The Mysteries of Romance
What’s the deal with the classic game of romance as forwarded by centuries of literary tradition? These days, just raising the possibility that women ought to play “hard-to-get” is enough to start a heated debate. And yet, this irony of wanting to be attained by pretending you cannot be attained is the basis upon which at least 90% of love stories seem to be constructed. Someone, it seems, isn’t being entirely honest. Regardless, the trope continues well into the 21st century unabated: "'For the love of God, girl, don't look!' Lady Danbury exclaimed, jamming her elbow into Penelope's upper arm. 'He'll know you're interested.'"
The Ugly Duckling
What is the most ironic fairy tale of them all? Hard to say for sure, but perhaps that one about the little duckling who all the other ducks bully on the basis of looks turning out to be a beautiful swan must rank in the top five. Regardless of its specific position, the irony applies to the Bridgerton series as well since the story strongly implicates Penelope as a symbolic personification of the ugly duckling who wins the handsome prince.
It’s Not Cressida
The big secret of the Bridgerton novels is finally revealed in this entry. Who is the mysterious gossip girl, Lady Whistledown? Hint: It’s not Cressida. The reveal won’t be divulged here, of course, but a fair warning shall be: The identity turns out to be the height of irony.
Romance Novel Irony
The romance novel genre is built upon a singularly solid foundation of irony. “She” is not supposed to wind up with “him” or, conversely, “he” is of the type that would never in a million years fall for “her” for whatever reason. Without this ironic staple of the genre, there would probably not even be a genre. After all, who wants to read story after story where the two people most likely to wind up together wind up together? In other words: it is highly unlikely that the man and the woman who wind up in matrimonial bliss (and a happy relationship besides) in this book would do so in real life. That the couple do find bliss is therefore both absolutely predictable and definitively ironic at the same time.
When Colin Met Penelope
For Penelope, it is fate. She knows the very night two days shy of turning sixteen that she and Colin Bridgerton are fated to come together. It takes a lot longer than she probably suspected, however. This time lag is shortened through compression of the timeline. She describes it as pathetic, but the effect is ironic: “She'd met Colin on a Monday. She'd kissed him on a Friday. Twelve years later.”
