In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Portia, Brutus’s wife, becomes aware of the conspiracy against Caesar after awakening. She is intelligent and perceptive, aware of the tension surrounding the plot. Her mental state is one of anxiety, as she waits anxiously for news of their success.
Cicero, an eloquent orator in Rome’s history, is one of the conspirators’ desires to use his influence. However, Brutus’s objection is evident when he joined the conspiracy to murder Caesar on March 15, 44 BC. Portia insists on being told of the assassination plot before doing so. The death of Portia is a grim reflection of Brutus’s renunciation of his private life and illustrates the consequences thereof.
Portia knows that Brutus is involved in a plan for Caesar but does not know the details of the plan. Although she had knowledge of the conspiracy, she was not guilty of Caesar’s death. She has seen the conspirators leaving the house and is worried about Brutus’ behavior. Her exchange with Lucius and her talk with the Soothsayer show that Portia knows about the conspiracy.
Brutus loves Portia and conceals the conspiracy from her, fearing that she could convince him not to do so. As the conspirators leave their home, Portia sees “some six or seven, who did hide their faces even from the darkness”.
In Act 2, scene 4, Portia waits anxiously for news of their success. She meets the Soothsayer, who is still afraid of the conspirators’ plans. Brutus initially refuses to tell Portia about the conspiracy because he fears she might not be able to keep a secret.
📹 Did Lady featherington sabotage Penelope? – A conspiracy theory (Bridgerton season 3) *spoilers!*
Bridgeton For business enquiries: [email protected] Hey y’all, like I said, Bridgerton season is coming up so there is …
What does Portia reveal at the end of the play?
Antonio pleads with Portia to forgive Bassanio, who returns rings to their husbands and reveals that Portia was the lawyer who saved Antonio. She also tells Antonio that three of his ships have successfully returned and that Lorenzo is Shylock’s heir. Portia advises Bassanio to postpone choosing, fearing he might make the wrong choice. Bassanio is overjoyed when he correctly chooses the lead chest containing her picture. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a symbolic act to indicate her giving to him both herself and everything that is hers.
Gratiano announces that he and Nerissa will also marry. Salerio, Lorenzo, and Jessica arrive with news of Antonio’s financial ruin and the destruction he will soon suffer at Shylock’s hands. Portia offers to pay the debt many times over and tells Bassanio to return to Venice immediately after their wedding to save Antonio.
In the text, Portia prays for Antonio to pause and forbear before making a wrong choice, as he loses his company and may be forsworn to never be. She bespeaks to Antonio about the naughty times and the division between owners and their rights, stating that they are both theirs. She also speaks too long, but it is to peize the time and stay Antonio from election.
Is Shylock a villain or a victim?
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is not a villain but an antagonist, a victim of discriminatory practices. He seeks retribution against Antonio due to his anti-Semitic sentiments, a role he plays entirely on his own.
What does Portia know about the conspiracy based on her action in Act 2 Scene 3?
In Act 2, Scene 3, Artemidorus awaits the receipt of a letter from Caesar, which will serve to inform him of a conspiracy. Portia, who has been made aware of the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, awaits with trepidation the outcome of their endeavour. She encounters the Soothsayer, who still harbors concerns for Caesar’s safety and seeks to alert him to the potential danger.
How do we know that Portia is aware of the conspiracy?
In Act 2, Scene 1, Portia, a woman aware of a conspiracy against Caesar, shares her suspicions with Lucius and the Soothsayer. She supports her husband and wants them to succeed. Portia is intelligent and perceptive, aware of the tension surrounding the conspiracy. Her mental state is filled with anxiety and distress, as she struggles with the secret knowledge and her concern for Brutus’s safety. This inner turmoil ultimately leads to her tragic death, highlighting her deep emotional involvement and the strain of the conspiracy. In Act 2, Portia demonstrates love and respect for her husband, Brutus, and confronts him about his recent behavior.
What is the main problem that Portia has?
Portia, who is characteristically self-possessed, discloses her trepidation toward Bassanio when he arrives at her residence and is on the verge of selecting a casket. This is due to the fact that she has developed romantic feelings for him, a development that has caused her considerable confusion and distress.
What is Portia worried about?
Portia is concerned about her husband Brutus’s behavior, which is affecting his eating, talking, and sleeping. She has also seen masked conspirators visiting the house. Brutus refuses to confide in her, so Portia lists the reasons why he can trust her. Brutus admires her honor and integrity and promises to share his secrets with her soon.
To understand the scene, look at it line by line, focusing on the actors’ use of language. The text includes definitions, questions, and paraphrased sections to help readers understand the text. If you’re looking at the scene for the first time, don’t worry if you don’t understand everything at once. Actors at the Royal Shakespeare Company often use their own words to help readers understand their message.
What does Portia wounding her thigh symbolize?
The painting “Portia” by Elisabetta Sirani depicts a woman wielding a knife, with her thigh exposed and bloody stab wounds. This self-inflicted lacerations are intentional and calculated, as seen in her posture and face. The painting is a testament to the power and standing of the woman, who is dressed in an ornate robe, golden sash, and regal-looking blue boot. By the age of 19, Elisabetta was already an independent artist, and when her father, who was also an artist, became immobilized by gout, she took over the running of his workshop and supported her entire family through her art. The painting raises questions about the nature of self-harm and the role of women in shaping history.
Is Portia manipulative?
Portia, a powerful and intelligent heroine in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, finds loopholes in her father’s marriage rules, allowing her to marry Bassanio as she wishes. She disguises herself as a male lawyer’s apprentice to save her husband’s friend’s life, outwitting Shylock through a technicality. Her cleverness reprieves Antonio, and she manipulates her husband to gain power over him, saving him and tricking Bassanio into breaking his promise.
This position was rare in Elizabethan England’s patriarchal society. However, some contemporary readings paint a less favorable picture of Portia, particularly in relation to perceived racism she displays towards the Prince of Morocco’s complexion and Shylock, calling him “Jew” instead of his name. This would have been acceptable to contemporary audiences, but modern viewers would find her values outmoded. Overall, Portia could be described as “ahead of her time” due to her quick-witted cunning and intelligence, proving her equivalence with the male characters.
Why do you think Portia killed herself?
Brutus posits that her demise may have been a precautionary measure to forestall the spoiling of war. Nevertheless, she was in a state of despair over his absence and anticipated loss to Mark Antony and Octavius, irrespective of her motives.
Why does Portia stab her thigh?
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Portia, a character who is acutely aware of the frustration of being left in the dark, stabs herself in the thigh as a means of demonstrating her trustworthiness to her husband, Brutus.
Is Portia a hero or villain?
In The Merchant of Venice, Portia plays the role of a lawyer, thereby enabling Antonio to be released from his contract with Shylock. Portia identifies a loophole in the contract, which allows Shylock to extract flesh from Antonio’s body but prevents him from causing any harm, thereby sparing Antonio’s life.
📹 The Reason Anne Heche Gave Portia De Rossi A Stark Warning
Controlling? Money obsessed? When Portia de Rossi asked Anne Heche about Ellen DeGeneres, Heche didn’t hold back.
I think she sees herself in Penelope 🤷🏽♀️, and maybe that’s why she unconsciously does do that . Especially when she said that real romance is SECURITY. Perhaps she was in love before marrying lord featherington but to someone with no money, she probably had a terrible mother and had a forced marriage.
I mean, in the books, Penelope basically is a spinster by the time her book rolls around. It was so bad, that when Collin announces his engagement to Penelope, Miss Featherington thought he meant one of Penelope’s sisters. It’s like the family wants Penelope to be a spinster so the mom wouldn’t be alone.
Portia has no sons, so her power and status are always in flux, she’ll marry away her daughters and then the estate goes to any random man who has no obligation to take take of her in her old age so she handicaps Pen so that she’ll have someone to care for her in her old age. It’s selfish but honestly understandable.
It’s also worth noting, ( at least in the film adaptation, I can’t speak to the books) that lady featherington does say quote “if she wants to wear such melancholy colors that’s her prerogative” after pen changes her look, implying that she always had the power to change, she simply wasn’t brave or bold enough to speak up about it. Lady featherington likely chose yellow for her when she was young and just never changed it. she seems genuinely thrilled when pen almost gets proposed to and even pushes her to accept the lords proposal. The advice that lady featherington offers often seems to be practical and sensible,such “security is romantic” and “men are often more trouble than they’re worth”. It seems to me that she does want the best for pen, but believes that she knows what’s better for her daughter, than her own daughter does, and subsequently suppresses her agency in an attempt to protect her. Again I can’t speak to the original books, but in the Netflix series it seems like she has genuinely good intentions, albeit horrible execution.
I had this thought that because Pen is incredibly shy,she puts her in yellow and bright colors so she WOULDNT BLEND IN to the background, but it backfires because Pen looks terrible, and no one talks to her. Sabotaging her but also knowing her two elder daughters aren’t the sharpest and need more help just in general. Leaving pen to fend for herself, versus is smart and witty but again it back fires because of how shy Pen actually is. So I agree Weather intentionally or not she does sabotage
Oh absolutely her mother is sabotaging her. It also gives her invites to all the events the unmarried women attend to find a husband, which keeps Momma visible and mingling with the other Mommas. Until a RICH suitor took interest in Pen, she assumed Pen would always be with her. I’m curious to see how she reacts when she hears Pen is engaged to a Bridgerton.
I honestly love the writing and acting of Portia in this series. She is so much more interesting and nuanced than this type of character usually is. She does love her daughters, and she does want the best possible life for them, and everything she does is working in constant desperation to keep the four of them secure and safe while taking occasional risks to get more for them. But she is a realistic portrayal of a parent in the same way that Violet is a realistic portrayal of a parent. In season 2, we see how shitty of a parent Violet actually has been, even though everything appears perfect and lovely on the surface for the Bridgertons. I know I am speaking harshly, but that is to prove a point – Outside of the truly monstrous situations, in real parent-child relationships, you can ALWAYS find the huge, traumatic echoing repercussions of well-meaning parents trying their best with what they have, because they’re human, and life has way too many variables going at all times for us to possibly be able to control, learn from, get ahead of, etc., all of them. Even now in season three, we are getting a glimpse of the layers of Cressida’s mom, whom we used to just think of as a sneering evil witch character in the corner of scenes plotting evil. Real parents are constantly hurting their kids in the ways they go about trying to protect them from hurt. And with Portia, many things can be true at the same time. Yes, she way-too-readily commits crimes. And yes, she is mean. And yes, she will mentally block the consequences her victims face from her mind so she can continue on her course.
I have a theory on why Pen is in such ghastly colors. Families would try to marry off their oldest daughters first. Portia spent more money on Pru and Phillipa’s wardrobe. When it came time to outfit Pen, money was tight. My thought is that the fabrics used for Pen were cheaper. Portia said they are wearing “happy” colors because she is trying to keep the truth about their money problems from her daughters.
Um, I must comment that Mrs. Fetherington’s lack of attention is not accidental, it is actually on purpose, but it is not out of maliciousness towards Penelope. You seem to brush off the fact that her sisters are older than Penelope and they haven’t found any suitors at all, no matter what Portia tries. In high society there was this unwritten rule that their children should marry in order, it’s kind of how the ton based how good of a marriage material their family was. So if Penelope did marry before her 2 older sisters, the ton would latch on to that as proof of how undesirable the 2 eldest Fetherington daughters were, therefore diminishing their marriage prospects even more. By the time it was Penelope’s turn Portia must have been in desperation mode because now she doesn’t just have to secure marriages for her soon to be 2 spinster daughters, but make sure Penelope doesn’t marry first and end up lowering her sisters chances of marriage. Now, if Penelope had somehow managed to secure a high marriage like Daphne did, this would be a completely different scenario, but as we have seen, Portia knows Penelope’s prospects aren’t that great, just like her 2 eldest daughters. After the 2 eldest are married, Portia stops dictating Penelope’s colors all together and actually starts trying to participate in getting Penelope married off. Unfortunately by the time the 2 eldest are married, Penelope has become a spinster and with Portia’s already set thought that Penelope’s’ prospects are abysmal she is not as pushy as she was with her first 2.
So many people see Portia as narcissist and I don’t think is the true, by season 2 finale we know she cares about her children, in season 1 she knew how to scare Marina by taking her to see the reality of being poor and unmarried and her talk to Penelope about romances makes me think she had a hard life before marrying and about the dresses, she’s just tacky and if she was dressing them bad on purpose she wouldn’t have let Penelope keep the new dresses, we had 2 confirmations about Portia being okay with Penelope change o style.
Pen was supposed to be her stay at home spinster; used to happen all the time. My grandmother, the second of 3 daughters, was silently chosen to be the stay home spinster to care for her mother. She ran away to marry the first man who proposed (and they stayed married 53/54 years. So yes, it was a real thing historically.
I cried so hard these episodes. My mom is as cold and narcissistic as Penelope’s mom. I relived some childhood trauma in these episodes. It was kind of cathartic. Because I too, fell in love with my best friend. After 6 yrs I kissed him and found out we could have been together 5 years before, because he felt the same. We got married two years later. This year is our 24th wedding anniversary. ❤ True love is a friendship set on fire 🔥
I think it’s important to note: Portia is smart. She’s cunning. She’s not as smart as Penelope, sure, but she’s crafty. Of all her daughters, Pen is the most like her deep down, though the Prudence and Pricilla have a lot more of her cruelty. I think Portia, vain as she is, dismissed Pen from the beginning as she saw that she had two other more conventional daughters already struggling on the mart, and knew she did not have time to arrange for Pen. With the financial issues which followed, they could barely afford one dowry, let alone three. Pen knew this, however. She knew her mother dismissed her, she knew she couldn’t rely on her family. That’s why Lady Whistledown exists at all: as a way for Pen to ensure her future outside of family support. Pen isn’t stupid. She knows that her mother forgets she exists, that her sisters are somewhat more accepted as conventional, and that her father was a lout. At 17, she chose to make sure she would land on her feet, to hide in plain sight, to take advantage of her situation. But the situation changed, and Pen knew she needed to get a husband to hide from Lady Whistledown’s critics better. Portia also, now, is without a husband and without an income. She has two married daughters to provide a heir to support her, but only Penelope in the house. She needs Pen to remain unmarried, to take care of her as a dowager. Her clever, resourceful, submissive daughter, who only knows that she can control.
Part 1 showed how much Portia is relying on Penelope to take care of her. I hate that it is forced on Penelope because no one except Colin tried to help her in the marriage mart. If it weren’t for Portia’s meddling, I don’t think Prudence and Phillipa would have gotten married. They had similar issues to Penelope when it came to be seeing unworthy to the male suitors. God bless Finch. Anyways, i feel Portia loves Penelope in her way, but was raised to not show affection. Some parents show love through criticism because they feel that is where their child’s strength, resilience, and drive will come from. They don’t realize how much words hurt and how important affection is to the child. While I hate how brutal she is as LW, i half don’t blame her for writing angry things. Look how she is treated. But it does not always justifies what she writes. Like Penelope, take a day to think before you publish sometimes. Anyways, I do feel bad for how she gets treated by her family and the ton because she is a good person who made bad mistakes. I feel she can redeem herself and she better tell Colin the truth. I swear, the books did not make LW this brutal and kind of cruel.
I think another good point is also that the Featherington’s are supposed to be new money. So Portia probably doesn’t exactly know what she’s doing in this high class world with her daugthers. She probably–to an extent–thought she was helping, but it would explain why their clothes are so loud, compared to the rest of the ton. It would also explain why Portia is wearing out of season clothes, which would make her come across as unfashionable, much like Queen Charlotte. (Yes, the queen is unfashionable, she was actually known for this. It’s a great way to connect with how her character is stuck in the past with her good times/husband even though she lives in the modern day.) I suppose a fun point could be that the Bridgerton’s have a unified look to them, they’re a team whereas the Featherington’s don’t seem to match as much. There’s not a sense of unity in their clothes: and Brigerton is a show that is in love with color stories. (I like to think she didn’t purposefully sabotage Penelope, but perhaps did it without meaning to bc she just dismissed her from having prospects. Buuuuuuuuuut who’s to say it wasn’t on purpose?)
Remember at the finale of Season 2 where her mom gives that passionate statement about how she is a mom and how she’s looking out for her daughters? And then it cuts to her perusal the fireworks go off, hugging her two daughters? it wasn’t just Pen being so sad after getting in a fight with Eloise and being badmouthed by Colin, it was her, alone ein the big dark house while her mom has a family moment with the only two daughters she counts as such
I’m not sure I agree on Portia’s wardrobe. While the cinched waist of her costumes might be more appealing to contemporary audiences, it would not have been in fashion for the time period. Queen Charlotte is out of fashion for George. I think Portia is out of fashion to show how out of touch she is from society. She wears a gown that hugs her curve because at times, she is overtly sexual. As well, her tastes are ostentatious and loud because she is vain. I also think it more mirrors 1950s style clothing to make you think of Disney’s Cinderella. Both of their Cinderella adaptations featured designs inspired by couture and not historically accurate designs for the time period of the movie.
She doesn’t like Penelope, but at the same time needs her. As she actually said in S3, she wants Penelope to take care of her in her old age. Why would she have any motivation for Penelope to be anything but gauche and unattractive? Sure, when her family is threatened she’s a mama bear, but ultimately she’s looking at Penelope as an unpaid companion and everything is calculated to bring that about
I don’t think Portia is sabotaging Penelope of a narcissist. One thing I loved about this season is how it explores Penelope’s social anxiety. Looking at the situation separate from the books, and as if Portia is a real person. If I had a daughter during this regency era who could barely speak to anyone, except the family next door, I’d likely assume she’d never marry. I think Penelope is ignored because Portia truly didn’t think she’d be able to find a match. I also think she does believe she is dressing Penelope down. At the ball, when Pen reveals her new look, Portia seems confused by everyone’s positive reactions. I genuinely believe she thinks she looks good, and likely uses yellow to distract from Pens social anxiety.
Not only that, but in season three, Portia (Penelope’s mom) keeps actively trying to lower Pen’s self esteem by taking shots at her for what Lady Whistledown wrote, calling her a spinster (despite Penelope being only 20-21, and having been out the same amount at Cressida), and scolding her for thinking she would actually find a husband this season. Additionally, in season two, when Prudence tells their mother that Penelope was writing to Colin Bridgerton, Portia tells her that Colin isn’t her friend, even though they had been friends since childhood! And while you can say Portia was trying to give Pen “realistic expectations,” keep in mind, in season one, Portia rushed her two eldest daughters to meet the Duke “before he should see Ms. Thompson.” She also never told Pen that Colin would never court her, but that he wasn’t even her friend! She actively told Penelope that Colin isn’t even her friend, let alone a suitor. She has always made Pen feel lesser, not even scolding her sisters when they insulted her to her face in episode one!
Look up Scapegoat child and that’s Penelope’s relationship with her mother in a nutshell. A parent with BPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder will always have a Golden Child and a Scapegoat child. The person with the mental illness have their emotions all over the place internally, very frequently, and often the majority of the time, strong emotions are arising from no outward reason. They’re just happening to them. But people are used to emotions happening for a *reason*. If I feel angry, it’s because someone has hurt me. Someone with NPD or BPD can feel extreme stress, fear or anger for no reason at all, and then they instantly look outside themselves to see what caused them that emotion in their environment. The NPD or BPD parent will often assign blame to a tiny child who is being a tiny child, (loud, disobedient, loud, chaotic, loud one year old) and then habitually keep blaming that child for stressing them out for life. They are the Scapegoat. Other child is upset? Scapegoat’s fault. I’m stressed? Scapegoat’s fault. Golden child breaks the law? Scapegoat’s fault. Scapegoat is breathing? You’re stressing me out!!! Thinking about the Scapegoat is too tiring, it has too many bad associations, no matter how well behaved and desperately trying to please the parent the Scapegoat is, the Narcissistic/Borderline parent cannot feel happy when thinking of the Scapegoat. NPD parent feels angry with Scapegoat, and tells Scapegoat to do X, for example, stop reading! Scapegoat does X, she stops reading.
I think they are writing this close to actual instances with families. In Regency England, the oldest son takes the title of the family, its finances, dependents including their widowed mother like Antony has been doing. For the Featheringtons, Porsha is the head of their family and if all three (4 in the books) get married and move to their husband’s homes, she is literally left with no one to care for her so Penelope’s spinsterhood would be advantageous to her. I also think that Porsha is so superficial that she doesn’t see any value in Pen as a potential wife. Also, Lady Featherington’s corsets are out of era for Regency. They did that for the show.
Okay, I can see that no one has read the books, but for all the people speculating; Penelope’s mother chooses bright colors for her daughters because she believes bright colors make a person look happy, and men like happy women. And when Penelope reaches the age of a spinster, her mother tells her how eager she is to grow old together with penelope and have her care for her and right beside her so she doesn’t end up alone.
Sadly, Penelope doesn’t fit society standards and Portia knows that, even though her other daughters are pretty average they are in her mind have a chance to get a high-ranking man. it’s clear that Portia doesn’t like Penelope at all and that she is embarrassed by her, but i think she doe love her in her own way. After Penelope was exposed for asking Colin to help her find a husband and Portia started going in on her on how dumb she was for even trying, when she realized that she hurt her feelings you could see that she did feel bad that’s why she tried to get Pen to see the bright side of being a spinster.
Penelopes dresses are also mostly cut unflatteringly with what should be the waist band across her chest rather than the empire waistline under her chest which was fashionable (others may look high but there is just ‘less chest’ there so in these cases they are still empire, and most importantly flattering). It is not the modiest who would have made this unconventional choice, lady featherton must have gone out of her way to ask the modeist to do so, going out of her way to make penelope dress unflatteringly, and yes sabotaging her. Fabrics and embellishments are there to overtly display the familys wealth but despite that the unflatteringly cut cant help but push penelope to wallflower status and subtly define her as “other” and unappealing. In her glow up penelope brings the waistline where it should be and flattering. She asked for more of a change of colour from the modeist! Im interested in fashion history and at no point in my research have i ever seen this strange placement because it is simply unflattering. Empire waist can be seen in later medieval period also and there many other famous waistlines such as hourglass figure. Waistlines can shift quickly too, the victorians fashion changed within most five years throughout the era. But penelopes is simply unflattering. Bridgerton does purposefully play somewhat with historical fashion e.g. modern fabrics and lady featherington herself clearly in the victorian corset rather than regency stays but penelope’s across the bust lines are a fabrication unique to her, taking actual fashion and exaggerating it to a point where it is completely unflattering to both the modern eye and one might argue the many historical beauty ideals too (or it would have cropped up somewhere in history).
I binged s3 part 1 and spoilers Penelope gets rejected by Lord Debling, who proposed to her abd then Portia comes up to Pen abd asks “Where is he going? What have you done?” Pen: “Whsr have you done “? Is that your question, not “,am I well”? Do i only matter to you if i hsve a lord’s engagement ring in my finger? Ouch
I don’t think she was attempting to sabotage her daughter. In this world, who her kids marry determines how she will live for the rest of her life. She’s extremely financially insecure, so a good match for her daughters is not only literal food in her mouth, but also bragging rights. I think what happened with Penelope is she never had hope for her. She just assumed no man would want her and acted accordingly. I don’t think the dresses were sabotage given her tastes are gaudy, that’s the family’s signature look, bright, bold extravagant gowns. I think she was doing her best to make sure all her daughters stood out among the other girls and she very much wanted Penelope to look cheerful and youthful believing that was her only 1% shot of maybe getting some man’s attention. And what most people take as a dig, I think was her mother attempting to comfort her. You have to realize Lady Featherington doesn’t see herself as a bad person, so telling her daughter that they’ll get to be together for life is only a nightmare scenario on Penelope’s end. Her mother likely thought Penelope would feel better to be reminded that she’ll never be alone and she’ll always have her mother even if she won’t have a husband and children. I mean a lot of this argument banks both on her mother not loving her and men choosing their wives based on their dresses flattering their skin tones and hair colors. I’d argue her low expectations hampered her daughter, but I don’t think she was out to ruin her own child’s happiness even at the detriment of her own financial stability.
Omg!! I actually have a conspiracy theory that Portia Featherington holds some sort of resentment towards Penelope because she was her last chance to have a male heir . I know she is not the youngest in the books, so this only works on the show. I have this idea that there were complications when she had Penelope, and because of this, she was not able to carry more children. This would explain why she never made any efforts to find a husband for Penelope and instead decided that Penelope would stay a spinster and take care of her. In a way, she feels like Penelope owes her this.
i haven’t read the books so i don’t know how things are happening there, but from netfilx bridgertons i kinda think that portia deliberately chooses wrong colors for Penelope because she sees her as a dissappointment. she’s the third child and obviously, after two girls protia (but more likely her husband) wanted a boy, but instead, penelope was born. so they make her suffer because she’s not a son
Women “reading too much” and “being confused by it” is an old sentiment, but in this era specifically it would aim at romance novel reading. Reading was actually encouraged for young women, at least those of class, but only for education and refinement – so moral texts by clergymen, practical things about running a household or topical studies like the Arts for conversations. You see the novel itself was a relatively new concept and as it swept through society what immediately sold best were exciting stories with cloak and dagger fights, abduction, seduction, moral downfall of all kinds and creepy secrets unearthed. Oc they were especially popular with young women who were usually not allowed any kind of excitement apart from gossip, card games and innocent outings. They would read and share these stories or perform little plays of the scenes in them with friends. It worried the wider community immensely that girls could want to emulate all the behavior they read about – there are numerous articles about ‘the threats of letting your daughter read novels’ of the time. Also if you ever watched/read Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey it touches on this topic in a kinda satirical way.
When they showed the bigger girl in season three and how different her actions were from Penelope it just clarified more its not how Penelope looks its how she was taught to view herself as less than by her family, I think her mother has always tried to do this to her. Which is more than likely the reason she started writting as someone else so she could be her ‘more authentic’ self being bolder without judgment when she is judged by everything she does, im sure judging others became therapeutic for her in some ways.
I think Pen’s mother sees her as fat and therefore ugly and doesn’t try to help her look more attractive, also by keeping her unattractive it helps make her and her other, older daughters look more attractive. Also, speaking as a chubby child, I’ve grown up wanting to do anything my parents tell me to do, or not do, to gain their approval. I think Pen is also guilty of this.
For me, it is not so much their clothing that confirms this, as it is the way she is holding back all of her daughters. I am not sure how long they have been wealthy at the start of the show (they are described as ‘new money’), but by the description on Colin and Penelopes first meeting, I would guess at least 3-5 years (possibly more). A ‘good’ mother at the time would want to secure the highest possible match for each of her children. Therefore, she would assess each of her childrens strengths and weaknesses, and try to improve both. For her oldest daughters, she should be educating them about topics that were talked about in high society. Not to make them scholars, but if they were to marry a lord, they would need to be able to keep up a conversation with the type of people they would encounter. She would also need to improve their social and deportment skills. They were already fairly outgoing, but came off as somewhat dim. Which would not appeal to a lord. For Penelope, she would have put her on a diet, and worked more with finding clothes that enhanced her best features. Since beauty standards were very important as well, and Penelope was not fitting in with the beauty standards of the time. Since she was already well read, she would need more education on social skills, maybe a tiny bit on deportment, but mainly trying to network and socialise more, as those were highly important at the time. If she did that, her personality would have probably been the most appealing to a lord, out of all 3 sisters.
I love this season, Daphne bored me so much, the second season people stressed me out with their mind games, but Nicola C I love love love love!!! Her character’s the best, I relate to her the most, she’s creative, flawed, powerful and helpless, gorgeous, has a crush on a guy she’s admired forever, has a cute friendship with him, did I mention I think she’s cute? I love her. I wish all seasons were like hers, because I enjoy her story line so so much. It feels so good to fan girl too! Oh, and interesting theory. I wish this season was longer and we got to know more featherington family secrets and there was even more complexity to Penelope’s story. I want more so bad.
Portia’s dresses are just another sign of her being new money. She does not have the class or style to know that the dresses she choses are not of the same taste as the other women. Portia is unrefined and just has never been taught how to present herself or her family in society. I think Portia still views Penelope as a girl, and not as a young woman who is out in society. This is partially due to the way Penelope presents herself. Penelope is short and overweight, especially in comparison to her sisters, and I dont think Portia knows how to pick better clothing for Penelope.
That’s not a conspiracy theory, A lot of mothers do that just out of vanity. They said when the show premiered that The Bridgertons were modeled after the Kennedy’s, and the Featheringtons were modeled after the Kardashians. The main difference between Penn, and her mother is that she has the ability to check her ego, and not do things only to make her look good.
I am going to make a Harry Potter reference, so bear with me. In the books and the movies, ron Weasley always felt overlooked. He was the son that prevented his parents having a daughter. They were focused on the other kids more. You constantly see him comparing himself to others, family or not. One example is his sandwich on the train. Besides it being mushy and gross from it being in his pocket, it was one that he asked his mom to never make him and she does. Here is the big comparison to Penelope. Maroon. Ron hates the color maroon just as much as Penelope hates the color yellow. Molly always uses that color even though he hates it. No. Molly is not a bad mom, but these are ron’s feelings throughout the books/films. Another big similarity to him and Penelope is their status. They have to wear repeats, maybe hand me down clothes. Ron and Penelope feel they need to be ambitious to get any recognition. Ron and Penelope also want to earn their own money and separate themselves from the family. The difference between ron’s and Penelope’s families is hers suck. They are so mean to her.
I always thought it was a way to let her “better” daughters shine. Portia clearly favors the other 2 and they can change colors, Pen asked to wait a year to come out, that would have been a much better choice as less competition and less to focus on, but by having all 3 girls she can highlight the older 2 girls look better compared to Pen.
I saw a mother who does not understand and doesn’t bother to understand/learn more about her daughter. A mother who underestimates her daughter as well because she’s not outspoken as her sisters. I don’t think Portia set out to sabotage Penelope but her actions may indirectly cause some damage to her daugther(s). I mean, only this season, Penelope finally ‘takes charge’ on her pin money and spend it accordingly to her taste of wardrobe. The previous seasons, she basically just follows mama’s rather unsuitable fashion taste. I think Portia may have thought yellow looks lovely on Pen when she was a child, and since Portia doesn’t bother much, she just stuck to that color palette for Penelope. Portia has a set way of looking at the world as a woman in the regency era and as a new money also, so she has something to ‘prove’–for her to have a spinster daughter, she’d rather not have that happen at all. She’s got only 3 daughters while the Bridgerton has 4. A spinster daughter if she’s not inheriting any $ would mean a drain to the family income. I think she said to Penelope that she didn’t mind her being a spinster, Portia actually meant ‘well’ as in, that’s her way to say she cares about Penelope so she’s trying to tell her daughter, I suppose it’s fine you’re not getting married, I’ll make sure you’re secure alongside me as a spinster. Of course, that’s a nightmare life for Penelope who knows how much her mother diminishes her and totally does not understand her at all.
I kind of feel that in Part 2 of Season 3, we’ll see a closer draw between Lady Featherington and Penelope. I think Penelope had always shown herself to be independent, well read, and smarter than her 2 sisters. Therefore, Lady Featherington’s attention was naturally diverted to those two. Also, let’s not forget that Penelope was hung up on Colin and wanting HIS notice, so she never played up her looks to acquire the notice of any other potential suitors. In S3 E2 when Penelope is outted about her arrangement with Colin to help her find a husband and Portia comes in to talk to her, when she realized she was harsh with Penelope there was some regret and longing toward her daughter. At one point, Lady Featherington looked to have wanted to stroke her daughter’s hair and instead started biting her thumb. She doesn’t know how to interact with Pen. However, I do believe Portia is obsessed with being the center of attention.
In most of season one and even season two the cut of Penelope’s dresses is also hideous. Empire waistlines were popular during the regency era yet Penelope’s cut off her bosom in the middle instead of cinching underneath the bosom thus accentuating the breasts. It gave her no shape so many dresses were unflattering on her and made her look like a little girl instead of a young woman. More Portia sabotage.
I’d say it’s obvious she is sabotaging Pen to keep her. She even says Pen will always be there. It’s ironic how in reality the actress Nicola Coughlan looks crazy good in the bright colours she wears. She’d do a color analysis and she’d be alight or bright spring. Her coloring is very light/bright. Her red hair just looks fake. 🤣
At the end of Episode 4 Portia caught sight of Pen and lord Danbury storming off and said, “what have you done.” Pen is seeing her mother for what she considers important and it isn’t her own daughter. It is how Pen would help her socially and financially. She wont even enter into her feelings when she sees Pen might not be happy with the engagement. She might have to settle but contrast that with Violet, come on!
You are waaaaay overthinking this. Miss Marina had her own clothes not bought by the featheringtons (why would they buy her wardrobe, lol). And Penelope always wore yellow because that’s the only explanation given in the book for why she is a wallflower – because it’s unflattering for her and she doesn’t look as good. It’s not because her mama sabotages her
Always thought she sabotaged Penelope. The way she dismisses her in the family. The way she talked to the eldest about marriage and babies but not Penelope. Every season of this show, I kept thinking Ms. Featherington wants Penelope to herself for all the wrong reasons. It also shows how much she doesn’t pay attention to Penelope. Penelope can easily leave the house without telling anyone or a party. Her family will brush it off.
Interesting, but with the estate and title in the balance, and therefore the financial security of all the daughters, Lady F. needed all of her daughters married and procreating so that at least one male heir would be born, no matter which daughter had said son & heir. Lady F. was much like Mrs. Bennett in Pride & Prejudice, and loved all of her daughters, but had a relationship with Lizzie like Lady F. has with Pen. The Featherington girls needed to be married off, preferably to wealthy men, or at least virile men who could help in siring sons. If they did not, the title, estate and money would remain in limbo, and the title specifically would fall into and maybe stay in abeyance.
I think you delved so deep that you got it all wrong. It would help if you took into consideration the context of historical social rules. Bright colors was fashionable. It was the thing to wear. Pen’s mother wears yellow and citrus colors as well. the darker tones were for mourning. Also despite what people living in the clouds would have you believe, every era preferred fit and reasonably thin women over fat women. Always have. always will. Don’t give me that bogus about fat being perceived as beautiful in certain eras because if you look at ACTUAL records of how fat people were treated, that simply wasn’t true. More than likely Pen’s mother lost hope of her daughter gaining the eye of often simple and judgmental men. She was no actively trying to sabotage her daughter seeing as she put her in appropriate bright colors. She simply had no confidence in her which is strictly different from sabotage. Note in third season when Pen comes in with dark colors, her sisters are aghast and her mother has already given up on Pen having any chance of marrying off and so doesn’t care if Pen comes in wearing depressing, mourning colors. typically when you are out trying to find a man in that era, you’re not going to go in wearing funeral colors. The fact that she gave Pen the brightest colors of them all mean she was doing her best to showcase Pen in the latest fashion, because she didn’t think Pen could attract a man with her personality (given who her ex-friend was and her general sociability-makes sense) and certainly not with her figure.
Interesting! I think Lady Featherington was neglectful to Penelope, but I don’t think she intentionally sabotaged her. The main evidence of this is the fact that we saw in S3, she was very supportive (though surprised) of Penelope marrying Lord Debling. For whatever reason, Lady Featherington didn’t have much hope of Penelope getting married, but once it was possible, she supported it.
In the Netflix tv show. Lady featherington puts all three of her daughters out into society in the same year!!! They are not all the same age. So they are forced to compete with each other. That is clear sabotage. I have not read the books yet. But this lady clearly had no interest or faith in Penelope ever getting married. It is frustrating
I truly don’t beleive at all she’s sabotaging her to remain a spinster. I mean look at how proud and happy she was for her engament with lord Deblin. Lady Federigton is only intrested in money at this point, not even the title or status anymore. All She care about is money and how to secure their future. I beleive she is treating Pen worse because she feels she has no real use of her and she kinda found a way to vent her furstrations on someone she doesn’t appreciate, because again she has no use of her. Sue doesn’t really care of any of her daughters, bit the other 2 where more promising marriage prosects in her eyes, and a way to secure her future thru them. Granted not as she hoped tho, but at least they are married and one less burden for her. You could see she doesn’t care of them either, but they have more possiblity to make a male heir to secure their family fortune. That’s all she cared about the enitre season. I bet you she will come to be delighted Pen will marry a bridgerton, she always wanted to wnter that family for soo many reasons, she just never thought Collin would look at Pen at all
Also last featherington literally doesn’t have advise because look at her husband and family. They aren’t great to her or others so my guess is she’s like her mother and if you look at pen she kinda sabotages others around her too but is caring deep down like her mother. Last featherton gives lady Tremaine
You know, if there is ever a Queen Charlotte season 2, I would want to see 2 things- 1. Violet meeting the love of her life and becoming the Vicountess Bridgerton. 2. A backstory of Portio, her upbringing, her folks and their social standing. It could make be bring a full circle to why is she this loud in her choices, so scared of her daughters reading or so vile at times to her daughters emotions rather than a support system . There is no doubt she loves her daughters, season 2 brigerton gave us that, but about her overall personality, how did it brewed up this way! Alter theory- or may be she didn’t love her daughters. She sensed Jack the cousin was using her and molding her to fled with him leaving the daughters behind! She kinna smelled that he will leave her too once they have sailed across to the new port and she will lose her life completely, so being the matured sly woman, she gave jack a taste of his own medicine and rebuilt a wealthy life for herself from all the stolen money and no morals came in the way. The mother and daughter drama was only to show jack and to give him a tight story narrative as how could she ruin him if he forces her!
I think it is not malice just stupidity. Ms. Featherington is supposed to be the embodiment of obnoxious new money. She wants to climb the ladder, since new money are seen as crass, she needs marriage with old money family. She just does not believe Penelope could help her with her goal, she is not sabotaging intentionally, i think she prematurely gave up on Penelope.
I realize I may be totally wrong, but I think one reason she does this to Penelope is because she has given up on her. She tries to put her in a popular color to be nice and merciful, but inside she knows she gives up. I see it this way because I grew up fat but have a very beautiful older sister, and this is how it was–my mom would do what she could to spoil us both, BUT it was always very clear to me that my sister was “the” family beauty. She was the showcase, the one everyone would fawn over and get excited about getting married and having babies. When it came to unpopular fatty-me, no one ever cared when and if I was seeing someone. I got engaged and no one cared. My mother passed away before my wedding, but I would bet my paycheck that she wouldn’t come to the wedding. Just didn’t take it seriously or believed any man would truly like fat, crooked teeth me. If someone liked/started dating my beautiful sister though, we alllllllll celebrated. I see a parallel when I watch Bridgerton. I understand that Penelope’s body type is debatable, but from my viewpoint she is plus-sized.
I have to say Penelope’s character is such an interesting and amazing story. It’s a real shame it wasn’t done correctly in the show and to some degree, the books. Penelope and Polin could have been such an amazing story arc if done right. Penelope is literley cinderella. It could been so good. So painfully good if only it was done right. Penelope could have (and she is!) been an amazing main character! She would have been so good! And Polin could have been just as good! I liked season 3, but it could have been ten times better! I was so looking forward to Penelope’s story. Penelope’s background and story, so on, in a nutshell was the foundation of such an amazing love story
I don’t think Ms,Featherinton wanted Penelope to stay to be her maid. I think she just didn’t want to be alone and Pen is subconsciously her favorite. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember any scenes where Penelope was told to do any maid like task, or favors for her mother. She probably sees herself in Pen. She’s intelligent,cunning and doesn’t quite fit in. The same is true for Penelope. Plus they do have maids and two of the sisters are married, so that shouldn’t be a problem to sustain. She didn’t believe in her daughter because she didn’t believe in herself. Pen also doesn’t exactly believe in herself until the third season.
It wouldn’t suprise me if lady featherington was dressing herself better to keep the attention on herself, at the time it was a thing mama’s did. In pride and prejudice Mrs. Bennet says “when a woman has 5 daughters she should give up on thinking of her won beauty.” Which can be taken as raising a lot a children leaves little time to care for oneself, it was actually a bit of social commentary from Jane Austin about such behavior
Love triangle? After one scene….like is the next script out or something. It was an introduction to a character. I took it as many things but love triangle i did not. I took that look as admiration, nervousness in making an impression, her finding her beautiful and intimidating. Its an interesting change indeed but Benedict story is next. The mascarade ball is next year. Can we pump the breaks and calm down. We do know eloise love match was introduced in season 1 right….
I think Miss Featherington doesn’t want Penelope to marry out of her love for her daughter. Miss Featherington didn’t have a happy marriage and doesn’t think its possible. At least not for someone as smart as her or Penelope. Her other daughters would be happy with less but I think she thinks that marriage will be a prison for someone as smart as Penelope, much like it was for Miss Featherington and that is why she ‘sabotages’ her. Just because she wants whats best for her daughters.
I think she both sees herself in Pen but she also realizes Penelope has developed into a person she never could. It seems that she tries to hold her back to avoid the thought that she herself could’ve had a fulfilled life as well. If Penelope “makes it” Lady Featherington has failed something she could’ve managed but didn’t because of her lack of character not because of external factors.
My theory is that the author of the series likes to borrow from her favorite stories. Both Daphne and the Duke and Anthony and his lady (sorry I’m so bad with names and I don’t feel like looking it up) are takeoffs on Pride and Prejudice. Then the Lady Whistledown concept seems like a takeoff on Gossip Girl. To me, Pennelope seems a lot like Cinderella, and her family seem a lot like the Wicked Stepmother and stepsisters. Yes, I know they blood family, it’s just I could see the same actors playing the roles in a retelling of Cinderella. Plus, Pennelope is the underdog, her sisters make fun of her, and her mother seems to expect service from her in way she doesn’t from her sisters.
I watched a article on the British Ton after season 1 who explained it this way: The Bridgertons, Calpers, and other families of the Ton are old money and dress polishes/sophisticated like a well-oiled machine. The Mama’s network differently to get matches for their children. The Featheringtons represent “new money” in the Ton and are just not-quite-right such as in choosing the family colors in poor shades and dressing slightly “off” from the rest of the Ton because they’re still trying. They don’t know to network the way the other mamas do and other families don’t conspire with them to help because the Ton doesn’t trust their wealth exists like they do with the other families. Thwy know Mr. Featheringron has a gambling problem. Lady Featherington still focus on herself looking best because they still have to prove their worth, which as we know, is titering on the edge of ruins each season. Not operating like a well-oiled machine….
I think Portia does love her daughters, she wants them to be happy, but she’s also a practical person and a realist. She didn’t think Penelope would get any suitors either because of looks or because she’s mostly into books, and so focussed on her eldest daughters (who definitely needed help). She would’ve been aware of pen’s friendship with Eloise and might’ve thought they were serious about wanting to live as spinsters together (Eloise definitely was) or thought that pen was smart enough to figure things out on her own. If pen had gone up to her mother and said she wanted to marry, and wanted to wear other colours, I think portia would’ve supported her. Her whole character is trying to do what’s best for her daughters, even if her ways of doing so aren’t good. In s2 when the fake rubies are exposed, she refuses to run away to America without her daughters. She’d rather risk financial and social ruin than her daughters behind while she lives comfortably in America.
I love Lady Featherington. She is terrible at times but imagine having to constantly figure out how to keep the whole enterprise afloat without a man or the option to work. I think a lot of the time she’s terrified. She’s smart and savvy and Penelope is like her in many ways unlike the other two dolts.
I think the silhouette argument is moot here. Using the regency era as a guide and the empire waist as the archetype for clothes (as seen on everyone else), lady featheringhton’s tighter silhouette looks outdated because it’s a remnant of older fashions. This also works with the plot: their financial struggles are already apparent in season 1, which could mean that portia is reusing older pieces to save money in order to have enough to give her daughters the “proper” clothes as they enter the marriage market. I do agree w the other points though. I believe the sabotage (or, at least, her not trying so hard to find penelope a husband) comes from the fact that portia wants her to take care of her as she gets older. I believe she references this in season 3 obliquely as well
What is known about the mother and her past? I have been told that my own grandparents decided that their youngest son would look after them when they got old. … And he did. He only had 2 relationships in his life. The former was after both his parents were dead, and the later after his first had died. But both were too old to have any more children when they met and started their relationship. So he died without having children. It makes me sad. But things like this happen and did happen in the past.
While idk if it’s canon to the show, I know historically, even in well to do households, the eldest siblings were the ones that got first dibs at new dresses, and then the younger ones got hand me downs. It may not be exactly that in the show, I could definitely see the fabrics choices Penelope wears being less expensive as they’d be less sought after. So like her older siblings got the expensive fabrics and she was left with the cheaper ones.
You know when she turned around and looked at Penelope and said at least I’ll always have you here to take care of me. I think there’s a huge part of her that wants Penelope to be there with her. I don’t think she means harm on her. I think it’s more of a desperate need to have her daughter near her because she doesn’t believe that she has the capacity to be a wife butI think she’ll see differently when she marries Colin
it was nice to watch but as a romantic myself, I would have written this part differently, I expected more connection, passion, self-discovery, fight for love, more expression of love and feelings, make the characters worthy of each other. I didn’t like Colin’s portrayal as going to prostitutes and having threesomes, nor the ‘steamy’ carriage sequence and I felt everything else rushed too..My focus went on Francesa and her young love for the new Earl, rather than focusing on Penelope and Colin. I thought of Colin and Penelope as pure young people, saving themselves for love and marriage, different from the rest of the couples within the old times society, they cherished their friendship, trusted and respected each other. changing a character’s personality, considering that Colin’s one was very well established, it made him look like a totally different person. give this couple their personality and dignity back. I prefer to see their love gradually developing, discovering the feelings they have for each other, especially his feelings for her and what she means to him and what they have in common, rather than pushing quickly with intimate sexual moments. Sadly, the script didn’t make their bond and connection convincing and genuine. I prefer less sexual scenes between them and seeing more talk, more love, what do they expect from their future together, to see them chatting more before touching each other in a sexy desire way. I wanted to understand what actually brought them closer, how he remembered their history together, how their friendship started, how it progressed, how he sees her after all these years, did he realise that she had feelings for him before?
Good thoughts, and I agree that she wouldn’t mind Penelope being a spinster, because she’d be cared for by someone who she deems smart. That said, I don’t think that she’s purposely sabotaging any of her daughters. I think she loves them, and is trying to look out for them in the best way she can, she just sucks at it on an emotional level. She was forced to dismiss her own feelings and to marry for security, and taught to value that. So, she does. She’s emotionally stunted, but not uncaring. You can see that by the window in interaction with Penelope, where you see she wants to comfort her, reaching her hand out, but then thinks better of it, and pulls it back. I think she doesn’t really know how to deal adn is out of her depth. And when Lord Pemberton showed interest in Penelope, she encouraged it. Does she want attention for herself? Yes. Is she vain? Most likely. Is she shallow? Probably as well. However, I don’t think she is malicious. In her misguided way, she was looking out for Miss Thompson as well. Not in the way she needed, but she tried.
I started out enjoying your point of view, but you didn’t have your thoughts in order, so you kind of went all over the place. An outline would help you organize your thoughts and therefore not move back and forth so much. Other than that, I do agree, it’s like she was setting up a daughter that could take care of her in her old age and as Penelope was a little overweight, she thought that she would be the easiest to keep as a spinster.
I feel offended 😀 As a lover of yellow colour I thought those dresses were amazing, and that’s why I liked her the most from season one. I hate her green dress with passion, she looked like a frog. Also they didn’t explain the color thing in the show but in books, so thinking about it without context you might say they pulled the trope, woman has to change her liking to suit the eye of a man, which I can’t stand! Also in what universe yellow clashes with her skin?!? green did that, yellow complimented it. Yellow doesn’t clash PERIOD. Happy colour.