Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Friendship is a key part of the novel’s key romantic trope, the friends-to-lovers plot arc; it also serves as a framework for other relationships. Quinn suggests that friendship is an essential aspect of bonds between family members, between acquaintances and allies, and, perhaps most importantly, between married couples.

Feeling seen and accepted is a desire that several characters in the novel express at varying points. Penelope has been hurt by feeling invisible in society; she stands on the fringes of balls and parties, listening and gathering information for Lady Whistledown’s columns while she pretends to enjoy herself. In her real life, only her few but important friendships offer Penelope an avenue for her true personality to be witnessed, acknowledged, and admired.

Friendships strengthen when characters confide hurts and acknowledge vulnerabilities. For example, Penelope admits her deeply held wish for marriage and a family to her good friends Colin and Eloise, who make similar revelations to her. Colin allows himself to be vulnerable when he chooses to share his journals with Penelope and see her opinion about his writing. Eloise is vulnerable when she admits that she has always assumed that she and Penelope would continue as unmarried “spinsters” together and expresses a concern that Colin will replace Eloise as the most important person in Penelope’s life.