Here's A Sneak Preview of Every Romantic Trope The Relationships on the Upcoming Seasons of 'Bridgerton' Will Follow
Cinderella. Snow White. Bambi. Belle. Beatrix Kiddo. What do all these characters have in common?
They're all characters that inspired Bridgerton's newest star, Simone Ashley, as a child.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the actress - also known for her role in Netflix's popular series Sex Education - talked about how she got to where she is today, including important influences in her life growing up.
"I grew up watching a lot of Disney classics, a lot of classical movies and a lot of musicals. I think we all just love to see humans overcome whatever it is in life that gets in the way of them following their heart."
Of course, no child can subsist on Disney alone - and Ashley sure didn't.
"There was something about Uma Thurman's character in Kill Bill that I didn't completely understand but was entranced by. She was a woman that was so focused on her objective, and that was to get her baby and to kind of get revenge as well, but we won't dive into that. I thought she was so serious and overcame anything, physically or mentally. And I remember being a kid and watching that - being really inspired by her."
You can see elements of both of those characters in Ashley's portrayal of Kate Sharma - the kindness and purity of heart of a Disney Princess, always putting the happiness of those she loves ahead of her own, but tempered with the absolute and irresistably powerful Kickass Energy of Uma Thurman in the Quentin Tarantino classic.
This [perhaps slightly unorthodox] combo worked extraordinarily well for the character, perhaps due in large part to the fact that her romance followed the classic Enemies-To-Lovers trope perfectly - just as the romance between Simon and Daphne the season before followed the Fake Relationship trope.
In fact, if you look at Julia Quinn's books (as I did, when I was home for Easter this weekend and discovered that my mom has bought ALL of them since I showed her the first season a year ago,) you'll see that all of them - each book, for each romance, for each Bridgerton sibling - follows a specific, well-known, well-loved romantic trope.
Yes, of course we're gonna tell you what they are.
Now before you proceed, know this: Mild spoilers are unavoidable. Much of the joy of Bridgerton is in knowing that the familiar story will have a happy ending, so that you can simply focus on HOW it's happening as you watch, so we barely consider these to be true spoilers. That said, if you don't want to know a single thing about upcoming seasons of Bridgerton, and would rather just go in totally blind, then you probably shouldn't read any futher.
(It's also worth noting that the show has not been shy about changing things around from the books, so none of this is for sure.)
But if you're like me, and you're dying for a sneak preview of the fairy tales to come, do read on.
Daphne Bridgerton: Fake Relationship
By now, if you don't already know the story of Daphne Bridgerton and Simon, Duke of Hastings' BURNING love, we're assuming you don't care if we tell you what happens: In order to increase Daphne's chances of catching the eye of the gentlemen of the ton, and in order to keep overeager mamas out of Simon's face, the two contrive a fake, but very convincing, relationship.
The only problem? The effort to keep up appearances causes what begins as a very real and unromantic friendship into an inferno of fiery passion that confuses everyone involved - only after they're married do they realize the other was truly in love with them all along.
This trope has been seen in plenty of books and movies over the years - it's very, very popular in fanfiction communities, but one film you may remember that uses it is The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. (Of course, in time it will probably be this exact portrayal, done so beautifully by Rege-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor, that people will think of first.)
Anthony Bridgerton: Enemies to Lovers
This is the one everyone's talking about right now: The steamy enemies-to-lovers relationship between Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton was one for the ages, but certainly not the first love story in which two people who so passionately hate each other when they first meet come to discover that that feeling - though powerful - was a passion that was very, very misplaced.
This trope really is as old as the ages: Shakespeare used it in plays like The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing; Jane Austen used it in novels like Pride and Prejudice (which was written the same year that this season was set, 1814); we utill use it all the time today today - Han Solo and Princess Leia hated each other at first, and even Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt of Parks and Rec had a bit of a rocky start.
Benedict Bridgerton: Cinderella
Okay. Okay. We're finally onto the new ones - and get ready, because we already know (at least based on book order) that it's Benedict Bridgerton who gets to be the star of the show for season 3...and the trope couldn't be more obvious.
According to the back cover of the novel that Benny boy is featured in, the young woman he ends up falling for is the daughter of an Earl, but is forced to do the work of a servant by her cruel stepmother. But after she manages to sneak into the Bridgertons' masquerade ball, Benedict cannot stop thinking about her - and he vows to track her down and marry her.
If that didn't drive it home enough, there's a picture of a lost shoe on the book cover. We're so excited to see Benedict get to live out the role of a Regency-Era Prince Charming - this goofball sweetheart deserves nothing less.
Colin Bridgerton: Girl Next Door
We'd use another common trope name for this one, but it would definitely give away WHO Colin Bridgerton's love interest will be for the fourth season (which, need we remind you, has already been confirmed by Netflix)...but honestly, this one isn't all that much less obvious.
Then again, if you've been paying attention this season, you probably saw this one coming, because Colin and a certain character we already know and love have been flirting it up real hard ever since he got back from his trip abroad - which, interestingly, is where the novel actually starts. So, in a way, we've already seen the beginning of Colin Bridgerton's love story - because that speech he gives about coming back and seeing his old friend in a new light is exactly what the book jacket describes.
We know the girl next door story well; it's in practically every beloved childhood sitcom where the main character falls for the friend he never looked at "that way." Ned's Declassified, Danny Phantom, even Spider-Man follows this model - and there are countless more examples, because this happens every day.
Even still, we can't wait to see it happen to Colin Bridgerton and you-probably-know-who.
Elouise Bridgerton: Beauty and the Beast
Elouise's love story, admittedly, seems a bit less cut-and-dry - but at its base, it sounds a lot like Beauty and the Beast.
We hope you're not holding out hope for her and Mr. Theo Sharpe from Season 2, because the back cover of the book that's all about her - which is titled To Sir Philip, With Love, so again...proably not so good for Theo - says that her love interest proposes to her simply because he thinks she's a spinster who won't argue. When he finds that she isn't, to his own surprise, he finds himself even more intersted - but he'll have to stop acting like such a jerk if she ever wants to get any feeling out of her other than anger and indignation.
That, plus what we already know about Elouise's bookishness and tendency to be considered "odd" by the other members of the ton, sounds an awful lot like the romance between Belle and the Beast to us.
Francesca Bridgerton: Star-Crossed Lovers
Francesca Bridgerton - aka, the Bridgerton who barely exists so far - is the one who gets arguably the most classic and popular trope there is: The star-crossed lovers, otherwise known as Forbidden Love.
In this case, the love is forbidden because the man who falls in love with Francesca apparently does so at her literal wedding. Like, to another man. Eventually, she is apparently freed from this marriage, but not before it makes it impossible - supposedly, for her to marry him. Think Romeo and Juliet, Jim and Pam from The Office, or Edward and Bella from Twilight - they want to be together, but there's something in the way.
That's very little to go on, but it's way more than we've had on Francesca in previous seasons - she was absent for much of season 1, and in season 2 she was given very few lines at all. Now, we at least know that we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the next couple of seasons - because, after all, if her romance is to take place after her first wedding, there has to be a first courtship to go along with it.
Gregory Bridgerton: Classic Love Triangle/Cyrano
If there's one trope that's more popular - or at least as popular - as the star-crossed lovers one, it's gotta be the classic Love Triangle. One character, caught in the middle of two others who vie for their attention - who will they choose, and who will they hurt?
In this case, it's Gregory Bridgerton - the sweet pre-teen boy who got his first big scene in this second season of Bridgerton - who stands the chance of getting his love or losing it to another. But not the person he expects. Here's how it goes down:
Gregory thinks he falls for a woman at first sight, but she's in love with someone else. Her best friend, however, doesn't like this guy, and agrees to help Gregory win her over. Except then, THEY fall in love...and she's already engaged.
That's two love triangles for the price of one - PLUS a little sprinkle of Cyrano De Bergac.
There have been so many love triangles in popular media in recent decades that people actually started rallying about how sick they were of them - they were everywhere, from Twilight to The Hunger Games to Harry Potter to...every popular sitcom you could think of.
This love triangle, however, seems a little spicier - the extra complicating elements give it a much more Shakespearian vibe, reminiscent of all the chaos in plays like A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Hyacinth Bridgerton: Friends to Lovers/Partners in Crime
You don't hear the actual name of this trope mentioned a lot, but that's not because it's uncommon - if anything, it's because it's so common these days that we don't even feel like it needs a name.
The Partners in Crime or Friends to Lovers trope is one you can expect to see in almost any major detective show that has a romance element to it: Booth and Bones, Beckett and Castle, Tony and Ziva, Jake and Amy; all of these couples started out as partners, working together to solve a case. They fell into love in the most literal way possible - by accident, and while distracted by doing something else.
The same can be said for famed crime duo Bonnie and Clyde, but it can also be said for little Hyacinth Bridgerton - who, by the sound of it, will take very much after her sister Elouise when she grows up. By her fourth season in the marriage mart, it seems all the men in the ton are simply too intimidated by her, saying she's "best in small doses."
But when a young man comes to her asking her to use her sharp intelligence (looks like all that tutoring does come in handy) in decoding a diary that may save him from his father's attempts to ruin him, he finds that may not be the case after all.
One thing's for sure: If Bridgerton manages to stick around for all eight seasons (and we're thinking it will) Florence Hunt is going to get the best deal out of it, having a full seven to grow up and have audiences grow to love her before it's her turn to find love...and we can't wait to see it happen.
Fingers crossed that we get to see all these romantic tropes play out on the screen as Netflix continues to work on Bridgerton for years to come!
