastic in chasing the desirability for marriage than the gentlemen. The series also captured the disturbing notion of how women were often considered as the ‘goods’ and men as ‘the buyer’ in the marriage market. In the confrontational scene between Duke of Hastings and Nigel Berbrook, Berbrook drew a derogatory comparison between checking out a horse before buying and trying out a woman before marriage. Thus, placing women as the passive party in the endeavor despite how much they are invested in the social season. Lady Whistledown’s gossip does not only cover the grading of women as it highlights the desirable bachelor as well. Therefore they can achieve a more active role in reviewing their callers.
Information holds power, holding it is to empower
Different from the ending of Gossip Girl that shows Dan, a male character to be the true voice behind gossip girl, Bridgerton shows the true voice behind Lady Whistledown as Penelope Featherington, a participating female contestant in the social season. This revelation gives more powers in the hand of women than its predecessor, Gossip Girl.
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| Bridgerton S01E02 |
Even though the end game is rather questionable, gossip is also pictured to be the mean for women to claim power over their allowed submissive role in the marriage market. In episode 2: Shock and Delight, the Dowager Viscountess Violet Bridgerton is shown to weaponize ‘the talk’ to free her daughter, Daphne, from a forced marriage with Nigel Berbrook who has previously attempted to force his way with Daphne. The series draws a comparison between the effectiveness of handling the matter in the male bravado way and the feminine talking way. Anthony, Daphne’s brother proposed to challenge Nigel Berbrook to a duel in defending her honor. However, the series picture how effective the woman way employed by Dowager Viscountess as not only does it relieve her daughter from an undesirable marriage but also elevated her status in the marriage market arena. On a side note, taking arms to defend a woman’s honor and chastity is even pictured further as an escapist and irresponsible way of handling the matter. Towards the end of season 1, the motive behind Anthony's eagerness to a duel was revealed. Anthony, trapped in his duty as the eldest son of Bridgerton, saw that there is no way out of this responsibility other than death or turning himself a criminal. This further complicates the notion of masculinity and the societal demand that follows such a role.
Lady Whistledown's paper itself then has evolved from a mere theatrical decorative property into a signifier of the turning event. Gossip that is considered a trivial feminine business turns out to be the effective way to handle the matter that even a masculine way could not solve. This example shows how the series captured the attempt to challenge and to invert the traditional gender roles.
Bridgerton is filled with ambivalent portrayals that sometimes might come across as half-assed. Some ambivalence like gossip came out okay. Some just turned out to be problematic, for instance in the way that
they clash trust in a relationship and sex without consent. In any case, beyond gossip and romance, Bridgerton discusses many important issues such as race and gender.
Check out Bridgerton on Netflix, if you haven't already!
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