Don’t Overlook Penelope and Eloise: Their Story is Just as Important in Bridgerton Season 3

Eloise and Penelope Are at Odds in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3

Eloise and Penelope are one of the very first friendships established in the series, as Eloise’s loud and opinionated persona is complemented seamlessly by Penelope’s quiet and insightful one. Their bond is steadfast, filled with subtle Austenian wit and their inherent inability to fit in with the ton. Most importantly, each scene that is filled with their affable yet sharp interactions is a refreshing break from the larger-than-life drama among the Bridgerton debutantes. As Season 2 ends with Eloise discovering Penelope’s secret identity as Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews), who had also just exposed a scandal about none other than Eloise, an abrupt rift immediately tore apart their friendship. Throughout Season 3, we realize how much we miss the breaks from the drama through their fresh interactions, a role that is now placed upon the Featherington sisters.

Though we miss their friendship, it is impossible to ignore the gulf between them. In fact, the drama in their friendship becomes as central and pertinent as Season 3’s romance, where their furious arguments leave us shaken, their furtive glances leave us heartbroken, and their silence becomes deafening. The low in their friendship is as devastating as the lows in the Bridgerton romances, deftly giving the pair as much significance as the couples. Even when they begin to communicate more, it is filled with petty remarks and a haughtiness that is reminiscent of a married couple’s tiffs. This is especially true during the word game they play during Penelope and Colin’s engagement party, as the Bridgertons hesitantly sit back while the two ladies challenge each other, taking turns in outsmarting each other and rolling their eyes when the other eventually finds the answer to the riddle.

Penelope Is Motivated By Eloise and Colin in ‘Bridgerton’

As Penelope’s longest and dearest friends, both Eloise and Colin have a strong hold over her. This is particularly pertinent to Penelope’s Lady Whistledown storyline, which comes to the forefront of the third season. As Penelope courageously reveals in the finale, Lady Whistledown has become a part of her identity, signifying not only her talents and success as a writer, but it was also a way for her to have a voice, especially as a woman in this stringent society. Yet when she loses both Eloise and Colin, she decides it is time to put down her quill, abruptly bidding farewell to her gentle readers and the only part of her identity she can call her own. Eloise and Colin are truly the only two people who could corner her into making that decision, implying that her love for Eloise is as strong as her love for Colin, despite not being romantic.

Many of the events of the season are propagated by their relationships, particularly as Penelope is constantly trying to win both of them over while desperately holding onto her identity and success as a writer. Ever since she threw Eloise under the bus publicly, exposing her presence in radical groups and potential interest in someone of low standing, she has tried to make up for it. Fearful of angering Eloise, she stays away from the Bridgerton house, the only place she feels the safest. Even when she attempts to do the ethical thing and tell Colin of her status as Lady Whistledown during their engagement, she is trapped under so much pressure from the two people she adores that she has a panic attack and faints. Not only do her relationships cause her emotional turmoil, but a visceral physical reaction as well.

As such, when Eloise finally comes around to forgiving her, reluctantly admiring Penelope’s acute and whip-like words, Penelope’s confidence slowly begins to build again. Even when facing Cressida’s (Jessica Madsen) blackmail, she is a lot calmer and more collected with Eloise and Colin by her side, even jesting about Eloise’s petty friendship with Cressida in a light-hearted scene.

Eloise and Colin’s Relationships With Penelope Mirror Each Other

Alongside their intense influence over Penelope, Eloise and Colin’s relationships with her also interestingly mirror each other. Both begin as Penelope’s long-standing friends and then are abruptly repulsed by her when they discover that she is Lady Whistledown. Each has a deep-seated response to the news, while Colin decides to grudgingly continue with the wedding to honor being intimate with her. Eloise promptly tries to replace her and actively tries to fit in with the ton. They try to re-conciliate the lovable Penelope they know and the vicious image of Lady Whistledown they had conjured in their minds. While Colin’s instincts are driven by his envy, clearly denoted by his desire to write his novel on his own and his claims of wanting to provide for her as per the masculine pressure placed upon men to do so, Eloise’s jealousy is slightly more complex.

With Eloise has always been the more loudly independent one of the pair, clearly defined by her status as a free-thinker, it ends up being Penelope who manages to find a subtle independence through her writing, from finding her voice, holding power over the ton and even financial success. From Eloise’s perspective, it is almost a betrayal, as it seemed like Penelope was too preoccupied with being Eloise’s friend and fitting in rather than straying from the norm like she so desperately wanted to do but couldn’t find the courage to do so. While the anger of the initial betrayal of exposing her rendezvous may have ignited the rift, it is this deeper perceived betrayal that rooted Eloise away from Penelope.

As such, both Eloise and Colin have to rectify their deeper insecurities to forgive Penelope, whereas Penelope’s growing confidence made her aware of her power, allowing her to finally make some leeway into the forgivable territory. This season’s drama also had modern connotations of successful women giving up their careers after marriage, which both Colin and Eloise tried to convince her to do. Penelope’s tension with Eloise is also reminiscent of the trope of rivalry between women in the workplace, as both ladies were in the same field of trying to attain their own identity and dreams in a world where women weren’t allowed to have any. Here is where a major thematic distinction is made between Penelope’s relationships with these two, as her friendship with Eloise is not simply platonic love, but also the resolution of women supporting women.

‘Bridgerton’ Season 3’s New Love Story Is Between Friends

Though the parallels between these Bridgerton love stories are plenty, there is something more jarring about seeing a friendship being torn apart rather than a relationship. As Bridgerton always promises us drama, an insurmountable fight will inevitably occur between the focal couple, always resolved with a tear-jerking monologue and breathtaking chemistry. But when a friendship break-up occurs, it is far more devastating, as we never anticipated it. So, as the two slowly build trust between them again, Bridgerton reminds us that true love can come in many forms, and that platonic love is no less significant than romantic ones.

Apart from the Mondriches and before the Season 2 finale, Eloise and Penelope were probably hailed as the most stable pairing in the ton, inseparable physically and spiritually. Like every captivating romantic couple, they truly know and understand each other (though blinded by anger in this season), they have unwavering support for one another, and would never allow the other to get hurt. Even as enemies in this season, Eloise instinctively tries to protect Penelope from Cressida, almost evoking an enemies-to-lovers arc. Although their fractured relationship hangs over this season, eliciting brooding undertones, it also exhibits how deep and true their platonic love for each other is, gracing Bridgerton with another successful and emotionally compelling relationship.