Tighten those corsets and open those folding fans, folks: it’s swoon season. IE: Bridgerton is back for season two. The Netflix series, produced by Shonda Rhimes and created by Chris Van Dusen, is based on the best-selling Regency-era romance novels by Julia Quinn. Spanning from 1813 to 1827, the eight books chronicle the lives, loves, and exciting connections of the eight Bridgerton brothers (each novel focuses on a different brother’s story), who are part of a well-to-do and well-respected family in the London high society. , also known as “the ton”, short for “le bon ton” or “good manners”. Bridgerton’s first season aligns most closely with the first book in the series, The Duke and I, and follows the story of Daphne, Bridgerton’s eldest daughter. Season Two does the same, drawing its main arc from the second novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me, about firstborn son Anthony. Both seasons dive into some of the latest novels while making necessary changes, not only to the show’s racially diverse cast, but also with new or revamped storylines.
If you’re thinking, um, this sounds like a lot, and I’m already confused, you’re not alone! Bridgertons may be named in alphabetical order, but for novices, they are easy to confuse. Throw in all the other lords and ladies and dukes and anonymous gossip columnists spending the social season in London and you’ve got plenty of people to keep in order. Since some of us have already tackled this world in book form, we have insider knowledge that may come in handy as the TV show progresses. here’s a character cheat sheet to help you break down who’s who and what they’re doing based on information from both the novels and the first season (so yes, dear reader, there are plenty of spoilers). As he battles his way through all the regency scandals his heart desires, this author advises him to prepare.
You are reading: Featherington family in the books
newcomers
nothing like a little fresh meat to shake up the ton.
kate sheffield/kate sharmathe most important new face of London’s high society is our kate. In the novels, she is Kate Sheffield, the spinster older half-sister of the incomparable Edwina from the 1814 social season. Kate has had to wait to come out in society until the same season as her younger sister due to dire financial straits. of the family. Things have been particularly difficult since Kate’s father died five years earlier, and both Kate and Ella’s stepmother Mary believe that Edwina will be the one to secure a fortune and keep the family from becoming destitute. Much of this is because Kate doesn’t have time for the niceties expected of women of the time. In short, she is not afraid to speak her mind; in some cases, she can’t help it. especially when it comes to a certain viscount that she finds both loathsome and charming. hmm, i guess adding falling in love with anthony bridgerton to the list of things kate just can’t help. in the tv series, this character is kate sharma, still much more desired edwina’s half-sister, still coming to the marriage market scene to make sure her sister makes a good match, and still not afraid to say what what do you think. oh yeah, and she’s still very much into berating a certain viscount while she’s clearly fighting feelings for him. don’t forget that part.
edwina sheffield/edwina sharma, kate’s younger sister, in both book and tv form, is quite charming. you want to hate someone who is so popular, but in this case you can’t. the season’s matchless is kind and charming and makes it known that she’d rather be inside reading than wandering the countryside. In fact, in the novels, Edwina admits that she thinks her perfect match would be some kind of scholar. But just because she’s not as outspoken as her sister doesn’t mean Edwina lacks a mind of her own. most of her story has to do with finding that out.
mary sheffield/mary sheffield-sharmagood for julia quinn for not turning lady mary into an evil stepmother. (That’s for a character in the next book!) She’s a woman who loves both of her daughters equally and makes sure they, especially Kate, know it. In the novel, Mary marries Kate’s father when Kate is only three years old, but she assures him that she was her daughter from the moment they met. she actually she is very nice. while book mary is just a widow who manages her two daughters, tv mary has a much richer and more interesting backstory: she was a member of high society until she fell in love with mr. sharma, kate’s father and her family kicked her out because he was not of the english nobility. the sharmas move to india and eventually mr. Sharma dies. when the youngest comes of age, mary brings her two daughters back to england in the hope of finding a husband for edwina. Mary’s parents, Lord and Lady Sheffield, are hired for the TV series, and they’re just as terrible as you’d imagine the people to be who disown their son for falling in love. however, they play a fundamental role in the plot.
newton!!what a good boy!!
Kate’s dog (in both the book and the show) is not only the naughtiest little corgi who mixes with the likes of high society, but he’s also a king, okay? and yes, i know it could be treason in a monarchy, but i said what i said.
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edmund bridgerton, the late viscountokay, maybe this is a bit misleading, because we’ve certainly heard a lot about edmund, father of all those bridgerton kids. but it’s not until season two that we really get to know him, and that’s because, as we learn in the second novel, edmund’s untimely death due to an allergy to bees (about ten years before the start of these bridgerton shenanigans) is the motivation for so many of anthony’s choices as an adult. he was not even twenty years old when he had to take his father’s place as head of the family. aside from anthony, what we learn on both the show and the viscount who loved me is that edmund was a murderous father who wanted to spend as much time with his children as he could, something unheard of in his time. In addition, he and Violet had a difficult love to fulfill. oh, and unsurprisingly, he was a dilf, a term she’d bet lady whistledown would have used if she’d noticed. dear gentle reader, behold the rarest of tons finds, a first water dilf!
theo sharpeinvented for the tv series, theo sharpe works at the print shop that has lady whistledown as a client, she is very interested in women’s rights and appreciates conversations with educated people and curious: even if they come from one of the most well-known families in society.
Lord Jack FeatheringtonAnother TV exclusive character, Jack Featherington is the heir to the Featherington family. Younger and more attractive than everyone expected, the new lord arrives from the Americas in possession of many weapons, some ruby mines and, of course, secretssss.
the familiar faces
This lot has been to the ballroom before, but we could all use a refresher.
anthony bridgerton, viscountoh, anthony. book anthony and show anthony are quite similar in that they were both completely devastated by the loss of their father at a formative time in their lives and are 100 percent scarred by grief and trauma that they have yet to fully process. fun, right? Anthony hides behind an uncompromising notion of duty and responsibility to avoid any further pain; in the novel, she harbors an intense fear of dying young like her father. In the TV show, she allows herself to fall in love with opera singer Siena Rosso only to have her heart trampled on. In both cases, Anthony vows to find a wife who meets a list of sensible requirements, including being someone she can never fall in love with. feelings are not allowed!! That’s why Anthony starts courting Miss Edwina, whom she sees as her social equal, and why Kate takes such offense at him coming over her sister’s chances of finding love. If only she knew that this horny boy misses his father and has so much inner turmoil to sort out!
lady danburyevery social circle needs a lady danbury. she’s scary but in a way that makes you want to be her when you grow up. she’s a widow who’s been around longer than anyone and she knows what’s up; she says what she wants, when she wants, and her opinions are usually correct. she works a cane like no other. She was friends with Simon Basset’s late mother, and this relationship is expanded in the television series when she becomes a mentor-like figure in her youth and helps guide him to a happy marriage in the first season. in the second season, her role is wisely updated from the books and she becomes patron of the sharmas for the social season. Her closeness to Queen Charlotte also comes into play, as she is both a blessing and a curse. if the sport of high society is husband hunting, lady d is the mvp.
penelope featherington aka lady whistledownoh that’s right, mate: it was revealed at the end of season one (and in book four, having an affair with mr. bridgerton) that Everyone’s favorite wallflower, Penelope Featherington, is Ton’s most famous and ruthless gossip writer, Lady Whistledown. In her real life, Penelope is overlooked or mocked by almost everyone, including her mother and her terrible sisters; she’s in the friend zone because of the object of her affection, colin bridgerton; and she is forced to wear the most unflattering dresses until she is in her twenties. She has two breaks: her friendship with Eloise Bridgerton and her alter ego. Lady Whistledown is anything but a bystander: the socialites can’t inhale the scandal sheet from her fast enough, including, in the TV series, the queen. In the novels, whistledown’s identity is revealed to everyone at once and she has some important explaining to do. in the TV series, only the audience is aware of her identity as we go into season two, but it stands to reason that if the show decided to make that reveal long before the novels, they’ll do something else with that information in motion. Forward. Especially since Queen Charlotte has made Lady Whistledown Public Enemy Number One.
eloise bridgertongod bless eloise bridgerton! she doesn’t exactly have time for the whole of society to be on top of her, telling her that the only future available to her as a woman is to get married. she wants more from life, which is why she is happy with being single, and throughout the novels she turns down six different marriage proposals. she’s smart, sharp-tongued, and extremely observant – a detective in training, you could call her. when we meet her in 1813, she is about to make her debut in society and she dreads it 100 percent. Eloise doesn’t want to play games, at least not this one, and she’s happy to fight her fate for as long as possible. In the TV series, she is totally preoccupied with finding out who Lady Whistledown really is, not realizing that she is her dearest friend, Penelope. this obsession is sure to take her to some interesting places in season two.
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Violet Bridgerton, The Dowager ViscountessThe Dowager Viscountess is the mother of Bridgerton’s uncomfortably large brood, and as with any mother of any number of children in Regency England, Violet is worried about marrying them all out and out of their hair, er, making sure they’re happy. Unlike other “marriage-minded moms” in the novels, Violet wants her children to make love marriages. she wants this so much that she is even willing for one of her children to marry a servant, which is unheard of. I mean, they would have to go live in the country and be rejected forever, but she wouldn’t be doing the rejection, you know? she is a true advocate of following one’s joy, as long as joy means marriage, because let’s not get too carried away. In the books, but especially in the TV series, she is still very much in love and in mourning for her beloved Edmund. nobody had a love like violet and edmund!
queen charlotteshe does not figure in the novels, but was the actual wife of king george iii during this time in history. In the series, Queen Charlotte looms large over the activities of high society. Not only is she the trendsetter of the season, selecting the diamond of the season (in the first season, she was Daphne), but she’s also obsessed with unmasking Lady Whistledown. she also has a kind of friendship with lady danbury (does a queen really have friends?), a tragic love affair with the king who has dementia, and holy hell, can she work in some fabulous wigs?
benedict bridgertonjust don’t call it no. 2, okay? he is a human being, with feelings and thoughts and, most surprisingly, some real artistic abilities. Benedict, Bridgerton’s second son, harbors a secret talent for drawing and painting. major future spoiler here, but ultimately benedict is so good that he gets a painting in the national gallery, and we’re all here for that kind of career success. Less successfully, Benedict tries to cover up his feelings of worthlessness within his family. With his older brother, the heir apparent and Viscount, Benedict doesn’t really know his place. however, he knows that he feels a bit stifled by the rules of the society in which he lives. after all, he is an artist. In the novels, Benedict keeps his dreams to himself until they are revealed in his novel, the third in the series, an offer from a gentleman. in the TV show, his family is already very aware of his abilities and eventually they are quite supportive. Even Anthony seems to be on board with Benedict dabbling in the bohemian lifestyle, which includes threesomes at wild art parties and a casual flirtation with Genevieve Delacroix, the high-society dressmaker. ok, i don’t think anthony knows about the trio, but i’d probably still be cool with it, knowing that the capital r rake.
colin bridgertoncolin is the funny and charming bridgerton, but he would like to be considered more than just a good time. Like Benedict, Colin feels a bit lost for being a man without a title (don’t worry, we don’t feel bad for these rich guys). As the third Bridgerton, he sees Anthony as the head of the family, he watches as Benedict finds fulfillment in his art and stands by as people make happy marriages around him. in the novels, he is so adamantly opposed to being forced into marriage that he spends his time traveling abroad. this fills some of the void in him, but he is looking for more. In the show’s first season, Colin falls in love with Marina Thompson, Featherington’s cousin, but discovers that he is part of a scheme to marry her off before people realize she is pregnant. he, uh, doesn’t take heartbreak well, and this is what sends him on his journey. maybe this guy needs to open his damn eyes to someone very close to him who adores him and could be perfect for him, even if he doesn’t wear the most flattering dresses. ugh, men are the worst of all time, right? It takes about eight years for Colin to see Penelope as more than just a friend in the books, so we’ll see what the show does with that.
the duchess of hastings, or: daphne bridgerton bassettyou may know daphne, bridgerton’s sister number 4, as the diamond of the season, the perfect regency girl who had a lot to Doing learns both the pleasures of sex and the science of it (in that order!). Bridgerton’s first season closely followed the first novel in Quinn’s series, The Duke and I, which was about Daphne looking for a husband. She strikes a deal with resident socialite sad boy with daddy issues Simon Bassett to pretend they’re courting, to help her appear desirable and him to keep mothers with eligible daughters at bay, and they end up falling for the one from another. Since the second season will mirror the second novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and focus on Anthony’s love story, Daphne and Simon figure much less into the plot. In the novel, they show up to family events, including a riveting Pall-Mall match. On the show, only Daphne will be on hand to offer some wisdom to her brother on how to survive the social season. regardless, they seem very happy together, making babies with alphabetic names, so that’s nice! happy endings forever!!
genevieve delacroixmadame delacroix, a character invented just for the tv series, is london’s most sought after dressmaker. Because almost every woman in high society walks through her doors looking for a dress, she always knows what’s going on in high society. In the first season, she starts to get involved with Benedict Bridgerton, but at the moment it’s nothing serious. we’ll see who else he forms a surprising bond with in season two.
francesca and gregory and hyacinth bridgertonsorry, no sorry, but we have a lot of bridgertons to keep track of, and since the three youngest of the brood are just kids when we start, They stay out of the story for now. but keep in mind that these kids grow up and get their own novels about their pursuits of romance.
lady portia featheringtonin the novels, lady featherington is the widowed mother of four daughters and, like most mums in London’s high society, just wants them to marry a good match. Of course, to Lady Featherington, “good” really just means “rich.” she is, well, let’s call it “unkind” to her daughter penelope, she adores her two oldest daughters philipa and prudence even though they are dumb and horrible (in the romance with mr bridgerton, a character points out that spending time with the sisters featherington “would make a grown man wish himself aboard a ship to australia”), and is known to be one of the gossipiest women in town. you don’t want lady featherington to find you in a compromising situation, that is Sure. The TV series rejects Lady Featherington’s youngest daughter, Felicity, and forced her to put up with a really terrible husband with a gambling problem who ends up dead at the end of Season 1. That leaves Lady Featherington to the waiting for the heir to her estate, hoping that Philippa’s engagement will still be carried out and raising enough money so that the family doesn’t get kicked out of society in season two.
cressida cowperthis! woman! Cressida is the bad girl of high society. she will cut down anyone who gets in the way of her getting a good husband. I don’t mean physical cuts, because I don’t think high society women were allowed to hold knives in the regency era unless they were buttering a scone (I based this on zero research, but I know I’ve read and seen pride and prejudice an alarming number of times), but rather, I mean cutting someone off verbally, meaning they spend their time tormenting the people we like (daphne, penelope, et al.). honestly, how dare she?
marina thompson crane and sir phillip cranemarina is perhaps one of the biggest deviations of characters from the book to the screen. She doesn’t appear until Eloise’s book, To Sir Phillip, With Love, the fifth in the series. She is a distant cousin from Bridgerton who suffers from depression and is married to her deceased fiancé’s brother of eight years before attempting suicide and dying shortly after from complications. (this all takes place at the beginning of that novel, so she’s not much of a spoiler). In the TV series, she is a cousin of Featherington who comes to live with the family at the beginning of the first season, and although she immediately wins over many suitors, she harbors a deep love for a soldier named George Crane and arrives. pregnant with their babies, much to Lady Featherington’s devastation. Thanks to Daphne’s help, Marina finds out that George died in the war but wanted to be with her. enters sir phillip, george’s brother, who arrives in london and says that he would like to marry her and raise her children. Marina is not thrilled, but she has no other options. sir phillip is a good man in both the show and the books, although he is a raging plant nerd, and you can probably tell from the fact that his name is in the title of eloise’s book that he has a much larger role to play in bridgerton novels. in the show? time, or lady whistledown, will tell.
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