# Bridgerton

Bridgerton (2020-) is an American streaming television period drama series, airing on Netflix, created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes. It is based on Julia Quinn's novels set in the competitive world of Regency era London's ton during the season, when debutantes are presented at court.

## Season 1
### Diamond of the First Water [1.01]

    Lady Whistledown: [narrating] It has been said that, "Of all bitches dead or alive, a scribbling woman is the most canine." If that should be true, then this author would like to show you her teeth. My name is Lady Whistledown. You do not know me, and rest assured, you never shall. But be forewarned, dear reader, I certainly know you.
    Lady Portia Featherington: I should not be surprised if this Whistledown is revealed to be Violet Bridgerton herself. These pages certainly report on the Viscountess's family with much indulgence, indeed.
    Lady Cowper: The pages report nothing but the truth, Lady Featherington. Daphne has bloomed exquisitely, and the sooner she is taken from the market, the better for the other young ladies. Even ones prone to hysterics in front of the Queen.
    Daphne Bridgerton: Lady Whistledown has all but declared me ineligible. Worthy of the affection of a detestable simpleton and no one else. Tell me, what others should ever want such damaged goods now?
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: You speak as if Lady Whistledown were to be held in higher regard than Her Majesty the Queen herself. You give far too much credit to some anonymous scribbler. These musings, they're not true.
    Daphne Bridgerton: Only they are true, Brother, and they are true because of you. You have managed to scare every worthy suitor away. Whistledown has merely reported it.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I am looking out for you. I am protecting you. It is my duty.
    Daphne Bridgerton: And what of my duty? You have no idea what it is to be a woman, what it might feel like to have one's entire life reduced to a single moment. This is all I have been raised for. This is all I am. I have no other value. If I am unable to find a husband, I shall be worthless.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Daphne, you're a Bridgerton.
    Daphne Bridgerton: It would be easier if I were not.
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Perhaps there is an answer to our collective Lady Whistledown issue. We could pretend to form an attachment. With you on my arm, the world will believe I've finally found my duchess. Every presumptuous mother in town will leave me alone, and every suitor will be looking at you. You must know men are always interested in a woman when they believe another, particularly a duke, to be interested as well.
    Daphne Bridgerton: You presume Lady Whistledown...
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: I presume she'll deem us to be what we are. Me, unavailable. You, desirable.
    Lady Whistledown: [narrating] For those not in attendance at the Vauxhall celebration, you missed the most remarkable coup of the season. It appears Miss Daphne Bridgerton has captured the interest of the newly returned Duke of Hastings. How the young miss secured her newfound suitor is yet to be determined. Yet, if anyone shall reveal the circumstances of this match, it is I. Yours truly, Lady Whistledown.

### Shock and Delight [1.02]

    Eloise Bridgerton: How does a lady come to be with child?
    Lady Violet Bridgerton: Eloise, what a question!
    Eloise Bridgerton: I thought one needed to be married.
    Daphne Bridgerton: What are you talking about?
    Eloise Bridgerton: Apparently, it's not even a requirement.
    Daphne Bridgerton: [after discovering Lord Berbrooke has an illegitimate child with a former maid] He will only deny it. And who will believe a group of women over a man's word?
    Lady Violet Bridgerton: Perhaps no one. But they will if Lady Whistledown does. So, we will do what women do. We shall talk.

### Art of the Swoon [1.03]

    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Excessive pride suits you, Miss Bridgerton.
    Daphne Bridgerton: Pride is a sin, Your Grace.
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: One of the lesser sins, but do not worry. We must all start somewhere.
    Lady Portia Featherington: Sweet child, many men make declarations of love when they want to make love. But rare is the man whose love remains true when the consequences of lovemaking are brought to his attention.

### The Duke and I [1.05]

    Queen Charlotte: I have heard a rumor that the special license you seek to marry has been denied. I am not quite sure what you believe I am to do about it. Well, plead your case.
    Daphne Bridgerton: Your Majesty, I assure you nothing untoward has occurred. It is only that we love each other so very much. While I was deeply flattered by the attention of your nephew, the prince, I ... I simply could not ignore my long-standing affection for the duke. You see, Your Majesty, it was love at first sight.
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: It was not, Your Majesty. The young lady flatters me, but it was not love at first sight for either of us. There was attraction, certainly, at least on my part. But Miss Bridgerton thought me presumptuous, arrogant, insincere. All fair, really. And I thought her a prim young lady barely out of leading strings. Not to mention the sister of my best friend, and so romance was entirely out of the question for both of us. But in so removing it, we found something far greater. We found friendship. You see, Miss Bridgerton and I have been fooling all of Mayfair for quite some time. We have fooled them into thinking we are courting when really, all along, we simply enjoyed each other's company so much we could not stay away from one another. I have never been a man that much enjoyed flirting. Or chatting. Or, indeed, talking at all. But with Daphne, Miss Bridgerton, conversation has always been easy. Her laughter brings me joy. To meet a beautiful woman is one thing, but to meet your best friend in the most beautiful of women is something entirely apart. And it is with my sincerest apologies I must say it took the prince coming along for me to realize I did not want Miss Bridgerton to only be my friend. I wanted her to be my wife. I want her to be my wife. And so I plead with you not to make us wait.
    Daphne Bridgerton: Simon...
    Queen Charlotte: You are wise, or perhaps unusually lucky, to understand friendship to be the best possible foundation a marriage can have. Even if that foundation should crumble as quickly as it was built. I shall like to offer you the choice, Miss Bridgerton. Do you wish to marry this man?
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Everything I told the queen was true. I cannot stop thinking of you. From the mornings you ease to the evenings you quiet to the dreams you inhabit, my thoughts of you never end. I am yours, Daphne. I have always been yours.

### Swish [1.06]

    Colin Bridgerton: If I caused Mother discomfort today, I am sorry for it. I shall speak with her. The truth is, I do not require your permission to marry Miss Thompson. But I would very much prefer to have your blessing.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Then I am afraid I must disappoint you.
    Colin Bridgerton: You have. In more ways than one.
    Lady Whistledown: [narrating] All is fair in love and war, but some battles leave no victor, only a trail of broken hearts that makes us wonder if the price we pay is ever worth the fight. The ones we love have the power to inflict the greatest scars. For what thing is more fragile than the human heart? The bond between man and bride is private, sacred. But I must tell you, I have learned that a grave fraud is afoot. As if the Featheringtons did not have enough to be dealing with, Miss Marina Thompson is with child and she has been from the very first day she arrived in our fair city. Desperate times may call for desperate measures, but I would wager many will think her actions beyond the pale. Perhaps she thought it her only option, or perhaps she knows no shame. But I ask you, can the ends ever justify such wretched means?

### Oceans Apart [1.07]

    Colin Bridgerton: You are a cruel woman indeed to stand here and talk of friendly affection as if you have not just committed a grave sin against me.
    Marina Thompson: Speak not of sin, Mr. Bridgerton. I did not come here to be shamed by you nor anyone else. I did not know better. You may think me a villain, but I did what I thought I must. No one ever truly helped me or guided me in a different direction. I had no choice. I needed to wed. And you, you were the only man who offered me even a glimpse of happiness.
    Colin Bridgerton: So I should feel flattered, then? Consider myself lucky that you chose me, lied to me, tried to trick me into a fraud of a marriage? I shall take my leave of you for the last time, Miss Thompson. [He starts to leave but stops at the door and turns around] You wish to know the cruelest part of your deception? If you had simply come to me and told me of your situation, I would have married you without a second thought. That is how in love I believed myself to be. But I see now that was all a lie.
    Sir Henry Granville: You have no idea what it is like to be in a room with someone you cannot live without, and yet you feel as though you are oceans apart. Stealing your glances, disguising your touches. We cannot as much as smile at each other without first ensuring no one else is watching. It takes courage to live outside the traditional expectations of the society.

### After the Rain [1.08]

    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: I know why you made that vow to your father. I found the letters you wrote to him as a child, and I read them.
    Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings: Daphne...
    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: Just because something is not perfect does not make it any less worthy of love. Your father made you believe otherwise. He made you believe that you needed to be without fault in order to be loved, but he was wrong. Should you need any proof of the matter, then... Then look just here. I am tired of pretending. And I cannot continue acting as if I... As if I do not love you. Because I do. I love all of you. Even the parts that you believe are too dark and too shameful. Every scar. Every flaw. Every imperfection. I love you. You may think you are too damaged and too broken to ever allow yourself to be happy, but you can choose differently, Simon. You can choose to love me as much as I love you. That should not be up to anyone else. That cannot be up to anyone else. It can only be up to you.

## Season 2
### Capital R Rake [2.01]

    Queen Charlotte: I yearn for someone fresh, someone unexpected, to turn this season on its head. That is what we need. There is no room for indifference. Apathy is a blight the monarchy simply cannot endure.
    Lady Danbury: Of course, Your Majesty. But remember, a young lady cannot be a diamond until you anoint her as such. So, if, for any reason, you do not find one among the candidates today...
    Queen Charlotte: Do you think she will return? We have heard nary a peep from Lady Whistledown since last season ended. Perhaps the writer came to her senses. Perhaps she realized taking on her Queen was a bad idea and she will never publish again.
    Lady Danbury: It is a convincing theory, ma'am.
    Queen Charlotte: Or she simply left for the country as the rest of us did in the offseason. Bored by the lack of any real gossip. You do know what that would make her, then? One of us.
    Lady Whistledown: [narrating] There is nothing quite like the sweet-scented smell of success. But after taking in the scene from last night's festivities, it is clear the season won't be quite so fragrant for everyone. The Viscount Bridgerton's own mama may have loudly declared her eldest son's lofty intentions to marry, yet I cannot be the only one wondering if this former Capital-R-Rake is, indeed, ready to flourish. Perhaps the viscount, like the rest of us, is simply waiting for the queen to finally name her diamond. Or perhaps this author should take matters into her own hands.
    Lady Violet Bridgerton: There were some lovely young ladies in attendance last night, were there not? Lady Delilah has beautiful manners, and I hear Miss Goodrum is very accomplished in her needlework. Perhaps you shall get to know them better soon.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Lady Delilah can barely string a sentence together. And Miss Goodrum thought that Napoleon fights for the Spanish. As for every other eager chit you pushed in my direction, I'd happily never lay eyes on them again.
    Lady Violet Bridgerton: Anthony...
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I am looking for perfection, Mother. And you should be, too. The woman I marry shall be the Viscountess Bridgerton, the lady of this household, responsible for launching my sisters and bearing my children. Do you desire them to be raised by a woman who does not know how to so much as hold a map right side up? This is the duty I must fulfill.
    Kathani Sharma: If I could marry for the sake of my family, I would. But I am not my mama's daughter by birth. Edwina is. I've spent the last eight years raising my sister to walk in the right way, to talk in the right way, to play the pianoforte just so. Teaching her twice as much and watching her work twice as hard as anyone else. I even taught her how to make this pitiful excuse for tea the English so adore. I despise English tea. But if it means my sister will not be left destitute, then I will smile, and I will nod politely after each and every sip to be sure.
    Lady Danbury: Your sister has a right to know. As you said, it is her future.
    Kathani Sharma: That is precisely why I shield her. Because I know her. If she was made aware of the circumstances, she would marry quickly only to please us. She would say yes to any man kind enough to ask. Edwina deserves a chance to find love without such a burden.

### Off to the Races [2.02]

    Lady Whistledown: [narrating] Dearest reader. It has been said that competition is an opportunity for us to rise and stand ready before our greatest of challenges. Well, if what this author hears this morning is true, then a great challenge concerning this season's diamond has been set forth, indeed. Any suitor wishing to gain an audience with Miss Edwina Sharma must first tame the rather prickly spinster of a beast otherwise known as her sister.
    Queen Charlotte: They are called "zebra." Striped horses from Africa, in fact. Seven more arrive next week. Though I can't think what to name them all. After fifteen children, I seem to have run out of ideas.
    Penelope Featherington: You've sworn off women, then?
    Colin Bridgerton: Well, for the time being.
    Penelope Featherington: I am a woman.
    Colin Bridgerton: You are Pen. You do not count. You are my friend.
    Penelope Featherington: Of course. Your friend. How good to hear that.
    Viscount Antony Bridgerton: I'm not a man of poetry. Words of flattery are beautiful and sweet, but they are also hollow unless accompanied by action. Miss Edwina, I could stand here and pretend to be someone I am not. I could pretend to want the very same things as you, but I'd be lying. I may not be able to offer the display of passion that you truly deserve. But I assure you that when it comes to action and duty, I shall never be found lacking. And I hope that is what will speak louder than any pretty words ever can.

### A Bee in Your Bonnet [2.03]

    Lady Violet Bridgerton: Oh, I am so pleased you were able to come.
    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: As if I would allow dear Augie to miss out on watching his mother win this little family tradition. Second year in a row, if I might add.
    Lady Violet Bridgerton: Every day, I get up. I get dressed. I feed myself. I try to breathe in and out. I force myself to stop by the nursery. And I think about how sorry I feel for little baby Hyacinth because she will never know Edmund's laugh. Or the way he smelled, or what it is to be hugged in his arms. I feel even sorrier for myself because, most of the time, all I am thinking is that this little baby did not do me the kindness of killing me so that I could be with my husband. Edmund was the air that I breathed. And now there is no air.

### An Unthinkable Fate [2.05]

    Kathani Sharma: All along, you have been set on marrying my sister, despite my every objection, might I add, and now you intend to cast her aside. Why? And do not talk to me of dowries, sir, for we both know you have no need of it. So, tell me, what has she done?
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: She has done nothing. It is you. You have made this match impossible.
    Kathani Sharma: But I am leaving for India.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: And it is not far enough! Do you think that there is a corner of this Earth that you could travel to far away enough to free me from this torment? I am a gentleman. My father raised me to act with honor, but that honor is hanging by a thread that grows more precarious with every moment I spend in your presence. You are the bane of my existence. And the object of all my desires. Night and day, I dream of you. And what I ... Do you even know all the ways a lady can be seduced? The things I could teach you.
    Kathani Sharma: I did not ask for this. To be plagued by these feelings. Hiding from my sister. Being driven to distraction every time you enter the room.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Then you agree. It is insupportable.
    Kathani Sharma: Impossible.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: If I wed your sister, it will bind me and you together for eternity, and I will spend every day of my marriage wanting you. Dreaming of you. Dreading the day when my last thread of honor finally snaps. Is that the future that you want for us? For your sister?

### The Choice [2.06]

    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: Do you ever wonder what Father might say on a day such as this? He was the only one you ever truly respected. The only one you ever listened to. If Papa was still here...
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: You cannot know what he would say. Father had different words for me than he did for you. So please do not insult me with your baseless conjecture.
    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: I have been here. And I have seen you at all stages. I witnessed you change the day he died. Do you know you did not even weep once? And you stopped laughing, altogether, in fact. It was as though you had become an entirely different person, consumed by the expectations of others.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: And what choice did I have? I changed so that our family might survive, so that you could be respectable enough to marry a duke. I am happy for you, Sister, but I'm not like you. I have never wished to succumb to the blind delight of being in love. I cannot so indulge myself.
    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: You can choose to be happy. To follow the desires of your heart instead of pushing away any feeling that comes to the surface. It should not be a luxury, but a right to choose, to fight for the family that you want.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I fight for the family that I have. And you will never understand because you were born to marry into another family while I was born to carry on the Bridgerton name. That is what outweighs anything else. It is rather easy to be selfish when you have no one else to whom you must answer.
    Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings: I mourn for you, Brother. All of these decisions that you seem to make and then resent us for. Though they do not make you worthy of your family's respect. They simply make us pity you. Nothing more.
    Queen Charlotte: I chose you as the season's diamond for a reason. Yes, you possess great beauty, but you made an impression. You still do. And you still can. Even after all the confusion of the day. And after, most especially, all that has been witnessed in private.
    Edwina Sharma: All that I have witnessed, ma'am, is the love a king shares with his queen and nothing more. I should certainly not find the proper words to discuss it even if given a million lifetimes to do so.
    Queen Charlotte: The challenge of the Crown is that it is tangible. It is a physical reminder of the position. It is why, say, Lady Whistledown circulates her pamphlets instead of trading in whispered rumor. A whisper is relevant for only as long as it is spoken, but a paper represents more. Its physical form grants permanence. The same cannot be said of true love, of course. It changes. It forgets. It forces you to remember who you once were. And it forces you to choose how you will live with it again and again.
    Edwina Sharma: How does one make that choice?
    Queen Charlotte: That, I cannot dictate. I am your queen, but I suppose even I must recognize the importance of each person deciding what to do in the face of true love. Everyone deserves to make that choice, just as everyone deserves to feel its power. But one must know it is the hardest and greatest choice one can ever make.

### Harmony [2.07]

    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: All I find myself thinking about, all I find myself being able to breathe for is you. Do you think that I want to be in this position? Contending with these thoughts of wanting to be nowhere except with you. Wanting to run away with you. Of acting on the most impure, forbidden desires, no matter how much I must remind myself I am a gentleman, and you are a lady.

### The Viscount Who Loved Me [2.08]

    Penelope Featherington: [after Eloise deduces she is Lady Whistledown] You have no idea how horrible it has felt to keep this from you, from everyone, for so long! Whistledown has been all I have had, and I have given it up. I am done with it. I wrote what I wrote, and I gave it up for you.
    Eloise Bridgerton: I do not even know you. I look at you now, and all I feel is pity for you. Sequestered here in this very room, writing your secret little scandal sheet, tarnishing everyone in town because you are too scared to stand up for yourself in reality. You are something, Penelope. An insipid wallflower, indeed.
    Penelope Featherington: At least I did something. All you ever do is talk about doing something. You have all these great ambitions, these great plans, but I am the one who did something great. And you cannot stand it, can you? And what do you think that makes you?
    Eloise Bridgerton: I wish never to see or speak to you again.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I love you. I have loved you from the moment we raced each other in that park. I have loved you at every dance, on every walk, every time we've been together, and every time we've been apart. You do not have to accept it. You do not have to embrace it or even allow it. Knowing you, you probably will not. But you must know it in your heart. You must feel it because I do. I love you.
    Kathani Sharma: I do not know what to say.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: You do not have to say anything.
    Kathani Sharma: I do not think there is anything else to say other than I love you too.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: I want a life that suits us both. I know I am imperfect, but I will humble myself before you because I cannot imagine my life without you, and that is why I wish to marry you.
    Kathani Sharma: You do know there will never be a day where you do not vex me.
    Viscount Anthony Bridgerton: Is that a promise, Kathani Sharma?

## Season 3
### How Bright the Moon [3.02]

    Eloise Bridgerton: When you spread gossip about someone, it will inevitably end up in Whistledown. You must know that. But perhaps that was your goal in communicating the secret I told you in confidence. Or can you really just not help being cruel?
    Cressida Cowper: I did not communicate your secret. But I did notice Miss Livingston whispering around the room after hovering nearby. You were rather indiscreet when you told me about Penelope. Perhaps if you were more decided about your former friendship, you would not have felt the need to gossip. I do appreciate your concern about cruelty, but perhaps you should like to find a looking glass rather than looking at me.

### Into the Light [3.08]

    Penelope Bridgerton: [after Queen Charlotte reveals her identity as Lady Whistledown to the members of the ton] Hello, all. Or should I say, "Dearest Gentle Readers"? I know it is no laughing matter what I have done. In the beginning, I never thought anyone would take my writing seriously. Why should they? No one has ever taken any part of me seriously. I only realize now how common that feeling must be. To be a young lady to whom no one listens. I wrote about all of you because I was captivated by you, living your lives so out in the open. And in writing about all of you, I suddenly felt as if I had a life. I had power. And for anyone in this room who has ever had a taste of that, they should know it can be intoxicating. But I was careless with that power. It was easy to cast aspersions from the shadows where I could not be found. But I see now how much courage it takes to live a life out in the open. To honor one's weaknesses publicly for all to see. And to know, regardless of the outcome, one always has worth. All of us talk. We gossip. Gossip is information. It forges bonds. Especially for those of us who are told so little. But I can no longer conceal the biggest piece of information I have. My identity. That is why I am so very grateful to our queen for forcing me out of the shadows with her most cunning scheme. If she affords me the chance to continue, I mean to aim my quill more responsibly. That is my repentance and my plea.
    Queen Charlotte: She seems humbled. But we will be watching that she remains so. What is life without a little gossip?

## Cast

* Jonathan Bailey - Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton
* Phoebe Dynevor - Daphne Bassett (née Bridgerton), Duchess of Hastings
* Ruth Gemmell - Violet, Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton
* Florence Hunt - Hyacinth Bridgerton
* Claudia Jessie - Eloise Bridgerton
* Regé-Jean Page - Simon Bassett, Duke of Hastings
* Ruby Barker - Marina Thompson
* Sabrina Bartlett - Siena Rosso
* Polly Walker - Portia, Baroness Featherington
* Ben Miller - Archibald, Baron Featherington
* Harriet Cains - Philippa Featherington
* Bessie Carter - Prudence Featherington
* Nicola Coughlan - Penelope Featherington
* Adjoa Andoh - Lady Danbury
* Lorraine Ashbourne - Mrs. Varley
* Golda Rosheuvel - Queen Charlotte
* Luke Thompson - Benedict Bridgerton
* Will Tilston - Gregory Bridgerton
* Julie Andrews - the voice of Lady Whistledown

## External links

* Bridgerton quotes at the Internet Movie Database