I know I’m late to the bandwagon with reading the Bridgerton series, but I finally invested in getting library cards, Libby, and Hoopla so now I’m able to read them after years of not being able to afford the entire set of books. I have a couple of thoughts on a select scene in the first book, **The Duke and I,** and other general comments about my reading experience thus far.
First and foremost, I enjoy the readability of the book. This goes beyond style, which I do enjoy, to the content of the book. I tend to surround myself with darker/twisted books and those can be mentally exhausting. I’m trying to weasel my way back into the classics, but with nearly full-time work and being a full-time college student, it’s difficult to get interested. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the language in the book is to understand. I did not expect it to be as difficult as classics are (because it’s not a classic), but sometimes historical fiction has words/patterns of language I don’t know or care to know and I get a bit put off.
Secondly, I loved the chemistry between Daphne and Simon. I’ve seen some opinions on Daphne that indicate that she is a pick-me and prides herself on being “one of the boys” on account of her several brothers, and that made her chemistry with Simon feel forced or in some other way, negative. I respectfully disagree (this is also my first read, so we’ll see how I feel after going through it again). I think Daphne is comfortable with men, more so than her peers at least, and that is why she can converse with Simon, give-and-take banter, and see him beyond face value. This is not to say I enjoy her character, which I’ll get to shortly, but the chemistry between her and Simon didn’t feel forced.
Also, I much prefer the Nigel Berbrooke storyline in the book to the Netflix adaptation. I understand producers/writers make changes to make a show more exciting to watch, but I enjoy that Nigel was not a villain in the book.
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Next, on to some general commentary about The Scene in The Duke and I… Yikes. I have read far more violent things, but for a few reasons, The Scene is one of the *worst* things I’ve read. As I have previously mentioned, I tend to read darker/twisted books. I’ve read countless pages of violence, including SA, that were horrific. The Scene is much milder in comparison to my typical reading. However, reading Daphne’s thought process leading up to her actions was… Disturbing. Many believe that SA/R\*pe is completely synonymous with a lack of consent, which is mostly true. However, a bigger factor is *power.* This is why things like coercion are SA. So, to read Daphne’s thoughts of having power and control in the situation to take advantage of her inebriated husband as some sick form of revenge and selfishness was heartbreaking and enraging.
I have to wonder if the author *knew* she was writing marital r\*pe, and minimizing how fucking horrible it is. Later on in the book Daphne and Simon reconcile after several months of being apart, and there is a clear comment made on why Simon left Daphne to be by himself: because he lost control of himself and could not speak, all that stuff. It was explicitly stated that he did not leave because of what Daphne had done. Is this meant to be a commentary on what the norms were with sex and marriage in 1813? She included other things in the book that were common/true two centuries ago, mostly that Simon *owned* Daphne and that she was his property, an asset. Or is it a subtle dig at rape culture, making the point that it happens to women AND men? Genuinely I’m not sure what to make of it. Perhaps it’s just there to be there. This feels like a classic “I can fix him” storyline, which I don’t always hate, but this was not the way I would’ve gone about starting the “fixing” process, but that’s just *my* two cents.
by thneedery22