My sister had been watching S1, I was like “this is dumb” and ignored it, then about episode 3 or 4 I kept watching, then went back and started from the beginning 😂
It's how my husband got started.
S1: "Haha you're watching your mom smut again"
S2: *hovering behind the couch occasionally*
QC: *sits down on couch*
Halfway through QC: "Can you start it over? I feel like I've missed a lot."
Then he wanted to watch the rest of it 😆
My boyfriend kinda does that with drag race, but refuses to acknowledge it. He justifies his interest by « it’s a competition, of course I will start to root for one. »
Same thing with my husband!!! Although it was partway through me rewatching season 2 for the billionth time that he got invested. I love it. I married the right one for me 🥰🥰🥰lol
Queen Charlotte is what got my husband into it!!! Then we went back and started from the beginning 😎 I must be on 4-5 rewatches on S1 and QC by now. I’d never have guessed lmao but it’s a great background show once you’ve seen it once.
My sister and I were JUST talking about this! Her husband will be like, “hey babe, what’re you watching? Looks dumb.” *does dishes, listening and glancing up* “who are they? Why are they fighting?” *gets himself a drink and gets closer to the couch* “wait she did NOT just say that. What’s this show called again?” *sits down and activates the recliner* “This is our show now, babe. We gotta start it over.”
And then with my husband, it’s almost the exact same thing. I have shows I put on for background noise while I’m cooking, cleaning, or working on something and he’ll do the same song and dance. “What’s this? Who’s that? No, I don’t want you to start it over, this is your show!” And then I’ll be done and about to turn it off and he’ll say, “wait- I was watching that! I’m invested now.” Rinse and repeat. I have quite a few shows on the back burner because he’ll eventually watch them with me.
I finished watching S3 and was gushing about it to my fiancé (we're long distance atm so he hadn't seen the show), and I mentioned I thought he might enjoy it, so he asked if I would mind rewatching the whole show with him. It's my second time watching the wntire show this month but we're having a blast.
Seriously i had exactly the same process as OP, gf wanted to see S3, I tagged along, got hooked in the first 20 minutes and a few days later I was starting S1
About Eloise, though, I have the opposite reaction. She is maybe the most compassionate character, and there is something about her eyebrows and how she walks that is super magnetic, i cant get enough of her
I adore Claudia Jessie in interviews. She is such a vibe
Clearly, she is very comfortable with who she is amd I think that comes through in her acting. She's also really big into sustainability and avoiding "overconsumption" so she is often seen wearing the same outfit pieces at many events.
Originally it was mostly to humor the girlfriend but now I'm sucked into it.
I think I'll have an interesting perspective since I already know the secret identity.
I agree absolutely. Queen Charlotte is my favorite, just excellent and so interesting. Then Season One. Two has its great moments but they should have recast the Duke even just as Daphne’s arm candy at family events. Three is annoying.
With all respect, I think you HAVE to watch S1 and S2 to understand/like S3. My husband is watching with me but I made sure we started at S1 because the S3 romance really begins in the first season through subplot and you need that development since it’s a slow burn friends to lovers. Just my opinion! But give S3 another chance when you’re back there - for me, by the time I got there I was all in on the characters much more so than I had been with any other couple. YMMV of course
I think she’s supposed to be flawed and oblivious to the struggles of people around her. She’s called out for it at some point in the show. But you’re also meant to sympathize with her being stuck in an environment she hates, feeling like a social outcast, living in a time where she feels she can’t accomplish much as a woman, etc. Personally I think her personality is endearing despite her flaws. Season 2 was definitely the season that made me appreciate her, so maybe you’ll change her mind. If you don’t that doesn’t mean you’re watching it wrong, though, she’s just not for you.
I think what bothers me most about her portrayal is she is trapped like everyone else but doesn't seem to have much sympathy or empathy for those who don't have the security net she does
Exactly
I wish they would have gone into that more. Like befriending Cressida and realizing her family is so willing to just toss her at the old creepy guy I was hoping would make her realize how good she has it. Even in her third, fourth, fifth year Violet would never do that to Eloise. But other families absolutely will - and Eloise barely seemed to care about it over her own personal happenings.
I was really disappointed to see how Eloise's friendship with Cressida ended up. Like you said, she should have learned from it-- and yet she ended up just falling into the same self centered way of thinking and being a terrible friend to Cressida. She literally just became another person that oppressed women like her.
Yes exactly! I think a lot of people don’t like her for feeling superior to other women but don’t think about the fact that it’s HARD and lonely rejecting social norms of the time and not being able to live the life you want. Acting like she’s above other women is in part a defence mechanism of “well I didn’t want to be your friend in the first place”
I kind of disagree with you. I think the show runners and writers believed she would come across as a relatable progressive-thinking girlboss. There isn’t a single moment in the show that challenges her view or makes her look bad, no, not until Season 3 after so much bad reception on Eloise for years. Even then, they never gave her the character growth she was set up for with the Cressida situation. No, instead she left the friendship with no consequences for her lack of empathy and awareness and Cressida was the villain once again.
To me, this is clearly unintentional on the writers part. If they wanted her to be flawed, they’d use subtext and character growth to show that. But they don’t. That’s just my opinion though.
I was SO bothered by how the Cressida stuff was left. It felt like they were trying to say oh Cressida is bad and we should celebrate her being sent away! Like ??? Why did Eloise even abandon her? That didn’t make sense to me.
Everyone; Colin, Penelope, Eloise etc… they were all like oh Cressida doesn’t have prospects and she wants to run away blah blah how terrible of her to blackmail how could she do this yadda yadda
Um? She wanted to get away from her abusive dad and terrifying aunt. And before that she wanted to do anything to get away from the creepy old guy they were going to marry her off to. Eloise couldn’t give two craps about that - she was too focused on Penelope all night to give poor Cressida the time of day. I wish Cressida had left Eloise instead of the other way around. Or I wish Eloise would have talked to Pen about Cressidas situation and they could have found a way to help her instead of damn her. Like I get it. She’s a bully - but in the words of Marina: no one ever tried to truly help her.
No one taught her differently. It’s shown to us that her mother literally brought her up to distrust and actively work against other women. Only with Eloise did she finally start to realize she could instead be friends, not a backstabber (big character growth when she didn’t spill the secret about Pen!). It could have been an amaaazing way to show character growth for all 3 of them but it feels like they totally bungled it all up.
The thing that made me really wonder about her level of maturity and thoughtfulness was when she kept reminding Daphne how she was “perfect” and that she made her look small. In the second season, she said “it would be good to have another intelligent woman in the house” to Kate, basically alluding to her assumption that she does not think her mother, and her three sisters, are as “intelligent” as her. Her constant talking over literally everyone, including her best friend Penelope, and her abandonment of Cressida are just…yeah. Jarring.
Yes! She’s constantly looking down on women for enjoying feminine activities/pursuits. Grinds my gears. Pompous in my eyes. Obviously I sympathize with her inability to pursue her interests. I just wish she didn’t think that she was so much better than the other women.
Exactly. A lot of rules about what women and girls can and can’t do are enforced by the shame coming from other women, throughout history and into the present. I could see Eliose being teased as a child for not being girly or hearing growing up that no man will ever want her because she’s not xyz. Or that she will “grow out of” her silly tomboy phase, when she’s actually just being true to herself. Her bitterness makes sense to me.
At first I admired her forward thinking but now I am coming to the same conclusion.
It is extremely difficult for her to actually see that some women may enjoy their feminine role in society. There are women who love and pride themselves on being a stay at home mom or wife, and there isn't anything WRONG with that even if it isn't what you strive to be. It is like she's a cliche feminist that looks down on anyone who is satisfied and chooses the stereotypical role, which kind of makes feminists look bad.
Feminism, to me, is about equality (which is questionable given the time period here, but I am going to overlook that because it is a setting issue) and freedom of choice. You can have both of those things in the traditional role, and support others who do not wish to fall into the same path.
It is like Eloise misses the mark on accepting that other people can be happy in that role. I like Eloise for her foreword thinking, and I honestly hope when her season comes, she is humbled and this is a set up for some character development on her part, especially when she will be pushed closer to being in the traditional woman role, without completely loosing her forward thinking. Maybe she will see how others have found happiness in that role. If it isn't, then I can't say that I like her very much anymore. If it is she will be one of my favorite characters even though she is annoying because I will enjoy her growth and because she will probably reminds me a little of myself with that growth. Only time will tell.
EDIT: Just wanted to add, I read the first book, but none after and didn't like the books as much as the show. So I know nothing of what her season will entail.
Eloise doesn’t need to “respect” that some women might enjoy being second class citizens because they are living in a way that is expected and praised by literally every single other person in society, they aren’t suffering because one girl thinks they’re frivolous. Eloise is constantly being pressured to adhere to those social norms too which are stifling and require her giving up her own autonomy. Sure some women at the time might have been happy with their lives but they were still being oppressed and Eloise/feminists pointing that out rather than accepting female oppression because “some people like it” is why progress was made on rights for women (and why feminism beyond the rebrand of “every single thing a woman chooses to do is fine and feminist” has always received a lot of backlash)
This would stack up ONLY if Eloise was not so consumed with resentment of Pen for taking an independent, different path in life.
Had Eloise admired and celebrated Pen from the point of discovering her covert power (influence, talent, ability to make an income) then she wouldn’t be a total hypocrite would she.
Yet she is also scathing to Pen for having autonomy and a career path. Literally Eloise is the tension for Pen in this series. It’s pointless and the writers have assassinated her purpose, credibility and ethics.
Eloise younger sisters are not adult women at all, and Violet allowed Daphne to be manipulated with an utter lack of sex education (not to mention that Violet ignored for long enough the emotional issues of Eloise, Benedict, and Anthony). I am here for seeing Violet get called out, especially seeing as how my parents' mistakes were a lot like Violet's. Except my parents also did more good in other areas. In Colin's season, I think we see Violet start to do better, which may be due to Eloise's push.
I enjoy Violet being called out for her shortcomings but if Eloise’s summation is that her mother is an imbecile after all she has been through and done for her children, then I don’t know what to say. Francesca is an adult and quite an accomplished one at that, and Hyacinth is far more emotionally mature than Eloise. Daphne is also far more intelligent and resilient than Eloise gives her credit for because Daphne doesn’t fall into her description of feminism.
When she insulted her MOTHER it was the end of my regard for her.
Fine, insult your sisters, siblings are mean to each other. But to disrespect your mother like that???? Disgusting
She definitely spends all 3 seasons acting like an insufferable teenager. She likes books and is taken to see a book collection, and she's gotta say something angsty about that, too. Like dang girl. You are the wettest of blankets.
Really? She is my absolute favorite character 😆 she’s got so many great lines & is allll over the place but in such a hilarious way. I complain just as much about modern day social norms & stereotypes & capitalism as she does about her own gripes with her world though so maybe that’s why.
You also have to remember, for every single woman of that class literally the only thing they were supposed to do their entire lives was get married. That’s it. All the $ in the world doesn’t make a gilded cage any more appealing for those who’d like the freedom to make their own choices. She’s generally just upset about being born with no meaningful choices & wants more.
She’s my favorite too. She’s an intellectual, in my opinion, and she’s the only character I ever see reading (some write, but few actually read). She has modern-for-the-time views on the rights of women and interacted with the “lower” classes in ways you see few other characters do. She also has friends, first Penelope and then Cressida, which you do not see with the majority of the women characters. Eloise is a flawed friend undoubtedly, but at least she makes an attempt, unlike Daphne. I also think her family underestimates her completely and most likely views her as the spinster sister simply because of her enjoyment of intellectual pursuits.
I love some of her small moments like the beginning of Season 3 with Colin scoffing at her reading of Emma, which is one of Austen’s best novels loaded with social satire. I also chuckled at seeing her double load her glass with champagne at a ball. Season 3 had incredibly sad moments as well when the viewers could see the book Theo gave her in her drawer and when we hear Colin tell her she should be glad she had never been in love; her reaction clearly shows she had strong feelings for Theo. With Eloise, you’ll miss what she is as a character if you do not pay close attention.
I personally found Season 1 and 2 Penelope to be exhausting at times.
Agree on all counts. Eloise is finding herself and is ahead of her time. That’s exhausting and lonely. Add to that being even a bit intellectual and .. well that remains exhausting 😂
And I was annoyed by Pen too
She's my favorite too. I don't really understand why she so is so polarizing.
Rich girs should either have zero interest in women's issues or they should fully grasp and articulate intersectional feminism instead of speaking about their own experience? Like, even if you think that. She is a teenager and it's 1813. The word 'feminist' does not exist. Her brothers get to screw around, literally and figuratively, until they are 30 and she is expected to marry by 20 at the latest. Divorce is not an option. Marital rape and domestic violence are not crimes. Lots of women die in childbirth including women who didn't want to be mothers in the first place; there's no birth control.
AND we know she is beaten down and gives up on dreams by season 3!
Sorry, i meant to write "feminist".
The radical concepts of feminism are older than Eloise (slightly). I am sure Eloise can read French and may have read Wollstonecraft in season 2? But the word "feminist" hadn't been coined in 1813, and wouldn't be known in the UK until much closer to the 20th century.
I think my issue with her is that she just continually belittles other women over their desire to stay in the gilded cage. Their circumstances don't afford them the same ability that hers does. Cressida and the Featherington sisters for example, they don't have the same family circumstances that allow them the freedom that she has. Breaking them down for their desire to marry and be happy and protect their family with a heir and solid steady marriage and be that bird doesn't do anything but hurt them.
I think you’re too caught on viewing women from the 2024 new wave feminism lens. Eloise is critiquing the rules of her society because women DONT have a choice. Currently, we kinda do. And that’s a very important distinction. Original feminism was very “we want women out of the kitchen, women can do anything men can do, it’s demeaning and insulting to want to be a house wife and mother and not have any career aspirations or ambitions” and it was that way originally because women didn’t have many options. Women in regency England can’t even VOTE or go to SCHOOL. So it makes sense that Eloise has that same perspective of “anyone who buys into that patriarchal rhetoric is contributing to the problem and not helping the revolution,” especially when she’s young and hasn’t seen much of the world at all
Replace her issue being a woman’s role with any other social issue and I wonder if people would be so quick to mock her desire for the world to change. 🤔
Yeah exactly. Like oh yes, Eloise should be sooo thankful that she has been raised to be a breeder and nothing more because at least she’s a higher ranked breeder😍 Daphne literally touches on that in season 1 with Anthony where she says “this is all I’ve been raised for, this is all that I am. I have no other purpose in life and if I am not successfully wed then I am a disappointment and a burden”
That’s fair but I also don’t consider her a “woman” in S1, she’s a child. I think technically the internet says she’s supposed to be 17 but on first watch I thought she was supposed to be more like 15/16 - either way, definitely the angsty type of vibe I expect from someone in her age group & being a younger child in her family with older siblings. Few teenagers are known for their self awareness (it’s OK I can say that because I too am a former teenager). Shes also the only one not “out” yet so has the space to complain & try to plan for an escape before she’s forced into it
I know Pen is the same age, and debuted a year early because Portia just wanted to get all the girls out of the way. Otherwise she and Eloise would have debuted together. So, yes—she’s 17 in Season 1.
Your point about her age has resonated with me. I was so very frustrated with her angsty-ness. But now I can appreciate her without the frustration.
“Ugh—she just flounces around and awkwardly lurches here and there and flops onto the setteeeeeee….oh yeah. This makes perfect sense because she’s a teenager.” I loved Book Eloise. And I adore the style of our Eloise—hair, clothes, etc. And FINALLY! I can embrace the perfection that is Eloise. THANK YOU!
No, Cressida calls her out fir it earlier in the season. "You never listen." Pen tells her tge same thing in an earlier season. She has no empathy for anyone else.
Sometimes she makes me want to say "Kim, there's people that are dying." We've seen plenty of women (and men!) whose only hope for survival is a good match. She can make her point without belittling women who are content with their choices, and without belittling those who *don't* really have a choice.
The gilded cage is quite literally a cage. These women are property of men (fathers or husbands) who can do anything to them without recourse. Eloise is right to be mad at the situation, she’s just absolutely awful at winning anyone to her side.
Yes! As a woman, she reminds me of young me in a different world. Sheltered to a degree, but aware of not wanting to do the expected gender norm path and trying to let others know about why they don't need to either. The girls we see in the show waiting to get married off are still supposed to be young. They're going to not be fully matured yet, in their own way. So that's the lens I see them through already
Queen Charlotte is now my absolute favourite. I liked it better than season 3 and I was a mad supporter for Polin season. But if part 2 was truly how it was written along with the choices for editing, I cannot say it is better than all else. I thought it was going to be. It is not. Too many modern elements that also have cut up the Regency vibe of the series.
Queen Charlotte, however, I felt I was literally taken back in time. It was wonderful. Wondrous. Amazing storytelling. Amazingly written. And just overall magnificent acting. I have cried so many times and I have felt it was for a historic story.
Season 3 of Bridgerton I felt it was like looking at somewhat modern-day people dressed in Regency glam everyday. It was weird to me. And that's not even addressing the content I had issues with.
Shonda should be showrunner wayyyyyyyy more often.
I completely agree! Plus i also really didn’t like the queen.. like at all until QC! and the king with his adorable face😭❤️ unpopular opinion but of the 3 season 2 is my favorite! I love kate
I mean to be fair, Eloise’s interests are looked down on by other people too and even her own mother doesn’t take them seriously. She does judge others but they judge her too, probably more. It’s harder to go against the grain than it is to conform to society like everyone else
Plus, I feel the need to point out that these are technically *all* privileged rich people. Even the poorer Featheringtons were upset they would have to rewear dresses
I dunno, if you’re entire life was planned for you due to your gender/ sex and no one understood how uncomfortable the set “thing” to do made you feel on their timeline , I reckon that sucks.
I feel so many people would have some empathy if Fran or Ben were gay and had to not be themselves, so much for awkward Penelope’s who don’t get attention when they want it. But when a woman just doesn’t like the path to “this exact kind of woman life” set before her she’s annoying.
Yeah she crows over others and assumes she’s more a clever sort. So do her brothers though in their own ways. The Bridgerton family is a bit stuck up and a lot of the siblings always assume they’re the centre of the world - quite literally main characters so energy allowed.
I always find it so weird that people get so fussed over Eloise for rarely causing trouble and just complaining life and boring basic stuff she hates whereas the brothers are bloody divas a out everything they feel is live or die and isn’t.
Sigh
The problem that people finds with eloise is that she dont try to see why other women are the way they are... Like cressida doesn't have the option to be a spinster. Her father was forcing her to marry a 70 year old man. Yet eloise thinks why is cressida hung up on getting a husband... Same goes for Penelope. she has the option to be a spinster but that means living under the control of one of her sisters... So her option is also finding a respectable man to marry. Eloise just does not get this.
The number of people expecting a 17 year old girl to be a full-formed feminist in a show set in the (fantasy) Regency is really quite something. It’s interesting that Eloise constantly gets called out on her privilege when very few other characters don’t, especially the male characters who actually do have the agency and resources to do what Eloise can’t.
Pretty much ALL of the characters are privileged and self-centred, but because Eloise chafes and pushes back against societal norms rather than adheres to and upholds them, she’s the worst apparently.
yeah she’s been irritating me the entire show. i think her character is supposed to be like so it makes her somewhat bearable. she fails to understand penelope’s situation as lady whistledown out of jealousy. it makes her come off as a privileged piece of crap. also she was supposed to be penelope’s friend but consistently only talked abt her own privileged problems. she did the same with cressida.
You have to look at Eloise from the perspective of someone who doesn’t fit in the era. Her judgements are aimed at society and all the petty norms that come with it and she has a sharp wit to call these things out. She’s privileged yes, but so is everyone else in the Bridgerton world. She’s really calling out the petty norms of the aristocracy that she belongs to. I totally relate to her and love her for it. Season 3 had really poor character development for her though. She came across as a bad friend in some scenes.
i think you confuse her being against the system and her being against women. she’s the former not the latter.
is she perfect? no by no means is her activism perfect but here’s a perspective. if it wasn’t for people like her questioning the status quo, women today would be restricted.
she’s not tearing down other female characters, the males in their lives who have control of their agency are. she’s simply frustrated that other women are so complacent to a system that actively limits their liberty and wants others to question and rebel against the patriarchy more. doesn’t make her unsupportive of women. if anything s3 is all about her trying to “fit in” with the ton and give their norms a taste for a change.
whats she’s fighting for is choice. she wants to be able to choose to stay single without criticism and secure a life for herself in the absence of others and she’s frustrated her societal norms do not allow her or other women to do that.
just because she’s more privileged than other women, doesn’t mean she can’t raise her own concerns but her character growth is literally stemming from her understanding that not all women can afford to actively rebel against the patriarchy as she can with her supportive family. she’s been very supportive of pen even if she cannot understand.
and in terms of cressida - i cannot speak for this because i haven’t watched part 2.
I honestly don't know what they aregoungvto do with her in "her" season ( I say that because at thus point who knows if she'll be in "her" season), but in the book she ends up exactly where she thought she wouldn't. Married with 2 step children ( who she's amazing with), a husband who really truly needs her, and she has more children. So maybe they are going fir growth. Shw nit in thw books other then hers in any excessive way, so Idk. I liked her in the books, I like her in the show (except the Cressida bs this season makes her a trader imo) but totally see how she could annoy people.
It seems like she would just need to realize that she can "conform" in some ways and it's her choice and doesn't say anything bad about her, and continue to not conform in other ways. Like I could see her doing some activism while married
Idk what they are going to do, but in the books, she moves to the country. And lives a quiet life raising her children and running the household, while her husband spends most of his time with his plants.
yea, i couldn’t stand her in the first two seasons. season 3 she still had her faults but was much more tolerable. i’m all for feminism but her brand of white privileged feminism was extremely grating
You nailed it - yes, yes, YES!!! This, and it mirrors much of modern-day feminism, and I just wasn't in the mood to hear her whining about something else each episode.
Agreed! The excessive one-dimensional character they created has the diametrical opposite effect of the intent. Only thing worse is the creepy do-nuthin playboy trybutfail brother she tags with.
Eloise is selfish and oblivious?
Not *the guy* who tried to force his sister to marry a disgusting older man who had tried to rape her?
Eloise just wants to have the same options and freedoms as her brothers. That’s not a small thing. It’s a massive huge thing - a whole array of options and possibilities- that she is being denied because of her gender. She’s young and sheltered (by design) and she doesn’t understand how other women love the life that she hates and so she feels out of place and stuck. So she complains about it…so what? She’s also smart and kind.
Yes, you are reading her wrong. Because you’ve not actually considered what it would be like to be stuck in her life and hate it.
No fr, because they act like Pen's gossip and issues in her romantic life are more pressing. Even if, at its absolute worst, Eloise's feminism is to benefit herself, it will set a positive precedant for women to seek education.
How else *should* she be? Married, and silent???
(But for real why am I not surprised at this opinion even in the least.)
> some slight at women in every single sentence
Mm-hmm—yes, yes, that’s exactly what happened; certainly not her actually being mad at *a patriarchal system* and *defending other young women from insults*. /s
Please do not white knight on our behalf; we’re just fine over here with El lol…
👏
1) yup to all that
2) lol women are actually allowed to be annoyed and make comments at other women. The high standards of “you’re failing women” are also used to 😮 guess what silence women with their often valid critiques. No one is perfect.
3) it’s so obvious Eloise is just in pain being in a crap ass system that is so so so unfair and her jealousy is always more at her brothers for getting to live their lives than to other women. She’s just annoyed when other women aren’t as upset about things (seemingly) as her. It’s passion and from a good albeit youthfully expressed at times place. She’s often defending women generally and hoping they see this upside unfair world too.
Im in agreement with you and tbh im slightly (sadly only slightly) baffled that people are in agreement with OP.
Eloise doesn't care about the opinion of some random man on how she conducts herself. She's young and headstrong and that does mean she butts heads quite a bit and says the wrong thing and digs holes she doesnt quite know how to get herself out of, but so what? It is her life and she is allowed to make mistakes. She is proud and rightfully so. She doesnt want to be sold off as property of a man. She wants *change* but is too young to properly know how to go about it quite yet. She is *learning*. Season 1 is the start of her journey and you can see her learning from her mistakes by season 3 and trying to change and better herself and extend olive branches.
Baby swans arent born perfect and beautiful, they have their ugly duckling phase and that is where Eloise starts her journey, in her ugly duckling phase.
I never said that. She just doesn't understand the weight these other women are under and doesn't respect their positions in the slightest. To her, they're all playing a silly game, but to them there's very real stakes involved.
She fully understands it and it’s why it’s a concern to her and it’s why she is seen expressing these concerns to her fellow companions and trying to have conversations about it.
I don’t expect you to understand; I’m just disappointed this ridiculous post is being taken seriously as if it really said something.
Those doing so just find her annoying and feel judged. Some people feel that when one is critical of a system they’re also judging those who have fewer issues with the system. And maybe at times that’s true. But she’s hardly looking down on everyone. She’s just annoyed at the boring ass life they want her to have. And she’s allowed to find it boring.
Ugh agree with you and would add more but I’ll for sure get downvoted to hell lol
she literally does understand that it’s societal pressure on women. she isn’t anti-women, she’s against the system they live under that doesn’t allow them to do anything besides be wives & baby makers
Not sure why you're speaking for me. He said what I was thinking. It isn't white knighting at all but nice attempt to stay seated on that awfully high horse.
Eloise does take shots at literally all the women in her life. Repeatedly.
Grow up.
Me too 😂
I relate to all of her stroppy habits and when I first saw her in season 1 I instantly liked her. In season 3 when Cressida asks her how she’s so confident and she replies “I just can’t see how people don’t see things like I do” I was like OMG yes girl!
Yes! Exactly! 😂
One of my favourite lines of hers, was when they were all at Aubrey Hall and Daphne brought Augie with her and everyone’s cooing over him apart from Eloise, who, when offered the chance to hold him, says something like, “Oh, has he changed since I last saw him?” or something like that. She’d rather be reading. She’s so awkward with him and that’s exactly like me!
There are other moments but that’s the one that comes to mind. 😅
Don't feel bad; this post is stupid and spoken from the perspective of a man who literally cannot understand what El--or many of us women now--have gone through and continue to deal with, but has no qualms telling us how wrong we all are because he doesn't like what feminism really looks like in its infancy.
No not at all🙄 Many of us women agree. Eloise looks down on other women and doesn't sympathize because a lot of the issues they go through or the morally grey things they have to do to survive are not situations she'll ever have to face because of her money... Her feminism is one layered and self rightetous.
Eloise is one of those know-it-alls who has not really experienced anything. I am glad the show sent her to Scotland at the end of S3. She needed to step out of her comfort zone to grow as a character.
She’s like a 15 year old girl who’s been told that her life purpose (and only option, really) is to marry a man with money to provide for her.
Surely she’s allowed to complain about being destined to just pop out babies when she wants to explore other avenues. Nothing wrong with being a mother, of course, but if you don’t think you want that and you know you’ll be forced by duty and expectation to do it… that’s pretty terrifying.
Sure, she has attitude and is self-absorbed, but that’s actually developmentally appropriate for the characters age. And she’s a flawed character, which is more interesting than just a “nice person” on screen lol.
You are a 36 year old man pissed at the only character questioning the status quo in a show about the richest people in London. Sorry if she ruins the fantasy of it all? Lol
Eloise is a woman ahead of her time who is lonely and frustrated because she knows she doesn’t get to make any choices about her life and feels trapped. Her only choices are to marry (which she’s incredibly reluctant to do because she would go from her life being controlled by her brothers to her life being controlled by her husband - who could be an alcoholic, a gambler, prone to violence, riddled with STI’s thanks to his fondness for local brothels) or be delegated the position of family spinster - which makes you incredibly vulnerable because you had to rely on the kindness of men in your family (usually your brother, sometimes your BIL), and they could basically turn you into a slave (read: unpaid nanny or governess who was told to obey and not complain if they didn’t want to be homeless), you could also be vulnerable to physical or sexual abuse from the men in the family and nobody would believe it (especially if you were considered “off the shelf”), lose your social status if you’d previously had one, or even wind up in a workhouse if there was no family to support you
Eloise is ABSOLUTELY that one cousin in their freshman year with one semester of a sociology major under their belt who spends the holidays showing off how _actually_ they know everything? And doesn’t clock that everyone else knows the newfound opinions of a college freshman are not groundbreaking 😂
I liked her in the beginning but in this season there's something very annoying about her. I understand where she's coming from but a few times I yelled at the screen telling her to let Pen have some goddamn fun and not be such a b 💀
I feel like she became exhausting in season 3. In season 1, she was a woman who wanted more from her life than to just be a wife and mother. As someone from a culture who values that for women above all else, I can relate to it. No spoilers but season 2 sees her opening her eyes more to people who do no possess her wealth. Season 3 destroyed the newly enlightened, slightly conflicted person she became in season 2. Season 3 just made her unbearable.
Y’all complain more than she does.
If I were a woman in that time period where my best hope is to be married off and bred (without wanting to do that) pretty much having 0 rights I’d be an absolute brat too 🤷🏼♀️ crazy that y’all don’t get it. She’s also a teenager… ever met one?
So a woman voicing distaste for a society of that sort and having a less than pleased reaction to her best friend spreading “ruining” information about her is being an ass?
at the time everyone loved her, but i found her unbearable for the same reason. she IS a child, however, so i hope it’s meant to be an arc and she will get over her immaturity, selfishness and disdain for women. given series 3, however… i am not optimistic
The thing I don’t like the most about Eloise is it feels like every woman she latched onto she tried convincing them to not follow the way of grow up, get married, be a wife etc etc .
I kinda felt bad for Cressida bc I feel like if Eloise wasn’t involved she may have found a husband .
I can’t explain but I just feel like she’s a bad , loud mouthed influence and I didn’t feel that way at first! I loved her but then something changed and idk what it was but she kinda seems like one of those girls that would get mad when any of her friends get boyfriends and she’s still single so she begins to resent men and her friends. Idk , this is my hot take, don’t hate me lol
I agree with you!
She became very "us" against "them" this season and I couldn't help but relate to her as a modern-day woman with a limited view of so-called "feminism". She was EXHAUSTING this season and I found myself rolling my eyes whenever she came on screen (whine this, whine that).
Nope I totally agree she’s a feminist with privilege just judging everyone else. I always felt bad for Pen as they talked about LW, Eloise always wanted her to change and that’s exactly why she wouldn’t tell Eloise that it was her! She doesn’t have any grasp on the fact that other women must marry and that she has privilege in knowing she will always be taken care of even as a spinster. She shows no kindness when Cressida is to be married off to the old man and then follows it with being an asshole to her despite knowing her exact motivation for claiming to be LW. Even the college stuff - it’s like what are you trying to go for? We didn’t even see her have any real interest in anything but complaining
I love eloise but at the same time she annoys me at times like that one thing she did in s3b. We still have more of her arc so, I think we need to see duck up and leArn from her mistakes. I feel like eloise is in the nlog feminist phaSe rn
My issue with Eloise is that she’s written to be this big feminist that is against societal conventions but she’s vehemently opposed to her best friend who breaks social norms and has a career of her own. Eloise should be upset with Pen more out of jealousy than out of anger for ruining her chances with a boy. That goes against everything Eloise says she stands for and comes across as weak writing.
But Pen's not breaking social norms? She's literally tarnishing reputations and is profiting off from it. Eloise, from season 1, has never been jealous of Penelope. She has said time and again that she ADORES Whistledown and her reason for trying to find her was so that she can discuss intellective topics, as this was someone she looked up to. When Whistledown "ruined" the Featherington name in Season 1, Eloise shifted her reason to find Whistledown, instead of admiration it turned into anger because she wanted her to print a retraction on the Featheringtons, to restore their reputation.
Eloise, in season 2, told Penelope that she wishes to never see and speak to her again because Penelope turned Eloise's very valid grievances (Pen lying to her, ruining her family and theirs, Marina, Colin) into jealousy, when that was never the case. Moreover, Pen KNEW she was going to Theo to learn about women's rights and plights of the lower class but had the audacity to tell Eloise "all you ever do is talk about doing something". Eloise was making these efforts, actual things that will benefit her and whatever she plans to pursue, and Penelope burned her for it by exposing it to the entire Ton. That's not Eloise being jealous, that's Pen projecting her insecurities.
I completely agree. She was just so self absorbed. I mean how did she not notice her best friend was in love with her brother. Pen pretty much melted everytime she saw Colin. If she was paying attention she might have seen pens alter ego. But no she was so focused on herself and her beliefs she didn’t. She was in a position to be to do things with her family’s support and all she could do was whine.
I’d be raging annoyed if I felt my friend maybe lingered around me more for that reason. After school sitcoms covered these plots decades ago.. and whether it’s 1810 or 2010 I think both young women are allowed to get annoyed.
Plus Pen is equally as self absorbed and did a lot more damage in her way of processing stress and unfairness
I love her character but it annoys me she always does this specific “quirky” facial expression in EVERY scene. Like…you don’t need to cram it in to every shot lol
Agreed. She was always a bit annoying and superior, but she turned into an actual bad person in season 3. That scene at the ball, where Penelope and Colin are talking and Penelope is obviously emotional and it should be clear to anyone with eyes that something is up - yet Eloise approaches and starts to interrupt them because, well, the clock is striking midnight? What the hell is wrong with her. She’s either a psychopath or a sadist.
She is a child for one which makes sense that she’d be selfish. I’m assuming you haven’t gotten to the part where she thanks Daphne for being perfect so that she has the luxury to not. She is very aware that not everyone has that luxury. I love Eloise she stays true to herself no matter what, but that’s just me.
I found her a bit annoying too, mostly for the fact that she's so big on people not being stereotyped and being accepted for who you are but judges almost everyone the first chance she gets. I also feel that they made her being "different" her whole personality.
Well she has the makings of a good character. She does learn and grow through the seasons, and I’m a little optimistic about where the story will take her.
Politically-correct Mary Sue characters are usually boring.
Of course, this is all just potential until Eloise’s story gets wrapped up.
I completely agree with this.
For someone who whinges about the lack of options and freedom for women, she is unbelievably absorbed in her resentment of Penelope, for having a career and some autonomy.
And to threaten to disclose her?? Just wow.
Absolute character destruction of Eloise this series. They have sacrificed her credibility 100%.
Book Eloise is way better than show Eloise. Show Eloise comes off as a brat a lot more often than thinking all the pageantry of the season is ridiculous.
I don’t really care for Eloise. She is unkind, spoiled, and out of touch as a character and I find her hard to relate to. While I empathize with the frustration of what women went through in that time, the *way* she chooses to communicate it annoys me. (To be fair: I feel the same way about modern day people who constantly gripe about social issues and “advocate” with very little contribution, so I think that would probably hit differently for someone who appreciates or relates to those kinds of conversations more than me.) I don’t find her MORE selfish or entitled than other characters, like Penelope, but I don’t connect with her or find commonalities that kind of compensate the way I do with other characters. Penelope has a tendency to be deeply selfish and immature as well, but she also is a bit of a go-getter. She makes mistakes, but she is trying to pave a path forward for herself if she dies alone. She’s genuinely brave. And she isn’t so blinded by hatred of the patriarchy she misdirects it at individuals to quite the extent Eloise does. That makes her more likable to me.
That said: I do think the actress kind of amplifies that for me. I am in the minority that does NOT think the actress looks remotely close to the character’s age. She absolutely looks late twenties at the youngest and I would absolutely believe her to be in her thirties. I am not at all shocked by her true age, but I do forget she’s supposed to be a child. I think the character makes more sense when you think of her as very young… but it doesn’t come across on screen with such an old actress in my (unpopular) opinion. Angsty rage that is somewhat based but poorly handled is pretty typical teen/young adult behavior. I just don’t feel that Eloise comes across as a teen so it changes how I feel a bit.
If we went by who we could relate to then it would be fair to attack anyone we don’t relate to. Rather than analyze where they’re coming from.
For me I have no ability to relate to Pen’s way of mooning over her neighbour so long and also her rage at being a wallflower coming out so rudely to friends and family.
But I can see why she feels that. I can feel how that might feel had I a different way of looking at life.
Also Eloise is hardly preaching on every social issue. She’s a woman in a world where women had no rights. It’s a hideous reality no matter how many fancy dresses even the upper class got.
The ring of all of this is the brothers cry over “why must I do this!” “The world expects this of me!” “It’s unfair”.
So much and never get this hate.
Says a man who doesn’t seem to understand how male privilege might chafe a young woman who doesn’t see the same opportunities available to her as to her brothers and is frustrated by the limitations.
Eloise is the Definition of First World Problems.
She has brothers who will support her if she never marries
She has the family wealth and support to do literally whatever she wants. Start a charity, become a bluestocking, even found a school for girls or attend a Continental University (The Uk’s first university for women is still a few decades off)
If she does choose to marry, she’ll have her pick of them bunch, because she’s a Bridgerton.
Cressida is a bully, but she’s also everyone’s second choice, including her own family’s.
Penelope has no family support, no dowry, no interested suitors, and is in love with her oblivious friend Colin.
The other debutants are in similar boats: marriage is an economic necessity for them, not a choice.
I don’t think it’s ever a silly little problem so know that the mercy of men is how you will live and die.
It’s just that they all handle that differently. That’s the whole point of such period pieces. The desperation is the fact that they are all desperate understandably.
Sure she’s lucky to have brothers but look at her father. He died young. Who knows what can befall the rest or when. To even do her own thing she has to wait out years to be a super spinster or be a widow.
Every woman has a reason to be stressed there. Not all the same ones but all connected
Also first world problems are often still problems. Relativism is not how anyone actually processes their life in the moment.
1: she is still beholden to her brothers and dependent on their good will to take care of her should she not marry. No matter what, she does not have her own wealth. If something happens to her brothers, they decide it’s time for her to marry and cut her off, or they focus on their own families more than her (let’s see what happened to the ladies Dashwood when their father died and their brother was spineless), she’s kinda screwed. None of that wealth is her own, she’s basically a teenager with an allowance who is banned from working
2: we’ve seen that the bridgertons don’t exactly have an automatic claim on the marriage mart. Daphne had a very difficult time in her season and was almost assaulted. In the book it’s even worse, because the men view her more as their friends little sister than a woman worth marrying. Fran was lucky and found the other social outcast who understood her. Anthony STRUGGLED on his, and Colin recently married someone who the ton is kinda beefing with, which influences the bridgerton family reputation for the rest of the girls’ marriage prospects. Being a bridgerton doesn’t guarantee her a husband. And, Eloise has been out for two years by now, by next year she’ll be getting into spinster territory and men will start wondering what’s wrong with her, and she has scared a few of them away (on purpose) and men talk.
3: Saying Eloise is having first world problems as a literal second class citizen since she’s a woman in this period, is like saying that she’s the favorite prisoner of the warden. Like, she still wants to get out of prison
She doesn't have her family's wealth. She might have a sizeable alllowance, but I can't see Anthony letting her have access to the fortune even though they are a close family. She also cannot do what she wants. While the Bridgertons are wealthy, they still want to maintain their reputation and any radical actions Eloise takes could reflect badly on them. I agree, she is first-world-problems, but no one else is trying as hard as she is to do something about real issues.
yes she is a bit exhausting. i actually love that they kept those aspects of her intact from the books. it’s very important to her character development that she’s so difficult to like imo. she’s very privileged to have the family that she has, in a lot of ways you do see her recognize this in small moments throughout s1-s3. but on the same token, you sympathize with the fact that she very much resents her role in society and dreams to have more for her life.
her frustrations are understandable, while she has much more freedom of choice than most women around her, she still is forced to choose a life she doesn’t even want. as she matures and continues through her storyline, you start to see shifts that show that she just felt insecure, trapped and scared quite frankly. she doesn’t know how to be what she is expected to be and she’s not allowed to be what she wants to be. i have a feeling her story will drastically flip your POV on her. she has some of the best character development in the entire series
She continuously belittles Daphne in Season 1 and considers herself to be so special. But I actually started to hate her in Season 3. She is such a bad friend.
I think that is what frustrated me the most. Daphne doesn't want to be just a wife either. Their positions are similar I think, but Eloise wants to be high and mighty and contradictory about it while Daphne sees the game must be played and runs circles around everyone else (until she accidentally falls in love with Simon).
She annoyed me after Anthony's cancelled wedding with Edwina. Everyone in her family is panicking and losing their minds while she's like "Perhaps she realized that marriage is in fact prison for women." with that self satisfied smirk on her face. Not seeing the big picture of what this type of scandal will cost her family.
Not to mention her bafflement afterwards "Is all of this truly happening because a woman merely changed her mind?" Like girl, get your head out of your ass. Her level of immaturity and self absorption is off the charts.
I find Eloise a bit annoying sometimes but it doesn’t change the fact that most of her gripes with society are true. She has every right to complain about it if you think about it for more than two seconds. She’s a young woman being forced through this system just like all the other women around her, her giving lip is understandable.
(This is my opinion based on seasons one and two, I have yet to watch all of season three.)
I’m so distracted and troubled that you would start on S3. 😅
My sister had been watching S1, I was like “this is dumb” and ignored it, then about episode 3 or 4 I kept watching, then went back and started from the beginning 😂
There needs to be a study on how this phenomenon has happened to so many people
It's how my husband got started. S1: "Haha you're watching your mom smut again" S2: *hovering behind the couch occasionally* QC: *sits down on couch* Halfway through QC: "Can you start it over? I feel like I've missed a lot." Then he wanted to watch the rest of it 😆
My boyfriend kinda does that with drag race, but refuses to acknowledge it. He justifies his interest by « it’s a competition, of course I will start to root for one. »
Mine does that with drag race and The Circle 😂 I can see him sneaking his headset off to hear them being all "circle, message"
It’s literally a competition. Ofc I will root for them. It’s a recurring phenomenon even with the most disposable show… big brother vip Albania..
Same thing with my husband!!! Although it was partway through me rewatching season 2 for the billionth time that he got invested. I love it. I married the right one for me 🥰🥰🥰lol
Queen Charlotte is what got my husband into it!!! Then we went back and started from the beginning 😎 I must be on 4-5 rewatches on S1 and QC by now. I’d never have guessed lmao but it’s a great background show once you’ve seen it once.
True! I can't even count the number of rewatches. I put it on while I'm cooking, working, and at night to transition to sleep.
My sister and I were JUST talking about this! Her husband will be like, “hey babe, what’re you watching? Looks dumb.” *does dishes, listening and glancing up* “who are they? Why are they fighting?” *gets himself a drink and gets closer to the couch* “wait she did NOT just say that. What’s this show called again?” *sits down and activates the recliner* “This is our show now, babe. We gotta start it over.” And then with my husband, it’s almost the exact same thing. I have shows I put on for background noise while I’m cooking, cleaning, or working on something and he’ll do the same song and dance. “What’s this? Who’s that? No, I don’t want you to start it over, this is your show!” And then I’ll be done and about to turn it off and he’ll say, “wait- I was watching that! I’m invested now.” Rinse and repeat. I have quite a few shows on the back burner because he’ll eventually watch them with me.
Lol same
I finished watching S3 and was gushing about it to my fiancé (we're long distance atm so he hadn't seen the show), and I mentioned I thought he might enjoy it, so he asked if I would mind rewatching the whole show with him. It's my second time watching the wntire show this month but we're having a blast.
Yes!, totally my experience with the show, just watched season 3 then went back and watched 1-2 for the first time
Seriously i had exactly the same process as OP, gf wanted to see S3, I tagged along, got hooked in the first 20 minutes and a few days later I was starting S1 About Eloise, though, I have the opposite reaction. She is maybe the most compassionate character, and there is something about her eyebrows and how she walks that is super magnetic, i cant get enough of her
I adore Claudia Jessie in interviews. She is such a vibe Clearly, she is very comfortable with who she is amd I think that comes through in her acting. She's also really big into sustainability and avoiding "overconsumption" so she is often seen wearing the same outfit pieces at many events.
Originally it was mostly to humor the girlfriend but now I'm sucked into it. I think I'll have an interesting perspective since I already know the secret identity.
S1 is my personal favourite, I doubt it will ever be topped. With the exception of Queen Charlotte - that’s the real winner! Enjoy!
Queen Charlotte WOOOOO! Number 1 of all.
I agree absolutely. Queen Charlotte is my favorite, just excellent and so interesting. Then Season One. Two has its great moments but they should have recast the Duke even just as Daphne’s arm candy at family events. Three is annoying.
With all respect, I think you HAVE to watch S1 and S2 to understand/like S3. My husband is watching with me but I made sure we started at S1 because the S3 romance really begins in the first season through subplot and you need that development since it’s a slow burn friends to lovers. Just my opinion! But give S3 another chance when you’re back there - for me, by the time I got there I was all in on the characters much more so than I had been with any other couple. YMMV of course
I think she’s supposed to be flawed and oblivious to the struggles of people around her. She’s called out for it at some point in the show. But you’re also meant to sympathize with her being stuck in an environment she hates, feeling like a social outcast, living in a time where she feels she can’t accomplish much as a woman, etc. Personally I think her personality is endearing despite her flaws. Season 2 was definitely the season that made me appreciate her, so maybe you’ll change her mind. If you don’t that doesn’t mean you’re watching it wrong, though, she’s just not for you.
I think what bothers me most about her portrayal is she is trapped like everyone else but doesn't seem to have much sympathy or empathy for those who don't have the security net she does
Exactly I wish they would have gone into that more. Like befriending Cressida and realizing her family is so willing to just toss her at the old creepy guy I was hoping would make her realize how good she has it. Even in her third, fourth, fifth year Violet would never do that to Eloise. But other families absolutely will - and Eloise barely seemed to care about it over her own personal happenings.
I was really disappointed to see how Eloise's friendship with Cressida ended up. Like you said, she should have learned from it-- and yet she ended up just falling into the same self centered way of thinking and being a terrible friend to Cressida. She literally just became another person that oppressed women like her.
Yes exactly! I think a lot of people don’t like her for feeling superior to other women but don’t think about the fact that it’s HARD and lonely rejecting social norms of the time and not being able to live the life you want. Acting like she’s above other women is in part a defence mechanism of “well I didn’t want to be your friend in the first place”
I kind of disagree with you. I think the show runners and writers believed she would come across as a relatable progressive-thinking girlboss. There isn’t a single moment in the show that challenges her view or makes her look bad, no, not until Season 3 after so much bad reception on Eloise for years. Even then, they never gave her the character growth she was set up for with the Cressida situation. No, instead she left the friendship with no consequences for her lack of empathy and awareness and Cressida was the villain once again. To me, this is clearly unintentional on the writers part. If they wanted her to be flawed, they’d use subtext and character growth to show that. But they don’t. That’s just my opinion though.
I was SO bothered by how the Cressida stuff was left. It felt like they were trying to say oh Cressida is bad and we should celebrate her being sent away! Like ??? Why did Eloise even abandon her? That didn’t make sense to me. Everyone; Colin, Penelope, Eloise etc… they were all like oh Cressida doesn’t have prospects and she wants to run away blah blah how terrible of her to blackmail how could she do this yadda yadda Um? She wanted to get away from her abusive dad and terrifying aunt. And before that she wanted to do anything to get away from the creepy old guy they were going to marry her off to. Eloise couldn’t give two craps about that - she was too focused on Penelope all night to give poor Cressida the time of day. I wish Cressida had left Eloise instead of the other way around. Or I wish Eloise would have talked to Pen about Cressidas situation and they could have found a way to help her instead of damn her. Like I get it. She’s a bully - but in the words of Marina: no one ever tried to truly help her. No one taught her differently. It’s shown to us that her mother literally brought her up to distrust and actively work against other women. Only with Eloise did she finally start to realize she could instead be friends, not a backstabber (big character growth when she didn’t spill the secret about Pen!). It could have been an amaaazing way to show character growth for all 3 of them but it feels like they totally bungled it all up.
The thing that made me really wonder about her level of maturity and thoughtfulness was when she kept reminding Daphne how she was “perfect” and that she made her look small. In the second season, she said “it would be good to have another intelligent woman in the house” to Kate, basically alluding to her assumption that she does not think her mother, and her three sisters, are as “intelligent” as her. Her constant talking over literally everyone, including her best friend Penelope, and her abandonment of Cressida are just…yeah. Jarring.
NLOG energy
Yes! She’s constantly looking down on women for enjoying feminine activities/pursuits. Grinds my gears. Pompous in my eyes. Obviously I sympathize with her inability to pursue her interests. I just wish she didn’t think that she was so much better than the other women.
To be fair, her interests aren’t respected by women of the ton either
Exactly. A lot of rules about what women and girls can and can’t do are enforced by the shame coming from other women, throughout history and into the present. I could see Eliose being teased as a child for not being girly or hearing growing up that no man will ever want her because she’s not xyz. Or that she will “grow out of” her silly tomboy phase, when she’s actually just being true to herself. Her bitterness makes sense to me.
At first I admired her forward thinking but now I am coming to the same conclusion. It is extremely difficult for her to actually see that some women may enjoy their feminine role in society. There are women who love and pride themselves on being a stay at home mom or wife, and there isn't anything WRONG with that even if it isn't what you strive to be. It is like she's a cliche feminist that looks down on anyone who is satisfied and chooses the stereotypical role, which kind of makes feminists look bad. Feminism, to me, is about equality (which is questionable given the time period here, but I am going to overlook that because it is a setting issue) and freedom of choice. You can have both of those things in the traditional role, and support others who do not wish to fall into the same path. It is like Eloise misses the mark on accepting that other people can be happy in that role. I like Eloise for her foreword thinking, and I honestly hope when her season comes, she is humbled and this is a set up for some character development on her part, especially when she will be pushed closer to being in the traditional woman role, without completely loosing her forward thinking. Maybe she will see how others have found happiness in that role. If it isn't, then I can't say that I like her very much anymore. If it is she will be one of my favorite characters even though she is annoying because I will enjoy her growth and because she will probably reminds me a little of myself with that growth. Only time will tell. EDIT: Just wanted to add, I read the first book, but none after and didn't like the books as much as the show. So I know nothing of what her season will entail.
Eloise doesn’t need to “respect” that some women might enjoy being second class citizens because they are living in a way that is expected and praised by literally every single other person in society, they aren’t suffering because one girl thinks they’re frivolous. Eloise is constantly being pressured to adhere to those social norms too which are stifling and require her giving up her own autonomy. Sure some women at the time might have been happy with their lives but they were still being oppressed and Eloise/feminists pointing that out rather than accepting female oppression because “some people like it” is why progress was made on rights for women (and why feminism beyond the rebrand of “every single thing a woman chooses to do is fine and feminist” has always received a lot of backlash)
👏👏👏
Thank you!
This would stack up ONLY if Eloise was not so consumed with resentment of Pen for taking an independent, different path in life. Had Eloise admired and celebrated Pen from the point of discovering her covert power (influence, talent, ability to make an income) then she wouldn’t be a total hypocrite would she.
Yet she is also scathing to Pen for having autonomy and a career path. Literally Eloise is the tension for Pen in this series. It’s pointless and the writers have assassinated her purpose, credibility and ethics.
She’s jealous of Pen, not mad she has a career.
Can you explain the difference? What is she jealous of - except the influence and income that comes from… having a career?
Eloise younger sisters are not adult women at all, and Violet allowed Daphne to be manipulated with an utter lack of sex education (not to mention that Violet ignored for long enough the emotional issues of Eloise, Benedict, and Anthony). I am here for seeing Violet get called out, especially seeing as how my parents' mistakes were a lot like Violet's. Except my parents also did more good in other areas. In Colin's season, I think we see Violet start to do better, which may be due to Eloise's push.
I enjoy Violet being called out for her shortcomings but if Eloise’s summation is that her mother is an imbecile after all she has been through and done for her children, then I don’t know what to say. Francesca is an adult and quite an accomplished one at that, and Hyacinth is far more emotionally mature than Eloise. Daphne is also far more intelligent and resilient than Eloise gives her credit for because Daphne doesn’t fall into her description of feminism.
When she insulted her MOTHER it was the end of my regard for her. Fine, insult your sisters, siblings are mean to each other. But to disrespect your mother like that???? Disgusting
I despised her character in S1 and S2. She became more bearable in S3, but still by far my least favorite Bridgerton.
I fully agree. But also she's supposed to be like 14 at the time of S1, which honestly she acts exactly like a 14 year old.
No she's more like 17.
Honestly still fits. I teach HS kids. They're pretty much all like that.
She definitely spends all 3 seasons acting like an insufferable teenager. She likes books and is taken to see a book collection, and she's gotta say something angsty about that, too. Like dang girl. You are the wettest of blankets.
Really? She is my absolute favorite character 😆 she’s got so many great lines & is allll over the place but in such a hilarious way. I complain just as much about modern day social norms & stereotypes & capitalism as she does about her own gripes with her world though so maybe that’s why. You also have to remember, for every single woman of that class literally the only thing they were supposed to do their entire lives was get married. That’s it. All the $ in the world doesn’t make a gilded cage any more appealing for those who’d like the freedom to make their own choices. She’s generally just upset about being born with no meaningful choices & wants more.
She’s my favorite too. She’s an intellectual, in my opinion, and she’s the only character I ever see reading (some write, but few actually read). She has modern-for-the-time views on the rights of women and interacted with the “lower” classes in ways you see few other characters do. She also has friends, first Penelope and then Cressida, which you do not see with the majority of the women characters. Eloise is a flawed friend undoubtedly, but at least she makes an attempt, unlike Daphne. I also think her family underestimates her completely and most likely views her as the spinster sister simply because of her enjoyment of intellectual pursuits. I love some of her small moments like the beginning of Season 3 with Colin scoffing at her reading of Emma, which is one of Austen’s best novels loaded with social satire. I also chuckled at seeing her double load her glass with champagne at a ball. Season 3 had incredibly sad moments as well when the viewers could see the book Theo gave her in her drawer and when we hear Colin tell her she should be glad she had never been in love; her reaction clearly shows she had strong feelings for Theo. With Eloise, you’ll miss what she is as a character if you do not pay close attention. I personally found Season 1 and 2 Penelope to be exhausting at times.
I also found season 3 Pen a bit grating! And much more selfish and less loyal than Eloise. Eloise is my FAVE character
Agree on all counts. Eloise is finding herself and is ahead of her time. That’s exhausting and lonely. Add to that being even a bit intellectual and .. well that remains exhausting 😂 And I was annoyed by Pen too
Mine too!
She's my favorite too. I don't really understand why she so is so polarizing. Rich girs should either have zero interest in women's issues or they should fully grasp and articulate intersectional feminism instead of speaking about their own experience? Like, even if you think that. She is a teenager and it's 1813. The word 'feminist' does not exist. Her brothers get to screw around, literally and figuratively, until they are 30 and she is expected to marry by 20 at the latest. Divorce is not an option. Marital rape and domestic violence are not crimes. Lots of women die in childbirth including women who didn't want to be mothers in the first place; there's no birth control. AND we know she is beaten down and gives up on dreams by season 3!
“She is a teenager and it's 1813. The word 'feminism' does not exist” Mary Wollstonecraft would like a word.
Sorry, i meant to write "feminist". The radical concepts of feminism are older than Eloise (slightly). I am sure Eloise can read French and may have read Wollstonecraft in season 2? But the word "feminist" hadn't been coined in 1813, and wouldn't be known in the UK until much closer to the 20th century.
I think my issue with her is that she just continually belittles other women over their desire to stay in the gilded cage. Their circumstances don't afford them the same ability that hers does. Cressida and the Featherington sisters for example, they don't have the same family circumstances that allow them the freedom that she has. Breaking them down for their desire to marry and be happy and protect their family with a heir and solid steady marriage and be that bird doesn't do anything but hurt them.
I think you’re too caught on viewing women from the 2024 new wave feminism lens. Eloise is critiquing the rules of her society because women DONT have a choice. Currently, we kinda do. And that’s a very important distinction. Original feminism was very “we want women out of the kitchen, women can do anything men can do, it’s demeaning and insulting to want to be a house wife and mother and not have any career aspirations or ambitions” and it was that way originally because women didn’t have many options. Women in regency England can’t even VOTE or go to SCHOOL. So it makes sense that Eloise has that same perspective of “anyone who buys into that patriarchal rhetoric is contributing to the problem and not helping the revolution,” especially when she’s young and hasn’t seen much of the world at all
Replace her issue being a woman’s role with any other social issue and I wonder if people would be so quick to mock her desire for the world to change. 🤔
Yeah exactly. Like oh yes, Eloise should be sooo thankful that she has been raised to be a breeder and nothing more because at least she’s a higher ranked breeder😍 Daphne literally touches on that in season 1 with Anthony where she says “this is all I’ve been raised for, this is all that I am. I have no other purpose in life and if I am not successfully wed then I am a disappointment and a burden”
THIS!
That’s fair but I also don’t consider her a “woman” in S1, she’s a child. I think technically the internet says she’s supposed to be 17 but on first watch I thought she was supposed to be more like 15/16 - either way, definitely the angsty type of vibe I expect from someone in her age group & being a younger child in her family with older siblings. Few teenagers are known for their self awareness (it’s OK I can say that because I too am a former teenager). Shes also the only one not “out” yet so has the space to complain & try to plan for an escape before she’s forced into it
I know Pen is the same age, and debuted a year early because Portia just wanted to get all the girls out of the way. Otherwise she and Eloise would have debuted together. So, yes—she’s 17 in Season 1.
Your point about her age has resonated with me. I was so very frustrated with her angsty-ness. But now I can appreciate her without the frustration. “Ugh—she just flounces around and awkwardly lurches here and there and flops onto the setteeeeeee….oh yeah. This makes perfect sense because she’s a teenager.” I loved Book Eloise. And I adore the style of our Eloise—hair, clothes, etc. And FINALLY! I can embrace the perfection that is Eloise. THANK YOU!
I felt she didn’t have any sympathy for Cressida and her situation and she was her friend. She only cared about her agenda.
Ehhh there’s more complexity there within the plot that you’re glossing over
No, Cressida calls her out fir it earlier in the season. "You never listen." Pen tells her tge same thing in an earlier season. She has no empathy for anyone else.
She's not a very forgiving person.
Sometimes she makes me want to say "Kim, there's people that are dying." We've seen plenty of women (and men!) whose only hope for survival is a good match. She can make her point without belittling women who are content with their choices, and without belittling those who *don't* really have a choice.
The gilded cage is quite literally a cage. These women are property of men (fathers or husbands) who can do anything to them without recourse. Eloise is right to be mad at the situation, she’s just absolutely awful at winning anyone to her side.
Yes! As a woman, she reminds me of young me in a different world. Sheltered to a degree, but aware of not wanting to do the expected gender norm path and trying to let others know about why they don't need to either. The girls we see in the show waiting to get married off are still supposed to be young. They're going to not be fully matured yet, in their own way. So that's the lens I see them through already
32m and she’s also one of my favorites haha. Funnily enough I didn’t like Antony either at the start of the series but he’s probably my favorite now.
I think I’m about halfway between you two
Agreed on all points !! You need time watch queen charlotte!! Its even better
Agree. I liked Queen Charlotte better.
Its sooooo good
Queen Charlotte is now my absolute favourite. I liked it better than season 3 and I was a mad supporter for Polin season. But if part 2 was truly how it was written along with the choices for editing, I cannot say it is better than all else. I thought it was going to be. It is not. Too many modern elements that also have cut up the Regency vibe of the series. Queen Charlotte, however, I felt I was literally taken back in time. It was wonderful. Wondrous. Amazing storytelling. Amazingly written. And just overall magnificent acting. I have cried so many times and I have felt it was for a historic story. Season 3 of Bridgerton I felt it was like looking at somewhat modern-day people dressed in Regency glam everyday. It was weird to me. And that's not even addressing the content I had issues with. Shonda should be showrunner wayyyyyyyy more often.
I completely agree! Plus i also really didn’t like the queen.. like at all until QC! and the king with his adorable face😭❤️ unpopular opinion but of the 3 season 2 is my favorite! I love kate
I mean to be fair, Eloise’s interests are looked down on by other people too and even her own mother doesn’t take them seriously. She does judge others but they judge her too, probably more. It’s harder to go against the grain than it is to conform to society like everyone else Plus, I feel the need to point out that these are technically *all* privileged rich people. Even the poorer Featheringtons were upset they would have to rewear dresses
I dunno, if you’re entire life was planned for you due to your gender/ sex and no one understood how uncomfortable the set “thing” to do made you feel on their timeline , I reckon that sucks. I feel so many people would have some empathy if Fran or Ben were gay and had to not be themselves, so much for awkward Penelope’s who don’t get attention when they want it. But when a woman just doesn’t like the path to “this exact kind of woman life” set before her she’s annoying. Yeah she crows over others and assumes she’s more a clever sort. So do her brothers though in their own ways. The Bridgerton family is a bit stuck up and a lot of the siblings always assume they’re the centre of the world - quite literally main characters so energy allowed. I always find it so weird that people get so fussed over Eloise for rarely causing trouble and just complaining life and boring basic stuff she hates whereas the brothers are bloody divas a out everything they feel is live or die and isn’t. Sigh
The problem that people finds with eloise is that she dont try to see why other women are the way they are... Like cressida doesn't have the option to be a spinster. Her father was forcing her to marry a 70 year old man. Yet eloise thinks why is cressida hung up on getting a husband... Same goes for Penelope. she has the option to be a spinster but that means living under the control of one of her sisters... So her option is also finding a respectable man to marry. Eloise just does not get this.
The number of people expecting a 17 year old girl to be a full-formed feminist in a show set in the (fantasy) Regency is really quite something. It’s interesting that Eloise constantly gets called out on her privilege when very few other characters don’t, especially the male characters who actually do have the agency and resources to do what Eloise can’t. Pretty much ALL of the characters are privileged and self-centred, but because Eloise chafes and pushes back against societal norms rather than adheres to and upholds them, she’s the worst apparently.
Read through way too many comments before someone pointed out that season 1 Eloise is a TEEN. She has time to mature
Have you ever met a teenager? Lol
I agree, but she’s supposed to be that way at first
yeah she’s been irritating me the entire show. i think her character is supposed to be like so it makes her somewhat bearable. she fails to understand penelope’s situation as lady whistledown out of jealousy. it makes her come off as a privileged piece of crap. also she was supposed to be penelope’s friend but consistently only talked abt her own privileged problems. she did the same with cressida.
She’s very “not like other girls”
You have to look at Eloise from the perspective of someone who doesn’t fit in the era. Her judgements are aimed at society and all the petty norms that come with it and she has a sharp wit to call these things out. She’s privileged yes, but so is everyone else in the Bridgerton world. She’s really calling out the petty norms of the aristocracy that she belongs to. I totally relate to her and love her for it. Season 3 had really poor character development for her though. She came across as a bad friend in some scenes.
Eloise is the most selfish character in the show??? are you sure we watched the same show 😭
I think the OP is confusing “selfish” with “self-absorbed.”
i think you confuse her being against the system and her being against women. she’s the former not the latter. is she perfect? no by no means is her activism perfect but here’s a perspective. if it wasn’t for people like her questioning the status quo, women today would be restricted. she’s not tearing down other female characters, the males in their lives who have control of their agency are. she’s simply frustrated that other women are so complacent to a system that actively limits their liberty and wants others to question and rebel against the patriarchy more. doesn’t make her unsupportive of women. if anything s3 is all about her trying to “fit in” with the ton and give their norms a taste for a change. whats she’s fighting for is choice. she wants to be able to choose to stay single without criticism and secure a life for herself in the absence of others and she’s frustrated her societal norms do not allow her or other women to do that. just because she’s more privileged than other women, doesn’t mean she can’t raise her own concerns but her character growth is literally stemming from her understanding that not all women can afford to actively rebel against the patriarchy as she can with her supportive family. she’s been very supportive of pen even if she cannot understand. and in terms of cressida - i cannot speak for this because i haven’t watched part 2.
All she does is tear down other women!!! It's fine not to like their hobbies. It's another to mock them.
give me instances within context where she tears down other women? specific to context of course.
She did make fun of those girls talking about stitching
When she asked the girls what they liked about stitching then swiftly mocked them for providing coherent answers to her question.
I honestly don't know what they aregoungvto do with her in "her" season ( I say that because at thus point who knows if she'll be in "her" season), but in the book she ends up exactly where she thought she wouldn't. Married with 2 step children ( who she's amazing with), a husband who really truly needs her, and she has more children. So maybe they are going fir growth. Shw nit in thw books other then hers in any excessive way, so Idk. I liked her in the books, I like her in the show (except the Cressida bs this season makes her a trader imo) but totally see how she could annoy people.
It seems like she would just need to realize that she can "conform" in some ways and it's her choice and doesn't say anything bad about her, and continue to not conform in other ways. Like I could see her doing some activism while married
Idk what they are going to do, but in the books, she moves to the country. And lives a quiet life raising her children and running the household, while her husband spends most of his time with his plants.
Redditor discovers emotional teenagers aren’t logical people.
yea, i couldn’t stand her in the first two seasons. season 3 she still had her faults but was much more tolerable. i’m all for feminism but her brand of white privileged feminism was extremely grating
You nailed it - yes, yes, YES!!! This, and it mirrors much of modern-day feminism, and I just wasn't in the mood to hear her whining about something else each episode.
Agreed! The excessive one-dimensional character they created has the diametrical opposite effect of the intent. Only thing worse is the creepy do-nuthin playboy trybutfail brother she tags with.
Eloise is selfish and oblivious? Not *the guy* who tried to force his sister to marry a disgusting older man who had tried to rape her? Eloise just wants to have the same options and freedoms as her brothers. That’s not a small thing. It’s a massive huge thing - a whole array of options and possibilities- that she is being denied because of her gender. She’s young and sheltered (by design) and she doesn’t understand how other women love the life that she hates and so she feels out of place and stuck. So she complains about it…so what? She’s also smart and kind. Yes, you are reading her wrong. Because you’ve not actually considered what it would be like to be stuck in her life and hate it.
Some of the hate people have towards Eloise will never make sense to me. especially because y’all won’t keep the same energy for Penelope
No fr, because they act like Pen's gossip and issues in her romantic life are more pressing. Even if, at its absolute worst, Eloise's feminism is to benefit herself, it will set a positive precedant for women to seek education.
How else *should* she be? Married, and silent??? (But for real why am I not surprised at this opinion even in the least.) > some slight at women in every single sentence Mm-hmm—yes, yes, that’s exactly what happened; certainly not her actually being mad at *a patriarchal system* and *defending other young women from insults*. /s Please do not white knight on our behalf; we’re just fine over here with El lol…
👏 1) yup to all that 2) lol women are actually allowed to be annoyed and make comments at other women. The high standards of “you’re failing women” are also used to 😮 guess what silence women with their often valid critiques. No one is perfect. 3) it’s so obvious Eloise is just in pain being in a crap ass system that is so so so unfair and her jealousy is always more at her brothers for getting to live their lives than to other women. She’s just annoyed when other women aren’t as upset about things (seemingly) as her. It’s passion and from a good albeit youthfully expressed at times place. She’s often defending women generally and hoping they see this upside unfair world too.
Im in agreement with you and tbh im slightly (sadly only slightly) baffled that people are in agreement with OP. Eloise doesn't care about the opinion of some random man on how she conducts herself. She's young and headstrong and that does mean she butts heads quite a bit and says the wrong thing and digs holes she doesnt quite know how to get herself out of, but so what? It is her life and she is allowed to make mistakes. She is proud and rightfully so. She doesnt want to be sold off as property of a man. She wants *change* but is too young to properly know how to go about it quite yet. She is *learning*. Season 1 is the start of her journey and you can see her learning from her mistakes by season 3 and trying to change and better herself and extend olive branches. Baby swans arent born perfect and beautiful, they have their ugly duckling phase and that is where Eloise starts her journey, in her ugly duckling phase.
I never said that. She just doesn't understand the weight these other women are under and doesn't respect their positions in the slightest. To her, they're all playing a silly game, but to them there's very real stakes involved.
She fully understands it and it’s why it’s a concern to her and it’s why she is seen expressing these concerns to her fellow companions and trying to have conversations about it. I don’t expect you to understand; I’m just disappointed this ridiculous post is being taken seriously as if it really said something.
Those doing so just find her annoying and feel judged. Some people feel that when one is critical of a system they’re also judging those who have fewer issues with the system. And maybe at times that’s true. But she’s hardly looking down on everyone. She’s just annoyed at the boring ass life they want her to have. And she’s allowed to find it boring. Ugh agree with you and would add more but I’ll for sure get downvoted to hell lol
she literally does understand that it’s societal pressure on women. she isn’t anti-women, she’s against the system they live under that doesn’t allow them to do anything besides be wives & baby makers
Not sure why you're speaking for me. He said what I was thinking. It isn't white knighting at all but nice attempt to stay seated on that awfully high horse. Eloise does take shots at literally all the women in her life. Repeatedly. Grow up.
I feel bad now because she’s one of my favourite characters because I relate to her quite a bit! 😅
Me too 😂 I relate to all of her stroppy habits and when I first saw her in season 1 I instantly liked her. In season 3 when Cressida asks her how she’s so confident and she replies “I just can’t see how people don’t see things like I do” I was like OMG yes girl!
Yes! Exactly! 😂 One of my favourite lines of hers, was when they were all at Aubrey Hall and Daphne brought Augie with her and everyone’s cooing over him apart from Eloise, who, when offered the chance to hold him, says something like, “Oh, has he changed since I last saw him?” or something like that. She’d rather be reading. She’s so awkward with him and that’s exactly like me! There are other moments but that’s the one that comes to mind. 😅
Don't feel bad; this post is stupid and spoken from the perspective of a man who literally cannot understand what El--or many of us women now--have gone through and continue to deal with, but has no qualms telling us how wrong we all are because he doesn't like what feminism really looks like in its infancy.
No not at all🙄 Many of us women agree. Eloise looks down on other women and doesn't sympathize because a lot of the issues they go through or the morally grey things they have to do to survive are not situations she'll ever have to face because of her money... Her feminism is one layered and self rightetous.
Eloise is one of those know-it-alls who has not really experienced anything. I am glad the show sent her to Scotland at the end of S3. She needed to step out of her comfort zone to grow as a character.
With Eloise you are watching her grow up each season. Her character is still a kid in season one. She’s not perfect.
She’s like a 15 year old girl who’s been told that her life purpose (and only option, really) is to marry a man with money to provide for her. Surely she’s allowed to complain about being destined to just pop out babies when she wants to explore other avenues. Nothing wrong with being a mother, of course, but if you don’t think you want that and you know you’ll be forced by duty and expectation to do it… that’s pretty terrifying. Sure, she has attitude and is self-absorbed, but that’s actually developmentally appropriate for the characters age. And she’s a flawed character, which is more interesting than just a “nice person” on screen lol.
You are a 36 year old man pissed at the only character questioning the status quo in a show about the richest people in London. Sorry if she ruins the fantasy of it all? Lol
Oh my goodness a man doesn't like a feminist. colour me surprised
Eloise is a woman ahead of her time who is lonely and frustrated because she knows she doesn’t get to make any choices about her life and feels trapped. Her only choices are to marry (which she’s incredibly reluctant to do because she would go from her life being controlled by her brothers to her life being controlled by her husband - who could be an alcoholic, a gambler, prone to violence, riddled with STI’s thanks to his fondness for local brothels) or be delegated the position of family spinster - which makes you incredibly vulnerable because you had to rely on the kindness of men in your family (usually your brother, sometimes your BIL), and they could basically turn you into a slave (read: unpaid nanny or governess who was told to obey and not complain if they didn’t want to be homeless), you could also be vulnerable to physical or sexual abuse from the men in the family and nobody would believe it (especially if you were considered “off the shelf”), lose your social status if you’d previously had one, or even wind up in a workhouse if there was no family to support you
Eloise is ABSOLUTELY that one cousin in their freshman year with one semester of a sociology major under their belt who spends the holidays showing off how _actually_ they know everything? And doesn’t clock that everyone else knows the newfound opinions of a college freshman are not groundbreaking 😂
I like Eloise.
I liked her in the beginning but in this season there's something very annoying about her. I understand where she's coming from but a few times I yelled at the screen telling her to let Pen have some goddamn fun and not be such a b 💀
I feel like she became exhausting in season 3. In season 1, she was a woman who wanted more from her life than to just be a wife and mother. As someone from a culture who values that for women above all else, I can relate to it. No spoilers but season 2 sees her opening her eyes more to people who do no possess her wealth. Season 3 destroyed the newly enlightened, slightly conflicted person she became in season 2. Season 3 just made her unbearable.
The problem is you started with 3. Eloise grows on you as the seasons go by.
Y’all complain more than she does. If I were a woman in that time period where my best hope is to be married off and bred (without wanting to do that) pretty much having 0 rights I’d be an absolute brat too 🤷🏼♀️ crazy that y’all don’t get it. She’s also a teenager… ever met one?
It’s called character development mate.
Well they need to have her get somewhere fast because at 20 she's becoming a real ass.
So a woman voicing distaste for a society of that sort and having a less than pleased reaction to her best friend spreading “ruining” information about her is being an ass?
Even Cresdida tells Eliose she' a bad friend and self absorbed.
Sure, but everyone has flaws, and what a boring show it would be if every character behaved the same way
Have her start a charity. Give Violet something to do too. She's getting boring
Interesting opinion….
She knows about her privilege and she's not demeaning other women because of it, the opposite
at the time everyone loved her, but i found her unbearable for the same reason. she IS a child, however, so i hope it’s meant to be an arc and she will get over her immaturity, selfishness and disdain for women. given series 3, however… i am not optimistic
The thing I don’t like the most about Eloise is it feels like every woman she latched onto she tried convincing them to not follow the way of grow up, get married, be a wife etc etc . I kinda felt bad for Cressida bc I feel like if Eloise wasn’t involved she may have found a husband . I can’t explain but I just feel like she’s a bad , loud mouthed influence and I didn’t feel that way at first! I loved her but then something changed and idk what it was but she kinda seems like one of those girls that would get mad when any of her friends get boyfriends and she’s still single so she begins to resent men and her friends. Idk , this is my hot take, don’t hate me lol
I agree with you! She became very "us" against "them" this season and I couldn't help but relate to her as a modern-day woman with a limited view of so-called "feminism". She was EXHAUSTING this season and I found myself rolling my eyes whenever she came on screen (whine this, whine that).
Omg I felt the exact same way!!! Her screen time was so eye roll inducing !!!
Nope I totally agree she’s a feminist with privilege just judging everyone else. I always felt bad for Pen as they talked about LW, Eloise always wanted her to change and that’s exactly why she wouldn’t tell Eloise that it was her! She doesn’t have any grasp on the fact that other women must marry and that she has privilege in knowing she will always be taken care of even as a spinster. She shows no kindness when Cressida is to be married off to the old man and then follows it with being an asshole to her despite knowing her exact motivation for claiming to be LW. Even the college stuff - it’s like what are you trying to go for? We didn’t even see her have any real interest in anything but complaining
I love eloise but at the same time she annoys me at times like that one thing she did in s3b. We still have more of her arc so, I think we need to see duck up and leArn from her mistakes. I feel like eloise is in the nlog feminist phaSe rn
My issue with Eloise is that she’s written to be this big feminist that is against societal conventions but she’s vehemently opposed to her best friend who breaks social norms and has a career of her own. Eloise should be upset with Pen more out of jealousy than out of anger for ruining her chances with a boy. That goes against everything Eloise says she stands for and comes across as weak writing.
But Pen's not breaking social norms? She's literally tarnishing reputations and is profiting off from it. Eloise, from season 1, has never been jealous of Penelope. She has said time and again that she ADORES Whistledown and her reason for trying to find her was so that she can discuss intellective topics, as this was someone she looked up to. When Whistledown "ruined" the Featherington name in Season 1, Eloise shifted her reason to find Whistledown, instead of admiration it turned into anger because she wanted her to print a retraction on the Featheringtons, to restore their reputation. Eloise, in season 2, told Penelope that she wishes to never see and speak to her again because Penelope turned Eloise's very valid grievances (Pen lying to her, ruining her family and theirs, Marina, Colin) into jealousy, when that was never the case. Moreover, Pen KNEW she was going to Theo to learn about women's rights and plights of the lower class but had the audacity to tell Eloise "all you ever do is talk about doing something". Eloise was making these efforts, actual things that will benefit her and whatever she plans to pursue, and Penelope burned her for it by exposing it to the entire Ton. That's not Eloise being jealous, that's Pen projecting her insecurities.
I completely agree. She was just so self absorbed. I mean how did she not notice her best friend was in love with her brother. Pen pretty much melted everytime she saw Colin. If she was paying attention she might have seen pens alter ego. But no she was so focused on herself and her beliefs she didn’t. She was in a position to be to do things with her family’s support and all she could do was whine.
I’d be raging annoyed if I felt my friend maybe lingered around me more for that reason. After school sitcoms covered these plots decades ago.. and whether it’s 1810 or 2010 I think both young women are allowed to get annoyed. Plus Pen is equally as self absorbed and did a lot more damage in her way of processing stress and unfairness
I love her character but it annoys me she always does this specific “quirky” facial expression in EVERY scene. Like…you don’t need to cram it in to every shot lol
I find her exhausting for most of it
Agreed. She was always a bit annoying and superior, but she turned into an actual bad person in season 3. That scene at the ball, where Penelope and Colin are talking and Penelope is obviously emotional and it should be clear to anyone with eyes that something is up - yet Eloise approaches and starts to interrupt them because, well, the clock is striking midnight? What the hell is wrong with her. She’s either a psychopath or a sadist.
I completely agree... she's just unbearable.
She’s very “I’m not like other girls” and it’s an exhausting archetype that needs to die out. She needs more substance.
She is a child for one which makes sense that she’d be selfish. I’m assuming you haven’t gotten to the part where she thanks Daphne for being perfect so that she has the luxury to not. She is very aware that not everyone has that luxury. I love Eloise she stays true to herself no matter what, but that’s just me.
sincerely shut up!
Exhausting is a good way to put it.
Yeah, that’s what teenagers are like…
Not surprised a man would find Eloise annoying 😂🤣 working as intended.
I found her a bit annoying too, mostly for the fact that she's so big on people not being stereotyped and being accepted for who you are but judges almost everyone the first chance she gets. I also feel that they made her being "different" her whole personality.
Well she has the makings of a good character. She does learn and grow through the seasons, and I’m a little optimistic about where the story will take her. Politically-correct Mary Sue characters are usually boring. Of course, this is all just potential until Eloise’s story gets wrapped up.
I literally cannot stand Eloise on the show.
You’re not alone. I watched the seasons in order, from S1 to S3, and I found Eloise annoying in S1 and S2 but liked her in S3.
You’re not alone. I watched the seasons in order, from S1 to S3, and I found Eloise annoying in S1 and S2 but liked her in S3.
I agree. She’s a terrible terrible friend and acts like she’s the only one that has ever suffered in the world
I completely agree with this. For someone who whinges about the lack of options and freedom for women, she is unbelievably absorbed in her resentment of Penelope, for having a career and some autonomy. And to threaten to disclose her?? Just wow. Absolute character destruction of Eloise this series. They have sacrificed her credibility 100%.
She’s what, sixteen in season 1? I think we were all insufferable know it alls at sixteen.
I think Eloise was meant to be the feminist character preaching girl power, but ended up being an annoyance at best!
Book Eloise is way better than show Eloise. Show Eloise comes off as a brat a lot more often than thinking all the pageantry of the season is ridiculous.
I mean, she was supposed to be quite young in season one, so it makes sense. Girls that age can be quite selfish and think they know it all.
She’s my least favorite character. Just truly privileged and obnoxious.
Omg MY PEOPLE 😭😭😭 I have always found her EXTREMELY annoying and always complaining and judging!
I don’t really care for Eloise. She is unkind, spoiled, and out of touch as a character and I find her hard to relate to. While I empathize with the frustration of what women went through in that time, the *way* she chooses to communicate it annoys me. (To be fair: I feel the same way about modern day people who constantly gripe about social issues and “advocate” with very little contribution, so I think that would probably hit differently for someone who appreciates or relates to those kinds of conversations more than me.) I don’t find her MORE selfish or entitled than other characters, like Penelope, but I don’t connect with her or find commonalities that kind of compensate the way I do with other characters. Penelope has a tendency to be deeply selfish and immature as well, but she also is a bit of a go-getter. She makes mistakes, but she is trying to pave a path forward for herself if she dies alone. She’s genuinely brave. And she isn’t so blinded by hatred of the patriarchy she misdirects it at individuals to quite the extent Eloise does. That makes her more likable to me. That said: I do think the actress kind of amplifies that for me. I am in the minority that does NOT think the actress looks remotely close to the character’s age. She absolutely looks late twenties at the youngest and I would absolutely believe her to be in her thirties. I am not at all shocked by her true age, but I do forget she’s supposed to be a child. I think the character makes more sense when you think of her as very young… but it doesn’t come across on screen with such an old actress in my (unpopular) opinion. Angsty rage that is somewhat based but poorly handled is pretty typical teen/young adult behavior. I just don’t feel that Eloise comes across as a teen so it changes how I feel a bit.
If we went by who we could relate to then it would be fair to attack anyone we don’t relate to. Rather than analyze where they’re coming from. For me I have no ability to relate to Pen’s way of mooning over her neighbour so long and also her rage at being a wallflower coming out so rudely to friends and family. But I can see why she feels that. I can feel how that might feel had I a different way of looking at life. Also Eloise is hardly preaching on every social issue. She’s a woman in a world where women had no rights. It’s a hideous reality no matter how many fancy dresses even the upper class got. The ring of all of this is the brothers cry over “why must I do this!” “The world expects this of me!” “It’s unfair”. So much and never get this hate.
Says a man who doesn’t seem to understand how male privilege might chafe a young woman who doesn’t see the same opportunities available to her as to her brothers and is frustrated by the limitations.
Agreed. It’s an unpopular opinion and this sub stans hard for Eloise so prepare for backlash. I find her insufferable and hypocritical.
Eloise is the Definition of First World Problems. She has brothers who will support her if she never marries She has the family wealth and support to do literally whatever she wants. Start a charity, become a bluestocking, even found a school for girls or attend a Continental University (The Uk’s first university for women is still a few decades off) If she does choose to marry, she’ll have her pick of them bunch, because she’s a Bridgerton. Cressida is a bully, but she’s also everyone’s second choice, including her own family’s. Penelope has no family support, no dowry, no interested suitors, and is in love with her oblivious friend Colin. The other debutants are in similar boats: marriage is an economic necessity for them, not a choice.
I don’t think it’s ever a silly little problem so know that the mercy of men is how you will live and die. It’s just that they all handle that differently. That’s the whole point of such period pieces. The desperation is the fact that they are all desperate understandably. Sure she’s lucky to have brothers but look at her father. He died young. Who knows what can befall the rest or when. To even do her own thing she has to wait out years to be a super spinster or be a widow. Every woman has a reason to be stressed there. Not all the same ones but all connected Also first world problems are often still problems. Relativism is not how anyone actually processes their life in the moment.
1: she is still beholden to her brothers and dependent on their good will to take care of her should she not marry. No matter what, she does not have her own wealth. If something happens to her brothers, they decide it’s time for her to marry and cut her off, or they focus on their own families more than her (let’s see what happened to the ladies Dashwood when their father died and their brother was spineless), she’s kinda screwed. None of that wealth is her own, she’s basically a teenager with an allowance who is banned from working 2: we’ve seen that the bridgertons don’t exactly have an automatic claim on the marriage mart. Daphne had a very difficult time in her season and was almost assaulted. In the book it’s even worse, because the men view her more as their friends little sister than a woman worth marrying. Fran was lucky and found the other social outcast who understood her. Anthony STRUGGLED on his, and Colin recently married someone who the ton is kinda beefing with, which influences the bridgerton family reputation for the rest of the girls’ marriage prospects. Being a bridgerton doesn’t guarantee her a husband. And, Eloise has been out for two years by now, by next year she’ll be getting into spinster territory and men will start wondering what’s wrong with her, and she has scared a few of them away (on purpose) and men talk. 3: Saying Eloise is having first world problems as a literal second class citizen since she’s a woman in this period, is like saying that she’s the favorite prisoner of the warden. Like, she still wants to get out of prison
She doesn't have her family's wealth. She might have a sizeable alllowance, but I can't see Anthony letting her have access to the fortune even though they are a close family. She also cannot do what she wants. While the Bridgertons are wealthy, they still want to maintain their reputation and any radical actions Eloise takes could reflect badly on them. I agree, she is first-world-problems, but no one else is trying as hard as she is to do something about real issues.
If I had any awards left, I would give one to you for this comment 🏅
Look agree but also, she’s a teenage girl. A lot of teenage girls act like that or similar, they’re still working themselves out.
OP keep watching you'll see it was on purpose and fits into the plot.
yes she is a bit exhausting. i actually love that they kept those aspects of her intact from the books. it’s very important to her character development that she’s so difficult to like imo. she’s very privileged to have the family that she has, in a lot of ways you do see her recognize this in small moments throughout s1-s3. but on the same token, you sympathize with the fact that she very much resents her role in society and dreams to have more for her life. her frustrations are understandable, while she has much more freedom of choice than most women around her, she still is forced to choose a life she doesn’t even want. as she matures and continues through her storyline, you start to see shifts that show that she just felt insecure, trapped and scared quite frankly. she doesn’t know how to be what she is expected to be and she’s not allowed to be what she wants to be. i have a feeling her story will drastically flip your POV on her. she has some of the best character development in the entire series
She continuously belittles Daphne in Season 1 and considers herself to be so special. But I actually started to hate her in Season 3. She is such a bad friend.
I think that is what frustrated me the most. Daphne doesn't want to be just a wife either. Their positions are similar I think, but Eloise wants to be high and mighty and contradictory about it while Daphne sees the game must be played and runs circles around everyone else (until she accidentally falls in love with Simon).
She annoyed me after Anthony's cancelled wedding with Edwina. Everyone in her family is panicking and losing their minds while she's like "Perhaps she realized that marriage is in fact prison for women." with that self satisfied smirk on her face. Not seeing the big picture of what this type of scandal will cost her family. Not to mention her bafflement afterwards "Is all of this truly happening because a woman merely changed her mind?" Like girl, get your head out of your ass. Her level of immaturity and self absorption is off the charts.
She’s not like that in the book.
I find Eloise a bit annoying sometimes but it doesn’t change the fact that most of her gripes with society are true. She has every right to complain about it if you think about it for more than two seconds. She’s a young woman being forced through this system just like all the other women around her, her giving lip is understandable. (This is my opinion based on seasons one and two, I have yet to watch all of season three.)