Bridgerton's Most Hated Character Is Actually The Most Traumatized

Summary:

• Bridgerton is a Netflix romantic period drama series based on Julia Quinn's series of novels of the same name.
• The show is narrated by an anonymous gossip who calls herself Lady Whistledown.
• When viewers found out that it was Penelope Featherington hiding behind anonymity, she had a lot of haters.
• But some believe that Lady Whistledown is her own way of dealing with trauma.

Let's face it, as much as we all love to watch period dramas, there isn't a single soul out there who would actually prefer to go back to the Regency era, even if it meant being guaranteed to end up in a rich and noble family. The lack of comfort and entertainment that we get from modern technology would drive most people crazy within the first week.

Even the reimagined and highly modernized Regency era portrayed by Netflix and Shondaland in the Bridgerton adaptation is far from perfect. Most of the female characters suffer from the lack of education and basic human rights for women, while most of the male characters find dueling the best approach to any conflict.

If there's one thing Bridgerton could use from the 21st century, it's therapy. Even the most powerful, feared, and hated voices, like Lady Whistledown, could have used their power for good if only they weren't so angry at the outside world.

Why Did Penelope Featherington Start Lady Whistledown?

Being a young woman in London at the beginning of the 19th century was hard enough, but being a woman like Penelope was twice as hard, as she was subjected to all kinds of scrutiny for most of her life.

For starters, she was born into the Featherington family. While the show has toned down the intensity of her mother, Portia, quite a bit, she's still far from a compassionate Violet Bridgerton. She thinks she knows what's best and imposes her absurd rules on her daughters, not shying away from playing favorites.

Despite being disliked by her own family, Penelope still had to carry their name, which was never well respected by the ton. Her gambling father was often the talk of the town in the worst ways imaginable, so his dubious reputation cast a shadow over them all. Penelope's lack of attractiveness by social standards didn't help.

Hearing all kinds of comments about herself and her family, receiving all kinds of pitying looks, and having almost no one to support her, Penelope must've felt very isolated. However, when she picked up the pen and started writing about those who had hurt her for most of her life, she probably felt a great sense of relief.

Is this a healthy coping mechanism to encourage? Not at all. But in the Regency era, there really wasn't much else she could do to make herself feel better. And this method not only worked for her, but provided us with a great deal of entertainment.

Many Bridgerton fans want Penelope to finally face the consequences of Lady Whistledown in season 3. To see if that happens, tune in to the first part of the season premiere on Netflix on May 16, 2024.