An Offer From a Gentleman

Content Warning: This section discusses abuse. The source text also uses stigmatizing language to discuss birth outside of marriage.

“Maybe if the countess loved her, then the earl would love her as well, and maybe, even if he didn’t actually call her daughter, he’d treat her as one, and they’d be a family truly.”

The Prologue establishes Sophie’s backstory. It recounts her difficult relationship with her stepmother and stepsisters, in keeping with the premise of the Cinderella fairy tale, which provides the novel’s premise. Sophie’s wish for a family is a motivation that guides her character choices throughout the novel.

“She’d like nothing more than to live a day of Posy’s humdrum life. Well, perhaps she wouldn’t want Araminta for a mother, but she wouldn’t mind a life of parties, routs, and musicales.”

In this passage, Sophie imagines herself having Posy’s life. This foreshadows her decision to attend the Bridgerton masquerade and attempt, for one evening, to live a life that affords nothing but leisure and entertainment. The irony that Posy finds this life “humdrum” and Sophie longs for it emphasizes the difference in their status. Although Sophie was born the daughter of the earl and Posy is his stepchild, Sophie is subservient due to being born out of wedlock. This prevents her from enjoying “a life of parties, routs, and musicales,” activities characteristic of people in the Regency period’s upper echelons.

“Benedict was a Bridgerton, and while there was no family to which he’d rather belong, he sometimes wished he were considered a little less a Bridgerton and a little more himself.”

In this passage, Benedict longs to be known for himself rather than his position in the family. While he longs for individuality, he also acknowledges and admires his family’s warm affection toward each other. This acknowledgment contributes to Family as a Source of Nurturance or Status.