Spring Aesthetics and Social Statements: An Ideological Critique of Bridgerton

Abstract

It is time for Lord Anthony Bridgerton to find his Viscountess this social season. The second season of Bridgerton is not just a thrilling enemies-to-loves storyline with exciting games of pall-mall and promenades; it also makes social statements as it presents historical and modern ideologies of marriage and caste systems. Anthony is officially courting Miss Edwina Sharma, the little sister of the woman he truly desires, Miss Kate Sharma. They spend the season repressing their true feelings for each other in pursuit of Duty to the social and family system. In a moment of unintentional passionate handholding during a promenade, Kate suddenly takes her hand back leading to Anthony tripping over the Sharmas’ family corgi and falling into the lake in full suit. This infamous scene of Anthony in a wet white shirt isn’t just steamy; it showcases the cinematic techniques that challenge the dominant cultural objectification of the male gaze. However, the same scene is called into question when discussing Bridgerton as an artifact of the Culture Industry. I explore the ideologies at play both in the show’s historical context, as well as the characters, who additionally function as ideological “methods” by drawing on theories of dominant ideologies and family and communication Ideological State Apparatuses (Louis Althusser), the Culture Industry (Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer), and the “big Other” (Slavoj Žižek). Bridgerton exemplifies how ideology is the daily ritualistic practices; and as an artifact of popular culture, serves to reflect and address a social shift in the United States.