Autonomy Behind the Veil: Bridging Weber and Du Bois in Bridgerton

The girl with the feather on her head, Daphne, is being kissed by the queen, as she was just named the diamond of the season in the marriage market. Bridgerton is set in 1813 high society England. Daphne was being presented to society and to the queen. Given that the monarch's authority derived from God, Daphne was also being presented to the Father himself. Being selected as the diamond means you are the most beautiful and eligible young lady of the season. Notice the clothes. Every lady is adorned in full white, and Daphne, the debutante being presented to society, wears a massive white feather on top of her head. The white, symbolic of purity, is no doubt representing the virginity of the new debutantes. These high society women are in a constant state of presentation. Whether they are showing off their purity, dancing skills, or singing capabilities, they must always be selling themselves in order to find a husband.

For those who haven't watched Bridgerton, it follows the drama of the marriage market where women of high class families are presented to society like cattle, only covered in the finest of silks and feathers. The one goal of a woman at this time period was to find a suitable husband. High society women devote their lives to crafts like the piano forte and needlework, all for the enjoyment and pleasure of their husbands. The lives of young girls are devoted to their future husbands, they are trained from the start to be in a subordinate marriage. The lives of young boys, on the other hand, are dedicated to their studies, hunting, passions, and ultimately, the development of their personality. Bridgerton takes place about a century before Marianne Weber wrote Authority and Autonomy in Marriage, but this Netflix original perfectly depicts these concepts.

In season two, Anthony Bridgerton, the head of one of England's most powerful families, is appalled by his options for marriage because every woman has wiped her personality clean to find a husband. Anthony wants someone who can think, but these women were trained only to be obedient. In the traditional patriarchal structure, the wife is not seen as an adult peer, and intentionally so. Weber writes that "the woman is to remain a child in order that she may not know any better" (Weber 1912), meaning she is kept in a state of permanent immaturity so as not to develop autonomy and a sense of personal authority.

Despite appearing to be dumb, many high society women aren't showing their cards, secretly running the social show behind the scenes. Lady Whistledown, a secret writer who exposes the secrets of the social scene, is none other than Penelope Featherington, an "undesirable" lady in the harsh eyes of the ton. Everyone in the ton underestimates her because she is seen to have no purpose. Because a noble lady's only goal in life is to find a husband, many don't think them capable of anything else, allowing her to not be questioned as the author.

This creates a massive anomaly in Weber's view. At least in the show, these women are clearly not children, they are master strategists. We can explain this anomaly through Du Bois's double consciousness. Penelope understands her position is that of a soon to be spinster who is socially ridiculed, and she uses this misfortune to bring her the most social power in town. She keeps up a very childlike act in order to fool her family. These women are forced to see themselves through the eyes of a patriarchal society that views them as clueless while simultaneously maintaining a highly autonomous and personality filled life behind the veil.

Du Bois explains double consciousness as a nonrational ceiling to rational action. In this case, the rational action is the women's attempts to have personal autonomy, the nonrational ceiling is their lack of education in general, but especially regarding intimacy. One shining example of this brings us back to our original image. Daphne, after being named Diamond, falls in love with the Duke. One evening, she goes outside to a garden, and he follows her. They confess their interest in one another and kiss, only to be interrupted by Antony, Daphne's brother. Antony is upset because his sisters' entire lives could be tarnished. If she were caught having kissed him before marriage, she would surely never marry, getting left without a means of income. Daphne, as pure as she is, had no idea what any of it meant or what the implications were. Her brother decided for her that they would get married. Within the show, women are not taught what sex is or what it means. Their husbands are their "mentors," which speaks to Weber's points about the wife being a "legal minor" under the thumb of her husband. Weber argues that this sexual ignorance is not an accident but a tool of monogamic dominance. In high society, a woman is only as valuable as her virginity. But when young women know nothing of what intimacy is, it gives men supreme power over their futures and bodies. Penelope, at nineteen years old, is smart enough to be running the social scene through her newsletters, yet she has no idea what sex is or how it can be used against her. It is not a lack of brains that is the issue, it is a lack of education, specifically regarding intimacy, that keeps women subordinated. This ignorance ensures the head of the household, be it a father or brother, gets to choose who she marries under the guise of protection.

Kate Sharma is the ultimate anomaly. At twenty three and without a dowry, she has moved past finding a husband, focusing all of her energy on making her little sister the perfect wife. Because she has given up on the marriage mart, she is the perfect example of Weber’s ideal of the autonomous personality. She is able to develop a brain and fire that other ladies lack because a husband is not her means. By rejecting the childlike role of the debutante, Kate avoids being a legal minor in spirit even if the law still subordinates her. She stops looking at herself through the eyes of the marriage market and starts acting on her own reasons. She proves that autonomy and personality development are possible only when a woman is unbound from her status as a tradeable product.

The show carries a feminist perspective, focusing on the accomplishments and subordination of women in this century. We see the influence of radical feminists of the time, one young lady, Eloise, is an avid reader of Wollstonecraft and rejects the very idea of the Diamond and marriage in general. Though some women are liberated enough to develop a personality, it cannot be without a double consciousness of their inferior position. We also must acknowledge that the little autonomy these ladies have would never have been possible for someone less wealthy. These are the most liberated women of the time, yet they are still property. Though I can appreciate the fact that the show is a romance, I do feel like it romanticises subordination. To Weber, it wouldn't matter how much Anthony Bridgerton loves Kate or how much the Duke respects Daphne. As long as the legal and economic structure remains patriarchal, these women are still just legal minors being taken advantage of.

References

Weber Marianne 1912 1997 Authority and Autonomy in Marriage

Du Bois W.E.B. 1903 The Souls of Black Folk

The Guardian 2024 Bridgerton and the modern feminist lens July 18 2024