I want to talk about *that* moment.
Everyone is talking about it.
When Benedict asks Sophie to become his mistress.
There have been think pieces about it. About how the whole season has been building up to it. He sees it as a way to find love. He sees his friends enjoying having a mistress, truly loving it, and he wants it for himself, etc. etc,
I loved it for its audience perspective and how it turns the regency romance trope on its head.
One of my biggest gripes in Regency romances (and I truly, truly love them) is that in so many books, there is an underlying notion that only nobly born, rich women deserve a happily ever after.
They are the ones who get the man. who gets the riches and everyone else gets the scraps.
It’s all great when you are reading the books, but when you stop to think about it, we are faced with the reality that most of us are not the rich, titled characters that the books hold up on a pedestal. We would be the maids, the middle class, the lower class, and the peasants. Are we not deserving of a happy ever after also?
The Difference
Bridgerton season 4 is told from two different perspectives. from Benedict, who we’ve seen for three seasons already. We know his family. We see his privilege. We are in his world. Of course, it is unthinkable for him to marry a maid. After all, in Bridgerton, the rich and powerful always get the man and the happily ever after.
Sienna is discarded without a thought. Marina gets a safe, but not very happy ending. Brimsley ends up alone. and the rest of the servants live by themselves, contented or not, to serve everyone else.
But then we get the other point of view.
We get Sophie.
We are told the story from Sophie’s point of view. So when we are on her part of the story, we assume and expect that she will get the happily ever after.
She is “worthy” of marriage. She deserves the best. Why shouldn’t she? She is a girl like the rest. She is no different from Daphne, Kate, Penelope, or Charlotte. We are on her side, expecting the happily ever after she deserves.
And then, the gut punch, pulling us out of her fantasy and the fantasy that we, the watchers, have been enjoying.
The question was supposed to come out of nowhere.
The question was supposed to shock us and make us mad. Because when we are Sophie, then we are expecting the world, and then we are kicked right back out just as the climax comes.
Now, of course, this is a romance TV show based on a romance novel, so Sophie will indeed get the man and the happily ever after.
But that is exactly why I love Benedict and Sophie’s story so much, because the non-traditional heroine gets her happy ever after, too.
The Mistress
On a rambling note, Sophie is very against becoming a mistress because of her mother. Many people are quick to point out how little protection she gets from the mistress deal.
But… if anyone has ever watched Harlots (on Hulu) the show starts with the premise that actually being a mistress is better then being a wife. WE like to gloss over this in our fantasy escapism, but being a wife conferred zero legal protections.
Once a woman got married, she was her husband’s property to do as he wished, with no real option of divorce. A mistress, however, if she were smart, could have a contract that would protect her legally and financially. She and her children would face consequences only if they chose to be part of a specific segment of society. Historically speaking, mistresses usually fared better than wives.
Read More:
- 3 Things Bridgerton Season 4 Did Right (And 3 Things It Did Wrong)
- The Most Addictive TV Series Since Bridgerton
- Behind the Scenes With Bridgerton Season 4