“Bridgerton”: “Pride and Prejudice” Meets “Gossip Girl”

Shondaland presents a modern take on the 16th century 

Shonda Rhimes surprised Netflix viewers last month with her newest series, “Bridgerton,” a gossip-laden period drama centered around the public and private lives of 16th century English society. The show is everything you might expect from a Shonda Rhimes production—witty and tempting.

The series provides a quaint tour of Regency London through the eyes of the eponymous Bridgerton family and is the first of several projects Rhimes has promised to Netflix in a landmark deal between the streaming service and Rhimes’s own production network, Shondaland. 

The show’s large debut and its immediate popularity only prove that Netflix’s nine-figure commitment to the premium creator will be a worthwhile investment.

Netflix began courting Rhimes in 2018. To coax her away from a prolific production stint at ABC, the streaming service drafted a multi-year, $100 million contract–which Rhimes didn’t hesitate to sign.

In a profile for the New York Times, Rhimes said she had two primary goals for her time at Netflix. First, to produce shows more expansive than her previous work with ABC—think “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Second, her aim was to turn Shondaland into an industry leader that will live within Netflix in the same way Marvel productions are nestled into the Walt Disney universe.

“It would be really amazing to me at some point down the line—not now—if somebody said, ‘There was a Shonda for Shondaland?’” Rhimes said during her interview with the New York Times. “It needs to be bigger than me.”

She serves as the executive producer of “Bridgerton,” while her longtime collaborator, Chris Van Dusen, leads as the series’ showrunner.

Van Dusen began his partnership with Rhimes as her assistant before he was welcomed into the writing room for “Grey’s Anatomy.” Since then, he has picked up credits on almost every Shondaland production, most notably “Private Practice” and “Scandal.”

His time in the Shonda Rhimes universe has proven fruitful, as Van Dusen has mastered Rhimes’ signature formula for making captivating television with the three essential ingredients wit, sex and romance. Adapted from the Bridgerton books by New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn, Van Dusen invites us to gaze upon the public and private lives of the upper class: no secrets silenced or moments missed—we hear everything.

And so does the ambiguous Lady Whistledown, a brand new addition to society. 

The gossip-columnist creates quite a stir in Grosvenor Square, as her musings about the season are in demand from everyone who matters, including Queen Charlotte herself.

Her columns tow the line between reporting and gossip, as she describes the season’s notable courtships and comments on scandals which appear to happen behind closed doors.

Van Dusen combines gossip with traditional elements of period dramas, seen in productions like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Downton Abbey.”

“Bridgerton” however, allows viewers a chance to enjoy the scenes of outdated, though romantic courting rituals like private balls and chaperoned walks on the river, as well as the steamy encounters and secretive thoughts that evade each chaste and innocent young woman’s mind.

Lady Whistledown’s narration surely stirs the pot, but the motivations for her actions are mysterious. Her persona, like infamous scandal reporter Gossip Girl, makes her appear as though she is both outside the world of her targets and of it.

Viewers are immediately introduced to the Bridgerton family on the first day of the marriage season; the eight siblings and their widowed mother sit at the helm of the elite, and Daphne Bridgerton—the eldest daughter—is their diamond.

Daphne is one of the countless young women looking to secure a proposal this season, but her highly-motivated nature to find love places her above the rest; though she clearly feels the pressure from all angles.

“You have no idea what it is to be a woman...what it might feel like to have one’s entire life reduced to a single moment,” Daphne lectures to her oldest brother in the first episode of the series, over the anxieties of finding a husband.

“This is all I have been raised for. This...is all I am. I have no other value. If I am unable to find a husband, I shall be worthless,” she continues.

Her clarity points to every young woman’s duty in society to marry, not only to uphold the integrity of the aristocratic class, but to save themselves from the dreaded existence of a spinster.

Like most young women her age, Daphne is out in society, but she is ignorant to the emotional and sexual expectations of marriage. Throughout the series we will watch her navigate the challenges of marital bliss, while learning more about herself in the process. 

The archaic tropes surrounding love and marriage are coupled with the quite obvious difference “Bridgerton” has to any other period piece like it: multiculturalism.

In this universe, all people of color are welcomed into the upper class, most notably the group of Black elite, including Queen Charlotte and the Duke of Hastings, Daphne’s principal love interest.

The move to portray Black people as respected members of the community is a fresh, and welcome direction for a period piece, but their participation inevitably raises questions about slavery and England’s colonial history. Unfortunately, “Bridgerton” does little to answer these questions as the only comment they make is that racism ended when King George fell in love with a Black woman.

Apart from this flimsy explanation of how Queen Charlotte came to be, there are no other explicit mentions of race.

Queen Charlotte’s role and the overwhelming inclusion of Black people into 16th century society stem from the same questions of where, when, and how Black people were granted the right to assume high titles of honor and respect as their white counterparts.

Though each individual storyline in “Bridgerton” can be wrapped up in a bow, this fundamental question remains undetermined.

As such, “Bridgerton” manages to remain as both an escapist fantasy of a world without racism, as well as a digestible and entertaining peek into the private lives of the English elite.