Eloise, the self-proclaimed feminist, completely abandons Cressida, Asyia explains (Picture: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX)
Bridgerton season three part two has finally dropped to much fanfare, but while most characters got their happy ending I have only one gripe…
Justice for Cressida Cowper!
The latest season of the steamy Regency-era drama follows the love story between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) as they sail the choppy waters of a friends-to-lovers romance.
In the second-half of the season, the happy couple’s engagement is haunted by Penelope’s deeply harboured secret. She is the enigmatic Lady Whistledown who regularly publishes the Mayfair gossip column that has besmirched the Bridgerton name more than once.
At the end of the second season, Eloise (Claudia Jessie) – Colin’s sister and Penelope’s best friend – uncovers Penelope’s secret after she airs Eloise’s dirty laundry for all the ton to see.
A dramatic showdown later, Eloise ends her friendship with Penelope but agrees to keep her secret.
With the tension between the pair still simmering in the third season, Eloise instead strikes up a friendship with fellow spinster Cressida (Jessica Madsen) who is notorious as the ton bully and has long rubbed both Eloise and Penelope the wrong way with her catty nature.
But rather than remaining an irrelevant side character (who the audience has grown to despise since season one) the first half of the third season fleshes Cressida and her story out.
Instead of being a nasty gossip, we see a woman trapped by societal expectations to marry fast, isolated from any real friendships, and living under the thumb of her tyrannical father, Lord Cowper (Dominic Coleman), in an abusive household.
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We see her tender side as she confides in Eloise about the pressures she faces at home to find a suitable husband and her bitter regret at destroying any meaningful relationships with fellow women in the ton.
Although far from perfect, Cressida is painted in a sympathetic light that made me want to root for her redemption arc.
Not only that, but the onscreen chemistry with Eloise was so delightful that the pair even motivated a vocal contingent of fans to ship them.
By the end of part one, Cressida is eyeing up Lord Debling (a vegetarian who plans to have long stints away from home) and there is a real sense that she could finally have the peaceful and fulfilled future she is looking for.
But that is not to be.
All the work put into part one is completely undone by the second part, despite Cressida facing all the same hardships.
The remaining episodes only serve to villainise Cressida further and further
Eloise, the self-proclaimed feminist, completely abandons Cressida as soon as Penelope shows any interest in forgiving her. And while she spends her time lecturing Cressida on the virtues of being a liberated woman, she totally ignores Cressida’s very real plight.
After all, it’s impossible to be a strong, independent woman when you legally rely on men to survive and your father is forcing you to marry an old man who has no interest in your happiness or safety.
What’s particularly galling is that Eloise’s wilful ignorance betrays her own character development, and paints her as an entirely disingenuous self-empowered heroine.
Frankly, if I was being forced to marry my dad’s acquaintance I too would be driven to desperate measures to escape this fate, which is exactly what Cressida does.
Cressida Cowper is played by Jessica Madsen (Picture: Arturo Holmes/WireImage/Getty)
After Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) announces she is again on the hunt for Lady Whistledown, in a moment of madness Cressida claims the title as her own.
Immediately the audience is made to sympathise with Penelope who collapses in a fit of shock and stress. The remaining episodes only serve to villainise Cressida further and further as she blackmails Penelope for a large sum of money so she can start her life over again.
Her name ruined, she now risks being shipped off to Wales with her strict aunt where, once more, all her freedoms will be stripped from her.
It seems at any moment Eloise will remember the bond she’s grown with Cressida and attempt to help her, and yet, she does nothing. In fact, she goes as far as to actively disparage their friendship to Penelope.
Cressida remains the subject of harsh words from every end – her father, the members of the ton, and beyond.
Only her own mother shows any semblance of wanting to help.
The awfully-written arc is made all the more grating during the season climax when Penelope evades paying up by revealing her identity during her sisters’ grand ball.
Unlike Cressida, whose voice is utterly snatched from her by the end, Penelope gets her moment into the spotlight to justify why she has dragged everyone’s names through the mud.
She talks about her difficult years as a spinster and the feeling of being invisible as well as her toxic family dynamics. All issues Cressida can relate to.
And she is almost immediately forgiven by all those involved.
As for Cressida, with her scheme foiled, the last we see she is being sent to Wales where she awaits a terrible life. My only remaining hope is that she will eventually come out the other side in upcoming seasons.
Although if previous side characters such as Marina Thomspon (Ruby Barker) and Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch) are anything to go by, Cressida could easily be abandoned, meaning viewers may have to make peace with her tragic ending.
Some might call her character’s arc a necessary aspect of the plot, but I would argue making everyone completely devoid of empathy undermines the very essence of the show.
There is no one entirely unredeemable, and ultimately we all deserve a happy ending – Cressida shouldn’t be the exception.
Bridgerton is now available to stream on Netflix.
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