Top 10 Times Bridgerton Tackled Serious Issues

A major subplot throughout the first season of the show was Lord Featherington’s gambling addiction. We see him gambling and losing time and time again, in the gentlemen’s club also frequented by Anthony and Simon, and at Will’s boxing match. At the end of the season, he convinces Will to throw a fight in exchange for half of his winnings betting on it. This works, but not before the bookmakers find out what Lord Featherington has done. He ends up getting murdered, with the criminals taking the winnings from him, leaving the family in dire financial straits once more. Gambling addiction is a real and very devastating issue that can ruin people’s lives, and the characters are still dealing with its fallout.

In a similar vein to the previous Lord Featherington’s gambling problem, the new Lord, Jack, manages to fool everybody in the Ton. He arrives bringing wealth and charm, though through a series of ill-conceived plots, Portia Featherington learns that Cousin Jack actually has no money at all. Together, they hatch a scheme to bleed the gentlemen of high society dry, convincing them to invest in Jack’s phoney ruby mines. Though it’s all larger-than-life with counterfeit necklaces and deals with the devil, people do regularly fall for scams like this, and often have a hard time coming to terms with it. In real life, there isn’t usually a Colin Bridgerton waiting to swoop in and save the day – much as we wish otherwise.

As Eloise never fails to remind us, the Regency era was a difficult time to be a woman – especially compared with today. It wasn’t until 1882 that married women in England were allowed to own their own property, as previously, all their possessions became their husband’s upon marriage. Eloise is always concerned with the plight of women and is seen discussing proto-feminist texts like Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”. In season 2, she has her eyes opened to the struggles of women of lower rank and is constantly trying to better herself. Today, men and women still aren’t equal in many parts of the world.

Anthony’s carrying a lot of trauma, and we learn about this in great detail in season 2, when we finally find out why he is the way he is. While still young, he witnessed his father, Edmund, die of anaphylaxis following a bee sting. He eventually confesses to Violet that the reason he isn’t seeking a love match is because he’s frightened of the grief the death of a beloved spouse causes. At the end of the season, he talks to Gregory about their father, and admits that they don’t talk about him as much as they should. With Kate’s help, he begins to deal with the grief he’s been repressing for years while trying to be the head of the family.

Multiple subplots look at how the world of the Ton compares to the lives of middle- and working-class people in London. We see this in season 1 through Anthony’s doomed relationship with opera singer Siena, as well as Benedict’s brief dalliance with Madame Delacroix, as they try to put their class differences aside in the name of love – and both ultimately fail. In season 2, Eloise meets Theo, who opens her eyes to how, in a lot of ways, she’s very privileged to be a lady in the upper class and has protections that lower class women don’t. It’s always interesting to see a Regency period drama like this engage with the class divide, rather than ignoring it completely.

In season 2, Colin returns from his travels in Greece with a tan, a goatee, and some unusual substances. He then makes Benedict, who’s worrying about his art school application, a cup of very unique tea with this purple powder. Benedict takes nearly all of it, against Colin’s advice, and has a VERY fun time at dinner that evening. The show doesn’t name it, but it’s believed to be opium powder, something that wasn’t regulated at this point in time. Of course, while this is one of the funniest scenes in the show, it’s still an important issue to talk about.

Though people of color make up the show’s main cast, the same can’t be said for LGBT characters – which has dismayed some fans. But society’s archaic attitudes to queerness were explored back in season 1, when Benedict catches his art instructor in the arms of a man. He then explains to Benedict the prejudice he faces, and Benedict empathizes, which isn’t surprising given the libertine circles he runs in. There are a lot of fans who want Benedict to be bi, although like all the other Bridgertons, he’s straight in the books. Only time will tell if we get more LGBT representation in future seasons.

Many initially thought, ahead of the full release of season 1, that “Bridgerton” was employing color-blind casting. But actually, it does deal with race head-on, as explained during a conversation between Simon and Lady Danbury. Lady Danbury explains to Simon, and, subsequently, to the audience, how Queen Charlotte’s rise to the throne has changed things for people of color in the world of “Bridgerton”. This has remained a sticking point with a small number of people in the real world – showing just much further we still need to go – but “Bridgerton” gets more diverse each season, introducing the Sharmas in season 2 and East Asian characters in season 3.

Marina Thompson’s pregnancy is a major plot point in season 1, as she tries to find an eligible husband as quickly as possible to protect her from the scandal. This frequently throws her into conflict with Penelope, as Marina tries to persuade Colin to marry her – despite the fact she doesn’t really love him. In one of the show’s darkest moments, Marina also tries and fails to end the pregnancy with a drink that could have killed her, too. Earlier in season 1, Eloise confides in Daphne that one reason she doesn’t want to marry is that she witnessed Hyacinth’s difficult birth, and she’s afraid of the risks that pregnancy carries.

At the beginning of “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”, King George tries to keep his wife at arm’s length to spare her from his fragile mental state. This is all based on history, as George III was well-known to have suffered from some form of illness. Whether it had a physical or psychiatric cause still isn’t known, but he was very unwell for large portions of his life. We see Charlotte learn about this and witness his erratic behavior, as he writes on the walls and runs into the garden late at night to observe Venus. Charlotte goes on to advocate for the King when he can’t do it himself, dismissing his cruel doctors and doing her best to take care of him.

Let us know in the comments what issues you want to see in “Bridgerton’s” future episodes.