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Unsurprisingly, already with two successful seasons, the period drama, Bridgerton is back on Netflix with a spinoff.
Based on the characters of Julia Quinn’s eponymous book series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story has the once young, feisty, passionate Queen and Ladies navigating their love-life and desires while waging a gritty war for their place in society. Travelling back and forth in flashbacks, amidst the ins and outs of the ton in the London High Society, we notice a remaking of the ton, a refurbishment called ‘The Social Experiment’-helmed by Queen Mother, Augusta.
The never seen before a Social Experiment set in the backdrop of Regency fantasy universe, which sets the premise of the turbulent yet sweet courtship between King George III and Queen Charlotte in the six episodes series. The liberty to digress from historical accuracy is quite intentional, but we forgive the makers for hitting the mark.
Unveiling the Black Queen, Charlotte arrives in England against her will to be betrothed. Witnessing the ‘very brown’ Charlotte, Queen Mother must do something to save the face of British monarchy. She concocts a plan with the House of Lords to bestow titles upon non-white members of the aristocracy to make Charlotte seem intentional and not a mistake.
But one may think, why Charlotte from Germany? So far away, when she could have any white suitor? Well, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
As Queen Charlotte made way for the integrated ton, she was blissfully unaware of the twists and turns that her own marriage was about of unfold.
Charlotte….. She will never know of it
A puppet in the hands of the great Empire, Charlotte is dismayed to find the King distant. But what’s holding King George back? Why is he blowing hot and cold? Staying apart, her gloomy and lonely days in the Buckingham palace is temporarily lit up when Lady Danbury comforts her.
In the strange land with strange customs, Charlotte, yet again, confronts George reminding him of his marital duties. Her demand for love and affection is not a part of some social experiment but mutual fulfilment. On the contrary, Queen Mother is anxious. Is the honeymoon successful? Have the marital duties been performed? Does the King find the Queen attractive? The bed chamber of the Queen is up for discussion in the Parliament. Will the line be secured?
The Jekyll and Hyde game comes to an end when Charlotte finds delirious George stripping himself naked in the garden to Venus in the sky. George’s struggle with mental illness comes to light and the Parliament mustn’t come to know of it. Perhaps, there are more puppets and not just one!
….because the king is mad, and I live in a mad house!….I thought I was the damaged one
Gas lit, duped and deceived, enraged Charlotte confronts Queen mother: a puppet just of a different degree. Calling his illness mere exhaustion from holding the greatest nation in the world on his shoulders, Queen Mother’s helplessness comes to the forefront.
King George didn’t expect his Queen to be this fierce. He applauded her inhibitions into not marrying some man whom she didn’t know be it the King of England. She was here for the person, not the title. To his surprise, he was enamoured the moment he laid eyes on her. Though, on the insistence of his mother, he married to fulfil his duties towards the nation, he was aware what Charlotte was getting into. The more he pushed her away for her own good, the more he longed for her. Their love was forbidden! He was threatened by Charlotte’s fierceness. What if Charlotte comes to know that he is cracking?
Though hurt, Charlotte came to his aid. She saw George for what he was: the lad who loved farming and studying the stars. Neither had he chosen to be born a monarch, nor had she. But brought together by fate, they stood tall against the storms. United, they fared through the complexities of the political affairs thrown at them. She accepted the half love, the half King!
Over time, Queen Charlotte rose to be a matriarch still in the look for Farmer George hiding from the heavens.
Running parallel to the main plot is Lady Danbury’s. Quite fascinating in her ways in crossing swords with Queen Mother, we witness women fixing each other’s crown in claiming what is rightfully theirs. A friend and confidante to Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury is a seasoned aristocrat aware of the capriciousness of courtly life. She warns naïve and young Queen Charlotte of London High Society. The first of her kind is made aware of not consummating her marriage to secure her position.
Lady Danbury refuses to be mere Agatha and wants Queen Mother to address her respectfully. To actually mean the title newly bestowed, she seeks fair and equal treatment among the ton in lieu of the goings on in the Buckingham Palace to keep the House of Lords at bay. A fine arrangement at first, they later unite to secure the title after Lord Danbury passes away.
Learning to control her own fate, Lady Danbury refuses to get married again. She doesn’t want to breathe someone else’s air rather learn to breathe on her own. She doesn’t shy away from her desires nor stops Violet to ignore her garden in bloom.
While Charlotte’s story brings more opportunity to fairly examine the coexistence of interracial cultures, one starts to draw parallels with Meghan and Prince Harry’s exit from the monarchy. The hardships of mental illness, loneliness, desire, independence and companionship have been addressed to soften the taboo associated with it. In all, the six episodes are packed with bumpier rides and tear-jerker moments.
Ankita Kumari is a Post Graduate of English Literature. With literaturecurry.com, she strives to bring the literature of seven continents to one place. Based out of Bengaluru, Karnataka, she tries to rekindle the fire read more...
This post has published with none or minimal editorial intervention. Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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