<em>Bridgerton</em> Faces the Limits of Romantic Fantasy
This story contains spoilers for the entirety of Bridgerton Season 3.
The resident bully of Bridgerton, Cressida Cowper, has changed—really. After several humbling seasons on the marriage market, the character played by Jessica Madsen has stopped trying to insult-sling her way to the top of the eligible-bachelorette pile. Instead, in the show’s third season, she makes a bold claim that could cast her out of Regency London’s high society altogether. “You would like to know who Lady Whistledown is? You shall know,” she announces before a room of guests at a party. “I am she.”
This declaration is, of course, a lie. Lady Whistledown, the pseudonymous author of the popular gossip pages that enthrall the and serve as, is really the pen name of Penelope Featherington (played by Nicola Coughlan), another young woman who’d long been overlooked by potential suitors. Yet Cressida appears giddy with excitement at her deception. She’s found a way to become too scandalous to be marriage material, freeing herself from her betrothal to a man more than thrice her age, a match that her parents made for her. Calling herself Lady Whistledown could also allow her to cash in on a reward that Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) has promised to whoever can unmask the writer. It’s a selfish scheme—and a genuinely surprising twist for the series. Cressida’s statement has nothing to do with romance, sex, or the Bridgerton family.
