Bridgerton: A Glossary of Romance Tropes
Overused and under-appreciated, romance tropes are like little inside jokes between an author and their readership
I thought about writing you an entire novel about the merits of romance literature but decided I didn’t have the time for that today.
Alas, the first part of the new season of Bridgerton came out this morning and if you know me then you know that I watched it the moment I woke up. For that I will make the time every time.
As I’ve jumped head-first into writing over the last few months, I’ve hopped from genre to genre, searching for a voice, teasing out a tone and, like a kid rummaging though a toy box, found a few that have spoken to me. One of them is romance.
I’ve leaned in and out of romance as a reader for years, finding the genre a lot more enjoyable now that I take it seriously, but not literally. Like teasing out red threads in Taylor Swift songs, one of my favorite parts about reading romance is recognizing and identifying tropes. Overused and under-appreciated, romance tropes, or common themes that arise in the genre, are like little inside jokes between an author and a reader — moments commonly drenched in satire, when the reader can say, “aha! I see what you did there!” Emily Henry, arguably one of the greatest romance authors of our generation, wrote an entire novel poking fun at this dynamic.
And while a lot of non-romance readers discredit the genre for being formulaic (as if every thriller ever hasn’t followed the 27-point plot structure), romance’s predictability, not just in how the novel ends but how the characters get there, makes it a comfortable genre to sit in, particularly in a world fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. Like musicians rearranging the same twelve chords to create something new each time they write a song, romance authors take the same tropes and arrange them or re-contextualize them to create something new with each novel.
Within a couple weeks of the first season of Bridgerton hitting Netflix, I had read all eight original books in the series.
I was hooked on the whole universe.
The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn follows the love stories of eight siblings. Since the siblings are so close to each other, they play distinct roles in each others’ love stories, creating a whole world in and of itself at “Bridgerton House” and “Aubrey Hall”. What the adaptation did really well in that first season, and what this particular adaptation needed to do really well in that first season in order to ensure renewal, was encourage the viewer to become personally invested in all of the Bridgerton siblings, even though the season only focused on the love story of one of them. So, while Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings feigned courtship in the foreground, the rest of the siblings offered up juicy breadcrumbs of personality in the background that perfectly tee’d up their own time to shine. I think specifically of the scene in Season 1 Episode 2 when Eloise bursts into the family drawing room asking, “How does a lady come to be with child? I thought one needed to be married, apparently it’s not even a requirement,” leaving her mother at a loss for words, her sister dumbstruck, and her older brothers giggling in the corner. It’s almost as good as the collection of scenes that Eloise and Benedict, the two intellectuals of the brood, share on the swings outside their home, discussing art and writing and their place in the traditions of the ton. These moments become a sort of marketing mechanism — knowing that Eloise and Benedict and the other siblings have their own love stories coming down the pipeline keeps me engaged in the franchise as a whole, running [scrolling] to the bookstore [Kindle].
But with such high volume of stories must come some repetition, right?
On the contrary, Julia Quinn did an excellent job of employing different romance tropes for each story, turning the series as a whole into a showcase of the best that the genre has to offer.
A glossary of tropes, of sorts.
Spoiler Alert! I cover the main trope in each of the Bridgerton novels, including those that have not yet been adapted. So if you haven’t read the novels and don’t want anything ruined, stop here!
Daphne Bridgerton & Simon Basset: Fake Dating
Daphne has been discounted by eligible suitors. Simon is being bothered endlessly by them. What if they joined forces to make it seem like they are courting each other, making her look desirable and him look unavailable?
Anthony Bridgerton & Kate Sheffield: Enemies to Lovers
Anthony has set his sights on Edwina [Sharma] Sheffield, the season’s incomparable. It’s a shame her older sister, Kate [Sharma] Sheffield, despises him, keeping him far away from Edwina. Will his attempts at gaining Edwina’s sister’s approval be successful?
Bonus content: I am obsessed with this Tiktoker who took Anthony’s confession of love from the adaptation and RAN WITH IT for like a whole series of videos
Benedict Bridgerton & Sophie Beckett: Cinderella Retelling
Sophie Beckett, the daughter of an earl and his maid, has never been claimed by her father, and was instead raised by the servants in his home. But will sneaking into the Bridgerton masquerade ball turn her misfortune around?
Colin Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington: Friends to Lovers
Few people have the patience to hear all about Colin Bridgerton’s copious travel, except for his friend and neighbor Penelope Featherington. Will seeing his life through her eyes finally give him a sense of purpose?
Eloise Bridgerton & Phillip Crane: Pen Pals
When Eloise Bridgerton’s distant cousin dies, she writes to her widower to offer her condolences, sparking a pen pal friendship. But when her correspondent, Phillip, invites her to come stay with him, will her showing up to the home of a man she’s never met be the best thing or the worst thing she’s ever done?
Francesca Bridgerton & Michael Sterling: Widow/Second Chance
When Francesca Bridgerton’s husband dies suddenly, his estate passes to his cousin Michael. Can Francesca and Michael build a relationship in their shared grief?
Hyacinth Bridgerton & Gareth St. Clair: Dark Secret
Gareth St. Clair is trying to uncover a family secret, but all that he has to go by are some old family diaries written in Italian. It’s a good thing a family friend, Hyacinth Bridgerton, can translate. But will the secret be too much for both of them to bear?
Gregory Bridgerton & Lucy Abernathy: Runaway Bride
Lucy Abernathy has been engaged for most of her life. But her duty does not deter Gregory Bridgerton, who has fallen in love with her. Will he make it to the church in time to stop her wedding?
My man Edgar has a poem for this one — Romance by Edgar Allen Poe is a lovely reminder that recognizing romance in everyday life requires energy but is worth it
CLASSIC I’ll recommend watching Bridgerton. Just do it. If not for anything else, do it for the serotonin
If you like period romance with strong female leads, A League of Extraordinary Women is a series of books that I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in. They are a bit raunchy, so don’t make the same mistake my sister did and send them to your grandmother. If you accidentally do that, don’t do what I did and read them with your grandmother, book club style. If you accidentally do both of those things, reply to this email so that we can bond over our shared trauma
Two emails in one week?! What did we do to deserve such a gift? You did nothing, it was all me. This is my indifferent acknowledgement of having, quite literally, doubled down on the blog this week.
Oh goodness - reading this has spoiled some plot points for me, but you warned me, so I have only myself to blame!