New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn loves to dispel the myth that smart women don't read romance. Just in time, She has 8 books in order, under the Bridgerton series connecting to the same as the retellings. Netflix dropped the second season based on her book The Viscount who loved me under her tv series of Bridgerton. Maybe with all that is in the air about bringing equality, diversity, and acceptance as our new way to lead in the future, as a forward thinker it was indeed wise to put this fiction on the silver screen.
Lady Whistledown - a gossip columnist of the society papers hints to her readers about the rich and famous and their private affairs. “1814 promises to be another eventful season, but this author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London’s most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better,” says the Lady. But this time she gets it all wrong in the storytelling of revealing secrets since Anthony Bridgerton gets himself deeply involved in the matter of not only marriage but falling in love with the elder sister of the Sharma family while proposing nuptials to a younger one.
The saga of his gentile yet vulnerable relationships with both sisters goes on throughout the season up till the end. The story is set in 1814, more than 200 years after the founding of the East India Company which was the beginning of a long rather violent history of Britain and India. Says the consultant professional based from the University of York. During that era, India wasn't a single entity but a subcontinent of providence and states, the complexity of cultural and economic merge between Indian and British political dominant brought the elite and courtly societies into an exotic mix at the same time facing extreme conflicts.
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Traveling from Bombay to England took roughly 6 months avoiding the monsoon season back in that time, not to forget unmarried women traveling unaccompanied was a big taboo keeping the adversities in mind. The Sharma sisters' saga Based on the era of the 1800s, a very exclusive rank of people would have been included in the high society of London, as the Sharma sisters are based in this fiction. Indian families of color were broadly involved in London working as shopkeepers, merchants, craftsmen, and domestic servants to sailors and members of extended families serving in the royal court of the maharajas. Beautifully positioned from the royal Indian connections, The Sharma sisters find their temporary establishment with lady Danbury while the elder sister kate is trying to find her younger sister Edwina a perfect match to marry, along with her widowed mother Mary, estranged from her wealthy parents has returned to the city and life of London's cream de la cream. In the process of finding younger Edwina a suitable husband, Mary ends up exposing both daughters to the queen who chooses the younger Edwina as her diamond for the season.
Their dresses and jewelry are highly influenced by Indian designs with bright gold and colorful stones. at the same time costumes shows the Victorian cuts and silhouettes teamed up with smart hats and hairpieces matching the social occasions. Fabrics and embroidery resemble the richness of Indian aristocratic choices. Their wardrobe includes tons of violets and purples as it's a color of royalty and richness in India. Ironically lilacs being the favorite flowers of Anthony's father, the color pallet of the show is dominated by the majority of it in play.
Copper metal-coated bathtubs and the Haldi ceremony in the show bring you the authenticated aura of Indian culture and its lifestyle. Being women of color, the Sharma sisters are ideally situated in the definition of Indian beauty with sharp face-cut and big beautiful eyes. With their caramel skin glow and dressing details, they reflect their South Asian ancestry through fine detailing of incidents like Kate giving Edwina a hair oil massage or gifting her mother's beautiful bangles before her wedding.
Bridgerton this time celebrates things that aren't stereotyping the fair skin fetish, rather bringing diversity through their acceptance of women from the Indian subcontinent’s casts and cultures. Van Dusen quotes “The world was a lot less homogeneous during this period than some would like us to believe, our goal with this show is for anyone who's watching to be able to see themselves reflected on screen and in our world” this beautifully interpreted the relationship between the European and Indian ruling classes, it brings the essence of love winning above all the catastrophes it confronts. studying many real-life incidents that bucked stereotypes and social norms around that era, it was fair to bring this fairy-tale courtship on the screen for viewers to relish in some exotic chemistry between two cultures.
