Through an unlucky turn of events involving epic misunderstandings, secret love trysts, and a duel - y’know, the usual - the storyline scoots Daphne and Simon into a hastily arranged marriage.
But of course, in between bickering and pretending to be in love, the two fake lovebirds soon develop a very real romance. The relationship ruse is mutually beneficial for Daphne and Simon, as it allows him to avoid seriously participating in the marriage mart. It’s a promise he made in order to spite his abusive late father, who emotionally abused Simon all his life and cared more about his dukedom than anything else. Simon is trying to avoid matrimonial plots because he’s sworn off marriage, due to his solemn vow never to father children in order to let his entire family line, title and all, die with him. Her choice of bachelor: Simon, the hunky Duke of Hastings ( R egé-Jean Page), a Black man whose family was recently elevated to the peerage. Our story revolves around gorgeous debutante Daphne Bridgerton ( Phoebe Dynevor) and the fake courtship she arranges during her debut on London’s “marriage mart,” the upper-class ritual of social functions that helps eligible ladies and gentlemen make a match.ĭespite coming from a powerful family and making a splash at her debut, Daphne is having trouble attracting suitors - so she bets (correctly) that faking a courtship with a very eligible duke will reignite the attention of other gentlemen. Our hero has a secret that sets the stage for everythingīridgerton is a historical romance set during London’s Regency era, a period of whirling 19th-century ballrooms and high-society intrigues. And although it’s framed as a serious violation of trust between consenting parties, it passes without any explicit acknowledgment on the show’s part that what just occurred was a deeply disturbing violation of consent.īridgerton is thematically concerned with the dynamics of informed consent, which makes it even stranger that this scene was left unaddressed indeed, if there are any lasting repercussions for the victim of the assault or their dynamic with their rapist, we don’t actually see them.īecause it happens pretty quickly and the narrative moves on immediately from the specifics of the sexual encounter itself, I’m not sure everyone will judge this scene in the same way I do. But the version of this scene that ended up in the show is still nonconsensual, despite the tweaks. That indicates to me that Van Dusen and his fellow creatives knew the problems with the scene they were adapting. In the two decades since the book’s release, much of society has become more aware of what is and isn’t consensual sex, and the show deliberately made changes to the scene to make it less explicitly nonconsensual. The first season, written by Shondaland veteran Chris Van Dusen ( Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy), follows The Duke and I fairly closely - including one scene that’s central to the plot but that has been called out repeatedly by romance readers over the years as a rape.
BRIDGERTON SIMON SERIES
Romance novelist Julia Quinn wrote the novel series on which Bridgerton is based, starting with The Duke and I in 2000. Chief among them: Does the creative team realize how badly they handled the rape scene? But like many Shondaland series, it has plenty of dark and disturbing moments, and the show’s first season leaves us with more questions than answers. Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes’s first collaboration with Netflix, may be a sumptuous, scandal-laced frolic through Regency London.
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