“
What? That’s it? I want
more!” I thought to
myself as I finished
the last episode of the new
Netflix hit, “Bridgerton.” Net-
flix’s
most-watched
series
ever revolves around the eight
close-knit Bridgerton siblings.
Viewers get to know these
characters as they look for
love during London’s high so-
ciety “season,” an annual time
when elite families would host
formal events to introduce
their children to society and
find them a suitable marriage.
Eight episodes of pure fan-
tasy. I binge-watched episode
after episode and dreamt of
being a part of high society
London.
“How
fantastical,”
I thought, wearing one-of-
a-kind,
uniquely
beautiful
dresses designed specially for
you, attending balls, dancing
with the hopes of finding a
husband. And if you’re lucky
enough, like the main char-
acter Daphne, you’ll stumble
into a marriage with a hus-
band you actually love. Then
there is the morning after the
ball, which was another social
gathering in itself. The spec-
tacle consisted of sitting in
another elegant dress, drink-
ing tea and having pastries
with the expectation that po-
tential partners bearing gifts
and conversation would walk
through the doors in an at-
tempt to charm the woman
they were after.
I couldn’t stop talking about
the show with any friends
of mine who had watched it.
Maybe it was because I don’t
watch much television oth-
er than the occasional “That
‘70s Show,” or maybe it was
because I was so bored over
winter break that I didn’t re-
ally have much else to talk
about. Either way, I realized I
was not alone in my obsession
— “Bridgerton’’ had taken the
internet by storm. Whenever I
opened Instagram or Twitter,
the memes, videos or tweets
shared a common theme: a
desire to be a part of the phe-
nomenon. My friends even
sent me TikToks with millions
of views of women simply ob-
sessing over the fashion, balls
and sex displayed on screen.
Viewers ate up the allure of
English high society — dress
in elegant ball gowns, have tea
and find a Prince or a Duke as
a husband.
The overwhelming desire to
have a relationship of the kind
depicted throughout the se-
ries and the glamorization of
beauty so prevalent through-
out the show seemed to domi-
nate social media and the texts
I received.
However, after days and
weeks of giving into my infat-
uation, I decided to take a step
back. I started questioning
what exactly was so fantasti-
cal about the series and what
provoked my envy of female
characters destined to a life of
housework and tight dresses
with corsets worn to please
men. The beautiful gowns that
I was so jealous of were mere-
ly used as an attempt to catch
the eye of a potential husband.
The show reeked of female op-
pression.
What exactly was I glorify-
ing?
1813 London: a time period
known as Regency-era Eng-
land, defined by the reign of
the Prince of Wales who took
to the throne when his father
King George III was deemed
unfit to rule due to madness.
“Bridgerton” highlights the
notorious social aspects of
this period — the social sea-
son, also known as the mar-
riage market, high fashion,
politics and gossip. Unsurpris-
ingly, this social season was
exclusive to the upper class,
the rich and the aristocratic
individuals who lived their
lives comfortably distant from
the class struggles of the pe-
riod. This gap in the hierarchy
of society was so cosmic that
social mobility was virtually
unknown — the upper class
was not in reach of the lower
classes and vice versa. Nota-
bly, of this era, a woman’s so-
cial standing depended on her
reputation, which could be
easily tarnished.
“Bridgerton” shines light on
the fragility of a woman’s rep-
utation — one that could be so
easily destroyed. For example,
being seen alone with a man,
even if in a purely platonic
capacity, could lead to irre-
futable damage. In the show,
Daphne and Simon, the main
relationship of the series, get
caught kissing in the garden at
one of the season’s balls. Hav-
ing been caught, and not want-
ing to ruin Daphne’s honor or
destroy her purity (the men of
the time period really bought
into the idea of tainted goods),
they had no choice but to
marry. Why does the internet
glorify a marriage not born of
love, but of societal pressure
and oppression of women?
Despite the fact that Daphne
and Simon ended up being in
love after all, their marriage
was born out of dread, with
Simon almost risking his life
in a duel before succumbing to
marriage with Daphne. There
is nothing glamorous about
a 21-year-old woman having
a choiceless choice: having
to choose between being ex-
iled from society or marrying
a man who would rather die
than take the title of her hus-
band.
Predictably, this was not
the only instance of female
oppression in the show. Elo-
ise, one of the sisters in the
Bridgerton family, struggled
with not being able to pursue
her own passion. Eloise un-
derstood the sad reality that
as a woman, she simply did
not have the freedom to do as
she pleased, focus on her stud-
ies and pursue a career. Eloise
was destined to the same life
as her sister, Daphne.
The overwhelming female
oppression
throughout
the
show drove me to questioning
my own thoughts. I realized
that maybe I was just craving
a good period piece to take
me out of reality. Maybe I was
dazzled by the elegant dresses
because I haven’t worn any-
thing but sweatpants this past
year. Maybe it was because I
couldn’t remember the last
large social event I have been
to. Or possibly, the most over-
arching reason is because it
painted a perfect, aestheti-
cally pleasing, gift-wrapped-
with-a-bow-on-top picture.
It was a reconstructed de-
piction of the Regency Era
for viewership, and I couldn’t
blame the producers for doing
so. After all, that is what cre-
ates the entire allure. When a
show is romanticized to such a
large extent, it is easier to look
past the larger social issues at
play. Despite the fact that the
series showcased class dis-
tinctions, women’s inequality
and female prejudice, Bridger-
ton made sure the real issues
during this era did not over-
shadow the romantic interests
in the series. Would the show
be as popular if the steamy
moments and the complexities
of relationships was not at the
forefront?
I started to realize how en-
thralled I had become with the
material aspects of historical
pieces, rather than the great-
er historical themes. I started
thinking about how lost I got
in the fashion of “That ‘70s
Show,” the coming of age, sex,
drugs and music, that I com-
pletely overlooked aspects of
the the 70s that made the time
period so notable. Yes, the 70s
was an era of fashion (bell bot-
tom jeans), disco and political
change, but it was also a peri-
od filled with economic strug-
gle and racial tension.
Upon further research, I re-
alized this phenomena is com-
mon with a handful of period
pieces, whether it be obses-
sions with those of a similar
aesthetic like “The Crown” or
“Pride and Prejudice,” or even
infatuation with problemat-
ic eras like the 1950s as seen
with the “Mad Men” fandom.
While many period pieces
do not entirely ignore or turn
a blind eye to the more rel-
evant themes and difficulties
of a time period, they do tend
to draw a picture of enchant-
ment, charm and nostalgia in
an effort to let their viewers
blissfully escape the present.
Yet, even with this escapism,
it became clear to me that de-
spite my intentions to be cul-
turally and socially aware, I
very easily fell into the trap:
I glorified a time period with-
out taking the implications
into account of what that ac-
tually means.
I don’t know how our pres-
ent is going to be written in
history textbooks. I cannot
speculate how the story of
this time period will be told.
Knowing that there is no sin-
gular moment that will define
this period, I can only take
guesses at what will be the
defining moments of this era.
However, I think the question
of whether or not a time pe-
riod should be glorified at all,
and to what extent, is impor-
tant. The answer is unclear,
but for now, all I can say is
that I will enjoy these period
pieces with more recognition
for what it means to glorify a
specific part of any given time
period. I will continue to ap-
preciate the elements that
make a period piece so cap-
tivating,
while
consciously
stopping myself from longing
to be a part of them.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 — 15
“What
exactly
was I
glorifying?”
statement
Bridgerton and the
allure of the not so
good old days
BY MARISSA SABLE,
STATEMENT COLUMNIST
Illustration by Katherine Lee