Hello there! Bridgerton season 3 Fever is all over the place since June, and I’m all in for it! WARNING : SPOILER AHEAD!
I have recently watched Bridgerton season 3 part 1 and I am impatiently waiting for part 2, so let’s delve a bit into our analysis and the parts I appreciated about this series, thinking it would inspire us for the better. As you know, I always watch with a filter on, enjoying yet catching the morals and lessons one should learn from whatever one can read, watch or listen to, especially nowadays when so many productions are made with such splendid sets, costumes, aesthetics, music and OH-SO-EMOTIONALLY engaging scenes that certainly have an impact on our brains and characters.
Brushing up a bit over this concept, the sensory load of such artistic productions affects a number of people, and consuming it frequently definitely leaves a mark on us, both physically and emotionally; thus we should be wise as to what we watch and cease the opportunity to filter the good and keep it, filter out the harmful/unpleasant.
Before I share with you my thoughts about the 3rd season, I would like to share my watching context first. I was never a Bridgerton girl before, I did not read the books (simply cause I have never heard of them before the Netflix series), and I didn’t watch seasons 1 and 2 (until I wanted to watch S3 and thought I should first know the basics so I quickly watched season 1 to understand the context). I stumbled upon a Youtube Short of Nicola Caughlan and Luke Newton promoting for the 3rd season and I immediately loved Nicola! I noticed how funny she is and how she speaks of the season and I got curious to what this story she’s talking about. I did my research (which with the Bridgerton fever all over the internet was not hard AT ALL!) and I found the trailer, watched it and LOVED IT!
What motivated me to watch it was Nicola (I just love this actress on every level!) due to her humor, outspoken nature, her support for Palestine (she wore the ceasefire pin the whole tour, and I highly respect that! She even raised millions of funds for Palestine) and her incredible acting skills.
Another factor was her being the unusual stereotypical looking female lead and I LOVED THAT! As someone who’s always been against promoting for only one profile (the skinny, tall beauty) as the female lead in most Hollywood and Main Stream Media productions and leading young girls to having a negative self-image and body-shaming, I felt so glad and proud to be presented with a story dedicated to the “Wallflower”, both inside and out! I sensed how it must be extremely inspirational and empowering for girls like the character Nichola plays (Penelope/Pen/Lady Whistledown), both physically and personality wise (at least it was for me).
We can see how now the story sheds the light on the new heroine who has always been a wallflower, forgotten, unnoticed, underestimated yet beautiful, witty, smart, powerful and influential, which is the case of a big number of people in our societies who are underrated. It is extremely important for art to convey different aspects of human nature and its diversity instead of promoting and encouraging one profile and leading most people to try to adhere to it, which leads to several mental health problems of which, I believe that by 2024, people are aware.
Now let’s discuss this point further, Pen was always the girl in the shadows, of her sisters, her mother, and even with her bestie Eloise who always talked about how she doesn’t want to get married and be a spinster and how she, according to the show, did not seem to like the gossip and the ton’s environment, refusing societal norms.
Pen on the other hand, seemed as if she enjoyed knowing about the gossip, loved to be aware of the secrets and felt strong to watch everything from afar having a clear vision of the behind the scenes of a hypocrisy-filled society. She felt powerful to know it all cause she believed knowledge is power. She was not against the idea of marriage though, she never desperately wanted to be a spinster, in my opinion she just thought that she won’t find the suitable one who would allow her the privacy she desired as the anonymous secret writer Lady Whistledown. Plus the fact that she had a forever crush on Colin, Eloise’s brother.
So, I think (and please feel free to discuss any objections and suggestions you have in the comments, I’ll be happy to read what you all think about and see things from different povs) she felt that she shouldn’t try because she was hopeless and had no interest in anyone else. Although she never refused the idea of having a family and a husband, she never thought she had a chance unlike Eloise who chose spinsterhood despite having a chance (according to their society).
I just LOOOVE female characters who enjoy ruling behind the scenes, pulling the strings of a whole society without no one’s knowledge and secretly influencing hundreds of people. This power is what Penelope has! She is proud to have it and it seems that it is her life’s purpose, work and duty. She found a meaning to her life by writing the Whistledown issues and making the Ton desperate to know what she thinks, what she will write and what she will reveal. Her influence has become evident through each season. I mean even the queen awaits for her journal to come out and enjoys her challenges! So going back to what this point holds of a moral: presenting us with an INFLUENTIAL, POWERFUL, WITTY young woman who makes use of her talents and skills to affect her society and have a sort of financial source. Smart! Especially back in those days!
See you in Chapter 1 (Pen) of our analysis!
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