An Offer From a Gentleman

Content Warning: This section discusses abuse.

The shoes that Sophie borrows from Araminta to wear to the masquerade connect to the original Cinderella story and function as a symbol of the place in the world that Sophie’s stepmother has denied her. Instead of the glass slipper from Perrault’s story and the Disney movie, Quinn gives her heroine a pair of satin slippers that match her gown, the first time that Sophie has been able to dress in the kind of apparel that other girls of her station—the daughters of noblemen—wear to their entertainment. The fact that Sophie needs to take the shoes from Araminta signals all that her stepmother has withheld from her. Instead of giving Sophie the place that her father intended her to have—an equal to Araminta’s daughters—she makes her a maid.

The shoes become the device by which Araminta realizes that Sophie is the mystery woman at the ball who enchanted Benedict Bridgerton. In this way, the shoes show Araminta that, despite the extent of her cruelty and deprivation, she has not managed to break Sophie’s spirit. The shoe clips that Sophie steals symbolize how little Sophie has asked of her stepmother; all she has wanted is kindness and acceptance into a family.