The Bridgerton Seriesnote is a series of romance novels by Julia Quinn. Set in Regency England, they focus on the love lives of the eight lovely (and alphabetically named) sons and daughters of the powerful and respected Bridgerton family.
The main novels take place over more than a decade. They each focus on a Bridgerton sibling.
- The Duke and I (2000): Set in 1813, fourth child and eldest daughter Daphne enters a fake courtship with the dashing Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings.
- The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000): Eldest brother Anthony sets his sights on the beauteous Edwina Sheffield, but finds himself attracted to her older sister Kate, who opposes the relationship.
- An Offer From a Gentleman (2001): A young woman named Sophie sneaks into the Bridgerton masquerade ball, where she has a dazzling encounter with second son Benedict.
- Romancing Mister Bridgerton (2002): The Bridgertons' wallflower neighbor Penelope Featherington is by now considered a spinster, but that may change now that her longtime crush Colin has returned from his travels.
- To Sir Phillip, With Love (2003): Second daughter Eloise has embraced spinsterhood, but spends a year exchanging letters with one Sir Phillip Crane. Marriage now seems within reach, but she has never met him in person.
- When He Was Wicked (2004): Third daughter Francesca has recently been widowed, which could be a second chance for Michael Stirling, who has long had his eyes on her.
- It's In His Kiss (2005): Youngest daughter Hyacinth consistently finds herself at odds with Gareth St. Clair, until a diary brings the two of them together.
- On the Way to the Wedding (2006): Youngest son Gregory enlists the help of Lucy Abernathy to help him court her best friend. They develop feelings for each other, but will all the wrong weddings take place before they can work it out?
- The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After (2013): A collection of epilogues.
Netflix ordered a series adaptation in 2018. Bridgerton was released on December 25, 2020. The second series, adapting 'The Viscount Who Loved Me' was released on March 25, 2022. A miniseries serving as a prequel for Queen Charlotte, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, was also released on May 4, 2023, and was used as the inspiration for a tie-in novel, Queen Charlotte, which was co-written by Quinn and Shonda Rhimes, who produced the series adaptation.
Tropes in the books:
- Alphabetical Theme Naming: The Bridgerton siblings, who are named down the alphabet in order of age (Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth). Daphne and Simon continue this tradition, naming their children Amelia, Belinda, Caroline, David and Edward.
- Alpha Bitch: Cressida Cowper is introduced in The Viscount Who Loved Me as ill-natured as she is beautiful and going out of her way to put down Penelope and Kate.
- Altar the Speed:
- Simon and Daphne, Anthony and Kate, and Philip and Eloise all end up having to get married swiftly due to being discovered in compromising situations.
- Colin and Penelope move forward the date of their wedding by (truthfully) implying to their mothers that they've preempted the vows.
- Hyacinth and Gareth try to pull this too, but maybe after rushing four previous weddings, Lady Bridgerton refuses and they marry two months later.
- "Back to Camera" Pose: One compilation of the novels shows one of the female characters from the back as she walks along a Regency estate, establishing the period romance setting.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Kate dislikes Anthony because she doesn't want a former rake anywhere near Edwina. Anthony, piqued by her disapproval of him, provokes her by deliberately pursuing Edwina. Soon enough they develop a genuine rapport that becomes mutual attraction.
- Beneath Suspicion: Lady Danbury correctly guesses that Lady Whistledown's true identity is one that nobody suspects, which is how she has managed to remain anonymous for so long.
- Characterization Marches On: In The Duke and I, Daphne muses that her mother would marry off ten-year-old Hyacinth if she received a good enough offer, but in later books she is a romantic who tries to set up her children because she wants them to be as happy as she was with her late husband. note
- Dark Secret: Penelope is Lady Whistledown, the notorious gossip columnist the ton fears.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Colin feels frustration due to being the third son with no purpose in life, unlike Anthony as head of the family and Benedict with his painting, which he vents by travelling a lot. Much to his shame, he finds himself envious of Penelope, who has forged her own purpose in life as Lady Whistledown with far less support and resources.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Daphne engages in an unambiguous rape of Simon in The Duke And I (she has sex with him when he's too drunk to consent, after he makes a habit of pulling out to spite his late, abusive father), yet the book ends with her and Simon Happily Married. This is arguably Deliberate Values Dissonance, in that an aristocratic husband of the time who didn't provide his wife with children was liable to have his masculinity called into question. Marital Rape License was also very much a thing, though it normally worked the other direction.
- Downer Beginning: "When He Was Wicked" begins with the death of Francesca's loving husband followed by her miscarrying his child.
- Fairy Tale Motifs:
- The third book draws from Cinderella. Sophie is treated like a servant by her stepmother and stepsisters; Benedict falls in love with her at a masked ball.
- Penelope often gets compared to The Ugly Duckling.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: Gareth's father turns out to be his uncle while his uncle turns out to be his father. When discussing it with Hyacinth, Gareth has to specify which one he actually means.
- Good Stepmother:
- Mary loves Kate like a second daughter and is determined to see her happy and settled just as much as Edwina. On Kate's end she is just as fond of Mary and considers her the only maternal figure she can remember having.
- Eloise ends up becoming this to Philip Crane's two children, Oliver and Amanda. The epilogue from Amanda's point of view ten years later has her explicitly consider Eloise her mother.
- Heroic Bastard:
- Sophie, the heroine of the third book, is an earl's illegitimate daughter.
- Gareth St. Clair is legally the son of Lord St. Clair, but the family knows that can't be true because Lord St. Clair was away at the time of his conception. He later discovers his biological father was his father's brother Edward.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Mrs Featherington dresses all her daughters in clothes with bright, intense colours and excessive frills that unfortunately suit Penelope very badly, and it's pointed out in multiple books that she would look much better in subtler colours and simpler styles.
- Ladykiller in Love: Michael Stirling is a notorious rake and has been hopelessly in love with Francesca Bridgerton ever since he saw her. Since she was marrying his cousin, who Michael was extremely close with, he does not make a single move towards her but directs his energies to various other women.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: The Bridgerton siblings number eight. Gregory and his wife later manage nine children.
- Matchmaker Crush: The plot of On the Way to the Wedding. Lucy develops feelings for Gregory while trying to set him up with Hermione.
- Meaningful Name: Penelope's last name, "Featherington," appears appropriate, considering she often compares herself to The Ugly Duckling.
- Not What It Looks Like: Mrs Featherington, Lady Bridgerton and Kate's stepmother Mary stumble across Anthony and Kate in the gardens while he is trying to suck the venom from a bee sting on her chest. Naturally they all three assume that he and Kate were doing something else and Anthony is forced to propose Kate to save their reputations.
- Old Maid: Penelope and Eloise don't marry until their late 20's. They are considered spinsters by this time.
- Parental Marriage Veto: Sophie is very worried about this, although it never actually materializes.
- Parental Neglect: Amanda and Oliver Crane's parents are emotionally distant for most of their childhood, their mother Marina due to clinical depression and their father Phillip due to the stress of trying to care for his wife, deal with her death and his own hang-ups about repeating his father's abuse with his own children. Though Phillip Crane does love his children and under Eloise's guidance grows closer to them.
- Properly Paranoid: After realising Lady Whistledown's identity, Colin is adamant that Penelope not publish anything more in case somebody finds out and she is ruined. This is partly fuelled by his envy of her writing talent but sure enough, when Penelope writes her next column, somebody does manage to figure out her identity and tries to blackmail her with it.
- Reformed Rakes: Several of the male leads (Simon, Anthony, and Michael, to name a few) are notorious rakes, but they nonetheless fall in love with their partners and become good husbands.
- Retcon: In An Offer From a Gentleman, Sophie tells Benedict her mother was a lady's maid, but in It's In His Kiss, Hyacinth says she was an actress.
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: Daphne and Simon initially fake a courtship as an Enemy Mine against London society: she's trying to make herself attractive to suitors by making them jealous of the Duke of Hastings, he's trying to repel Gold Diggers. They fall hard for each other and end up marrying.
- Second Love: Plays a big part in When He Was Wicked. Francesca was in a mutually loving marriage with John until his death and her later falling in love with Michael in no way diminishes this. Nor does the fact that Michael was her second love depreciate her love for him.
- Secret Chaser: Eloise's determination to find out who Lady Whistledown is.
- Secret Diary:
- Colin has one, which Penelope finds.
- Gareth St. Clair's grandmother Isabella wrote one in Italian, which his brother's widow passes along to him, and he recruits Hyacinth to translate it for him.
- Secret Identity: Penelope is the gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.
- Secret Relationship: Sophie and Benedict hide their relationship for very good reasons - she's illegitimate and his mistress.
- Simultaneous Arcs: The plots of "To Sir Phillip, With Love" and "Romancing Mr Bridgerton" take place during the same time as "When He Was Wicked," with each arc focusing on Eloise, Colin and Francesca respectively.
- So Bad, It's Good: An in-universe example is Miss Butterworth and and the Mad Baron; the book is hammy but everyone that reads it seems to enjoy it.
- Something Only They Would Say: Cressida Cowpar of all people is the one to deduce Lady Whistledown's identity when she recognises a line of her column as the same one Penelope said to her the night before.
- Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Subverted. Gregory gets there in time, but Lucy tells him to leave and goes through with the wedding.
- Spirited Young Lady: The grown-up Hyacinth Bridgerton is intelligent, headstrong and sharply witty.
- Strictly Formula: As analysed here starting at 7:23
by Julia Cudney, it is not an exaggeration to say the books follow a certain formula, with similar beats occurring at the same points and many of the characters falling into similar archetypes (most of the men are handsome rakes, most of the women are inexperienced and "unconventionally attractive", half the characters have daddy (or mommy) issues, there are questionable sexual dynamics, etc). - Treasure Hunt Episode: It's In His Kiss is about Hyacinth and Gareth searching for jewelry they realised exists through his grandmother's diary.
- White Sheep:
- It's a Running Gag that Penelope is the only Featherington that the Bridgertons tolerate, and the boys usually stick up for her in society. And she eventually ends up a Bridgerton as Colin's wife.
- Posy becomes this as opposed to her mother Araminta and sister Rosamond.
