In Defense of Penelope Featherington

Dearest Gentle Reader,

After an explosive end to last Season, many have been left with questions, and no immediate answers. Accusations have been flung, defenses presented, rumours - as ever - running wild. While we await the coming Season with breathless anticipation, you may rest assured of one thing:

This Author will not be silenced...

The finale of Season 2 of Bridgerton left viewers shocked and eager to know the answer to the penultimate question: what happens next?

Colin Bridgerton, after seeming to have almost admitted how much Penelope means to him, announced to his friends that he would never dream of courting her. (Really, the Bridgerton boys need to just stop talking to Lord Fife. It is always overheard, and always ends badly for them...) Eloise discovered Lady Whistledown's identity, and became utterly enraged, breaking their friendship. The Featheringtons have money again, having pinned the blame on Lord Featherington and claimed to be fellow victims of the man, who fled back to America.

The days and weeks after Season 2 was released were wild, filled with fans gushing over their favorite characters, scenes and episodes. Comparisons were made between the Netflix show and the book series, both good and bad. One thing was undeniable: everyone was waiting for news of Season 3.

In the months following, however, a darker side of the Bridgerton Fandom began to emerge...

First came the announcement of who the main characters would be.

Unlike the book series, which started with Daphne and then followed the other siblings in order of age, with Anthony starring in Season 2, Season 3 of Bridgerton would focus on two third children: Colin and Penelope.

Despite the outrage from the die-hard book purists, other fans saw this as a good thing, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there is a canonical two-year time-skip between Benedict, the second Bridgerton brother, meeting his love interest Sophie at a ball, and their reunion and romance. With the show being set up to have each season focussing on... well, The Season... you can't fit the entire book into a single one.

In a similar vein, Season 2 saw Benedict still discovering who he was and wanted to be, ending with him feeling lost upon the discovery that Anthony had made a donation to the Royal College of Arts to secure his place there, rather than recieving an offer on pure merit. Where Benedict had once been the spare, as Anthony steadfastly avoided the Marriage Mart, his older brother is now married, and will soon be producing children, making his own ascention to the title less likely. Suddenly, Benedict doesn't have to worry about being Anthony's default heir, and must find another direction for his life. Perhaps finding Sophie again will be that direction and purpose, but as Season 3 begins, Benedict is not yet ready to become a husband.

Fans have speculated that Benedict and Sophie will have their first meeting in Season 3, setting them up for their own Season. Also considered likely to make an appearance is the first courtship and marriage of Francesca Bridgerton, who is set to be presented to Society, before being widowed young. Like Benedict, she also has a gap of years between her first marriage and the main events of her Great Romance.

Meanwhile, the stage is perfectly set for Colin and Penelope, such that it would be a waste to try and put them off.

Unfortunately, much of the disappointment about Seaason 3 not being Benedict's story was directed at entirely the wrong target: Penelope Featherington, and her actress, Nicola Coughlan.

Like all shipping wars, the arguments were many and varied. Most revolved around the complaint that Netflix was telling the story out of order, or that the fan just wasn't as interested in Colin and Penelope. Some, however, took a more personal note. Supposed fans of the show called Penelope 'ugly' and claimed that no-one wanted steamy scenes with a plus-sized actress. 'Selfish', 'Cruel', 'Gold-digging' and 'Evil' were also common adjectives.

While the majority of fans were content to wait and see what the new Season brought them, a very vocal minority saw fit to lash out, sending hateful and vitrolic messages at Nicola and, to a lesser extent, Colin Bridgerton/Luke Newton, until both either suspended their Social Media, or turned their accounts to strictly Private.

In a generation that has grown up with Social Media and internet usage as an everyday right, I shouldn't have to point out that this behaviour is - or should be - unacceptable.

On a surface level, some of the complaints about the character of Lady Whistledown and Penelope Featherington might seem valid.

"How could she say those things about Eloise, her best friend?"

"She had money, why didn't she help her family?"

"Marina was nice to her, why would she expose her like that?"

"She's so selfish, writing trash about people!"

"Penelope is such a bad friend!"

"Eloise was totally justified!"

On a completely superficial level by someone who just wants to enjoy a steamy frock-flick, I can see how viewers might make those conclusions.

However, a deeper examination of the show, even without the context of the books and the realities of Regency Life, showes exactly why Penelope acted as she did.

Let's take those claims one at a time...

"How could she say those things about Eloise, her best friend?"

There is an entire scene dedicated to how much Penelope did not want to write about Eloise's scandalous behaviour - and yes, it was scandalous, and Eloise should have known better - but had no choice if she wanted to save her friend from a far harsher fate.

Before Lady Whistledown offered an alternate explanation for Eloise sneaking off to the publisher, Queen Charlotte was convinced that Eloise was Lady Whistledown and, feeling as though she had been made the fool given her charge to discover Lady Whistledown's identity, intended to prosecute her for it. Eloise had no proof that she wasn't Lady Whistledown, and as Madame Delacroix points out, nothing would be more convincing than for Lady Whistledown to write about Eloise.

Doing so may have sunk Eloise's social life (something she was not unhappy about), but it also probably saved her actual life.

Also, Eloise isn't exactly subtle, and it was a matter of time before her sneaking away was found out. Like much of Lady Whistledown's gossip, this is Eloise experiencing the consequences of her own actions. Penelope, among others, tried over and over to stop Eloise from ruining her own reputation, and Eloise ignored her.

"She had money, why didn't she help her family?"

I have two questions: How, and Why?

Penelope only writes during the Social Season, a few months out of the year. Whatever she makes needs to last during the off-months, and while her profits are certainly more than 95% of people made, there is a limit to how far they'll stretch. Lady Whistledown isn't a daily paper; she doesn't have a consistent income. Certainly her fortune will grow over time, but at the moment, Penelope has perhaps a few hundred pounds, not even enough for Phillipa's dowery.

How would Penelope explain her sudden fortune without also exposing her identity to her family, containing two of the most oblivious and loose-lipped girls in London, and a woman known for her scheming? Her father has just died; making up the death of another relative who left a bequest is a little too on-the-nose. Far better for her to slip some of it to Mrs Varley, under the pretense of it being part of the household budget, or claim she had pin-money left over and using it to buy essentials.

More than that, Why would Penelope give up her fortune for her family?

While their circumstances are undeniably reduced, having to remake last year's gowns and forego expensive menus, the Featheringtons are not destitute. The main problem is that most of their assets are tied up in the estate, which is in limbo until the heir arrives. The new Lord Featherington is on his way, expected in a week or two, and despite Lady Featherington's fears, there is no indication that he will not be generous to them. Better to wait and see if there is a need for a flimsy excuse for sudden wealth, than to hand it over and watch it vanish immediately on new gowns and hosting dinners.

Especially when Penelope herself has a greater need for those funds.

Being Lady Whistledown is a risk, and more than one person wants to expose her identity. If Penelope is discovered and has to flee to the colonies and start a new life, she'll need money to do so. Lady Featherington has no expectation of Penelope marrying, and Season 1 established that the sisters have very little by way of a dowries. Penelope's earnings are her future dowery, money her family is unlikely to give her, should she ever decide in that direction.

If Penelope runs out of discreet publishers and needs to fund her own; if something happens and she does need to provide for her family; if the new Lord Featherington is cruel and casts them out; if Penelope becomes an Old Maid and can't rely on charity from her sisters... Penelope's fortune is better saved for the future.

"Marina was nice to her, why would she expose her like that?"

Anyone claiming this is missing that Marina was nice to Penelope, because Penelope was the only Featherington who reached out to her in kindness, going to some lengths to do so under her mother's nose, and only while it suited her.

Frankly, Penelope was a lot nicer than she had to be, and for longer than Marina gave her any motivation to be.

At several social events, Penelope points out several potential husbands for Marina. An older man who is probably a widower in need of a wife and heir, and will leave Marina a wealthy widow. A handsome younger man standing far too close to his "Best Friend" for there to be a straight explanation, who will welcome children he doesn't have to participate in creating. A man who seems good-natured but rather dim, and will probably believe that Marina's children were just premature.

All candidates who have reasons not to question the timing of Marina's pregnancy, and who would treat her well in what is essentially a business arrangement as much as a marriage.

There is no reason for Marina to hold out for Colin specifically, other than that he believes himself in love with her and is handsome, with a wealthy family. Even then, as devestated as Penelope was, she was willing to support Colin marrying Marina, the woman he claimed to love... until she discovered that Marina didn't love him, and had no intention of telling him the truth.

Penelope begs Marina to be honest with him, knowing Colin well enough to know that he wouldn't hold it against her. This is when Marina turns nasty, insulting Penelope and rubbing in her face that Colin will never choose her. Marina makes a point of never giving Penelope a chance to talk or even be in close company with Colin, isolating him.

(Switch the genders, and people would be screaming about toxic relationships, abuse, and red flags.)

Even after Marina is revealed to be with child, Colin is still willing to marry her, under the belief that she loves him. It isn't until she admits that she doesn't care about him that he breaks the engagement.

Say what you will, at least Sir Phillip offered marriage with his eyes open.

"She's so selfish, writing trash about people!"

That's literally every news publication and magazine ever. Sensation sells, and if people didn't want their behaviour commented upon, they should have considered their actions.

(The invasiveness, double-speak and misleading headlines of modern tabloids are an entirely different article)

Comparatively, what Lady Whistledown writes is only really shocking in terms of "How on earth did she find out?" and being an equal-opportunity exposer. She doesn't shy away from spilling the tea on the rich and powerful as much as the gentry and lower Peers.

Most of her gossip is information that, if not common knowledge, would be soon. With a few exceptions (most of them for the better) it's fairly harmless, holding up a mirror to the inaneities of life that High Society delights in.

When she does lash out, it's usually to call people out on their behaviour after they've refused to do the right thing themselves. Lord Berbrooke's refusal to do the honourable thing and support his bastard child. Marina tricking Colin into marriage with no intention of telling him that he isn't the father. Eloise meeting a young man of the lower classes unchaperoned and in secret. The Duke of Hastings raising expectations with Daphne but not actually proposing.

If you don't want to end up in a scandal sheet, try not indulging in scandalous behaviour.

"Penelope is such a bad friend!"

I agree that Eloise and Penelope's friendship is perhaps not the healthiest. It's certainly quite co-dependant, as they seem to be each other's only friends, and Eloise shares secrets with Penelope without considering the impact on her friend, while Penelope cannot share her secrets, because she knows Eloise is terrible at keeping things to herself, and admits that she wants to change Lady Whistledown's Society Pages to a Women's Rights Newsletter.

They are two different people, with different goals and ambitions in life, but that doesn't make either of them a bad friend, just friends who need to find a better balance between them, and a bit of personal growth.

"Eloise was totally justified!"

She really, really wasn't.

Leaving aside that Eloise has demonstrated serious issues with respecting boundaries before, including breaking into the Bridgerton Housekeeper's room in Season 1 when she suspects her of being Lady Whistledown, the Season 2 Finale confrontation was several steps too far.

Eloise didn't just search Penelope's room, she utterly trashed it, based n nothing more than suspicion, when Eloise already established in episode one that Penelope likes Society and does not mind being a wallflower. In this case - unlike the many, many instances before when Eloise suspected someone and was completely wrong - Eloise was correct in her suspicions... but what if she hadn't been? What if it was yet another case of mistaken identity, like before?

Penelope's clothes are strewn all over (gowns were expensive), her bed and desk in complete disarray, furniture overturned and floorboards pulled up.

No matter how angry Eloise is, that kind of privacy invasion and destruction of property is inexcusable, especially for someone who claims to have been a friend.

Insults and accusations are hurled, and while both girls have valid points, Penelope is on far more solid ground.

As she says in S1E4, "Not everyone can be a pretty Bridgerton!" and as she declares in S2E8, "You cannot stand it, because while you only talk of doing great things...I am the one who has actually done something!"

She's right. Penelope is overlooked and ignored, and while she has turned that into a strength as Lady Whistledown, it stems from the truth that she cannot rely on her family. Her mother ignores her, her father gambled away her dowery before dying, and her sisters belittle her. Penelope has little to recommend her, and everything she does gain must be the product of her own work.

Eloise, while a bit of a black sheep among her siblings, has what we might term "First World Problems", largely buried under a whole lot of privilege.

Eloise is part of a large and loving family, with stable finances and a flawless reputation. Even if Anthony dies young, as he fears, Eloise has three other brothers who will ensure she is taken care of, rather than being left to the mercy of a distant relative. Eloise is the sister of a Duchess and a Viscount. If she actually expressed a desire to do something other than be a debutant, her older brother would bend over backwards to support her. If Eloise wanted to start a school for girls, or host Salons for the scholarly-minded, or even participate in the Early Feminist movement herself (which was more to do with writing letters and articles and lobbying politicians than the famous Sufferagette movement later in the century), she could. Women could not attend University at the time, but one word from Eloise about wishing to be a scholar, and the best tutors money could buy would be lining up for interviews the next day. If Eloise wanted to be a spinster, she could probably live off her dowery without ever having to rely on relatives.

Eloise could do anything she wanted, but she chooses not to. Penelope's options are far more limited, but she chose to take the risk of doing something.

I look forward to seeing how this conflict is resolved in Season 3, along with Penelope's Glow-Up.

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