Bridgerton Representation

         In the TV show “Bridgerton” women are accurately represented as the stereotypical high class women in the 1800s. They were married off at a young age for money and power. For example, in “Bridgerton” young females are forced to attend balls by their parents where they meet men looking for wives to carry on their legacy. In this time period women were seen as conservative and respectful of themselves, so for the costumes, the women are seen wearing big long gowns with corsets to look like the “ideal women” at the time and to seem more feminine, because wearing anything other than a gown at all times gave the impression of masculinity. 

The TV show's attempt to accurately represent living in the 1800s is wrong.  During the time period the show is supposed to be based on, people of color were slaves, but in the show they portrayed people of color as powerful figures like the queen, duke, and more. This changes the reality of that era's social relationships. The difference between the soundtrack of the show and the show's claimed time period adds to the historical inaccuracy.  Also, the soundtrack of the show includes today's musicians like Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Billie Eilish and others. Whereas in the time period the show is based on, musicians like Beethoven, Frèdèric Chopin, Richard Wagner, and many others were very popular. The modern day music adds an out of date aspect that isn’t in the story's historical time period.

  

        “Bridgerton” presents the king and queen very differently from what actually happened, even if in “Bridgertons” King George and Queen Charlotte have the same names. Although Bridgerton portrays King George III as being very ill and receiving care from Queen Charlotte, the actual situation was even more serious. King George was very sick because of a rare blood condition known as porphyria, which resulted in an excess of natural chemicals in the blood. King George III frequently experienced  periods of bipolar disorder and depression, which often affected his behavior and personality.  Because he was so sick, he was unable to rule the kingdom properly. In Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte is said to have gained power over England because of King George III's illness; however, this is actually not true. George IV, the son of George III and Charlotte, became the prince  in 1811 after the real George III became too sick to reign. Because both Charlotte and her son wanted to be rulers, this choice caused them to argue. Unfortunately, once the king became ill permanently and showed an extreme change in mood and personality,Queen Charlotte walked away, unlike “Bridgertons” brave Queen Charlotte.

In the show, a big part of the plot was that all of the people in London would receive letters that contained personal information about the people in the higher class from “Lady Whistledown” but in real life no one was creating these letters filled with “gossip.” However, in the early 1700s, about 100 years before the time in this show was set, there was a scandal sheet that included crimes, infidelity, and gossip about the royal family. It was called Mrs.Crackenthorpe. The growing population of london couldn’t get enough of  Mrs Crakenthorpe’s scandal sheets to a point where a bunch of other scandal sheets have been created.