The Happily-Ever-Afters
Gregory Bridgerton comes from a large family in which marriage has thus far worked out spectacularly well. Well, not spectacularly, since his father died young, but at least up to that unfortunate encounter with a honeybee, the marriage of his parents had been beyond reproach. In a reflective moment, Gregory contemplates how all his brothers and sisters are all betrothed and still “besotted with their spouses.” The Bridgerton family is thus a living symbol that a happily-ever-after may not exist just in fairy tales. At least for a while. And at least for Gregory.
Gregory Bridgerton
The novel begins with Gregory Bridgerton rushing to the chapel to stop a wedding and propose to the bride. Throughout, he is portrayed as and even mentioned directed as a romantic of the grand tradition. In relation to the fact that his brothers and sisters all enjoy happy marriages, in fact, the narrator observes that truly believes in true love because, in consideration of the state of his family, he’d be “a fool not to.” Gregory is therefore the symbolic incarnation of the mythic anything-for-love male protagonist of the Romantic tradition killed off by the arrival of realism in literature.
Hermione
The stunningly beautiful Hermione is the woman that every man wants. Every man, including Gregory, who sees her across a crowded room and instantly falls for her. Her best friend compares her effect to men that of a butterfly collector and fears that this romantic fellow Gregory is destined to become just another butterfly in the collection. Hermione symbolizes the unattainable ideal that too many grand romantics waste chunks of their life chasing after. At the same time, she is also a symbol of the objectification of such women by lesser men who are not grand romantics and see her only as a challenge to win.
Lucy
Lucinda Abernathy is neither unattractive physically nor a moron. Her hair is a beautiful blonde, but not just a little bit less blonde than Hermione. The curve of her neck is delicate, but just a little less delicate than Hermione. She symbolizes the best friend of the ideal who must settle for something a little less than the grand romantic. Except, in this case, she doesn’t represent. In this case, Lucy symbolizes the unexpected victory of the slightly less than ideal over the ideal.
Weddings
Lots of weddings and marriages are mentioned in this book. As stated, the marriages of the Bridgerton siblings symbolize the possibility of happily-ever-after. But not necessarily the weddings. The wedding ceremony in those cases merely complete and stamp approval upon true love; they do symbolize them. The story commences in the middle of Gregory Bridgerton’s mad rush to stop a wedding from taking place. This placement of this particular narrative trope at the beginning rather than at the end of the novel should be understood symbolically within the context of symbolic standing of Gregory, Hermione, Lucinda and their respects relationships. Weddings and marriage are to be understood not as a symbol of anything, but as the failure to symbolize anything. A wedding is a symbolic ritual that unites true love together nor it is a symbol of a ceremony capable of keeping true love apart. It is merely a symbol of ritual itself, meaningless as a mean of conferring romance upon the union.
