i’ve spent the last two weeks binge reading the bridgerton books and despite the fact that they’re pretty much the exact same book eight times i actually really enjoyed them lmao**
i’m a simple girl and something about this bland, white bread, run-of-the-mill historical romance formula scratches an itch in my brain that isn’t quite reached by anything even vaguely intellectual.
i’m starting (and probably finishing) ‘on the way to the wedding’ today but here are my rankings so far:
1. an offer from a gentleman (benedict) 4.7 stars
2. it’s in his kiss (hyacinth) 4.5 stars
3. when he was wicked (francesca) 4 stars
4. the viscount who loved me (anthony) 4 stars
5. the duke and i (daphne) 4 stars
6. romancing mr bridgerton (colin) 3 stars
7. to sir phillip with love (eloise) 3 stars
** i must, however, point out that many parts of the books are quite problematic and ALL the love interests present a different flavour of misogyny. as julia cudney so eloquently pointed out in her youtube vid ranking the books, a lot of people’s rankings are literally based on what form of misogyny bothers them the least so take all of this with a pinch of salt lol
Bridgerton 2 accantona la sessualità per assomigliare a Jane Austen. La rappresentazione dell'India è pericolosamente una fantasia esotica
Bridgerton 2 accantona la sessualità per assomigliare a Jane Austen. La rappresentazione dell’India è pericolosamente una fantasia esotica
Sono rimasta un po’ delusa dal secondo capitolo della saga rosa di Bridgerton. Pensavo gli sceneggiatori mantenessero il ritmo e l’erotismo della prima stagione e invece mi sono ritrovata davanti un intreccio alla Jane Austen in salsa moderna. C’è solo un timido cunnilingus verso gli episodi finali e poi basta. Anche la tensione sessuale è trasformata in tensione amorosa. Perché dico questo?…
I think the Bridgerton fandom needs a little bit more nuance and reading comprehension when dissecting the books and digesting certain actions taken by the characters.
For example, Daphne and Phillip both raped someone in their books. Daphne raped Simon and Phillip raped Marina. This isn’t open for debate because that’s exactly what happened. But here is where the crux lies: When Julia Quinn wrote those scenes, she did not intend them to be rape scenes, and therefore she did not write Daphne nor Phillip to as rapists.
As readers it’s our job to criticize the scene and Julie Quinn for writing it, but understand you can’t use that scene to influence the whole character and what they are like. The issue lies with Julia Quinn and what she perceives as consent, and this actually comes up in every single Bridgerton book (with men acting as if they are owed sex), it’s just that Books 1 and 5 have the most egregious example of it.
What’s more is Julia even brings up rape multiple times in her other books, where the men would say “I would never rape a woman”, and you can tell from the context of those scenes Julia views rape as forcefully or violently sexually violating a woman. When the truth is, rape doesn’t need to be forceful nor violent. You can also tell that she doesn’t believe a husband or wife can rape one another, which is actually where Daphne and Phillip’s scenes come into play. Daphne was married to Simon, Phillip was married to Marina, and neither Simon no Marina said the word “no”, so to Julia that means both scenes were consensual.
As readers we need to concede that these scenes were rape, but I also think it’s entirely disingenuous to take it a step further and described Daphne and Phillip as rapists. These characters aren’t real, they’re fiction in novels written by a very real woman who is misunderstanding the very essence of consent and who can and should be educated about it. When I see people flippantly call Daphne and Phillip rapists it’s almost always related to the fact they dislike these characters for other reasons and rapist is an easy and powerful word to use to completely disregard their characters.
This is why I think it’s so important for the show adaption to understand these scenes and completely remove them from the show. They failed miserably with Daphne but given the backlash they received from including that scene, I feel as though it will not be done with Phillip.
“Anthony responded instantly; the warmth of Kate’s touch flooded him, seeping through his body until it caressed his very soul. And in that moment he realized that this was about more than love. This woman made him a better person.”
He moved to the window, not because he was looking for anyone or anything in particular, but simply because the view was better than anything else in his room
And yet in the quarter second before he looked down and gazed upon the grounds, he somehow knew what he would see.
Kate. Walking slowly across the lawn, far more slowly than he’d ever seen her walk before. Usually, she walked as if in a race.
She was much too far away for him to see her face—just a sliver of her profile, the curve of her cheek. And yet he could not take his eyes off of her. There was so much magic in her form—a strange grace in the way her arm swung as she walked, an artistry in the posture of her shoulders.
She was walking toward the garden, he realized.
And he knew he had to join her.
- The Viscount who Loved me
I love this quote. Anthony was in love with her LONG before he realized it.
He was never going to ride a horse or climb a tree or stride purposefully across a room and sweep a lady off her feet. There were a thousand things he’d never do, and you’d think it would have been a man who’d reminded him of this—an able-bodied man who could hunt and box and do all those bloody things a man was meant to do, but no, it was her, Lady Sarah Pleinsworth, with her fine eyes and nimble feet, and every bloody smile she’d bestowed upon her dance partners that morning.
He didn’t like her. He really didn’t, but by God, he’d have sold a piece of his soul right then to dance with her.”
This is one of my favourite passages from The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn. It is Book 3 of The Smythe Smith Series. I HIGHLY recommend the books!
