Beneath all the drama, the Regency era practices, and the ballroom fashion, Bridgerton is all about love. Whether familial or romantic — but mostly romantic — love is the show’s driving force and the reason we all sit down to binge-watch its seasons as soon as they drop on Netflix.
Episode after episode, we watch the Bridgerton siblings take their shots at love, and while not all of their relationships end happily ever after, witnessing their ups and downs is beyond entertaining. There’s angst, longing, lust, and swoon-worthy devotion, which are all the right ingredients for a delicious romance series. While the Bridgerton children take turns under the spotlight, there is one family member for whom happiness seems to be a thing of the past: Violet Bridgerton.
Granted, the mother seems content enough to go through the motions, living vicariously through her children by helping them find their ideal matches. From time to time, though, we’re reminded of how wonderful her marriage to Edmund Bridgerton was, and how much his loss impacted her life. Whenever Violet talks about her late husband, she does so fondly, with nostalgia creeping into her voice and she recalls the good old days. She’s thankful to have lived such an all-encompassing love story, but that doesn’t help soothe the hurt it caused her.
It’s never too late for love, especially not for Violet Bridgerton
Of course, finding another love would never erase Violet’s time with Edmund or the pain his death brought about, but that doesn’t mean she should be alone for the rest of time. In the books, the viscountess never remarries, because as Julia Quinn told Oprah Daily, she reaches a point where she can be happy without a husband. In the Regency era, becoming a widow was the only way for a woman to become independent while maintaining her social status, so it’s easy to see why one would choose not to remarry. Knowing Violet and her belief in love, though, there’s no reason why she’d close the door on romance forever.
Being perfectly content alone does not mean that one has to stay that way. And getting your big love story early in life certainly does not mean that you can never love again. Violet Bridgerton has always been a romantic, and if there’s someone in this series who deserves to be swept off their feet, it’s definitely her. Besides, explorations of the love lives and sexualities of older women are something that audiences could stand to see more often in popular shows.
Away with the idea that romance is for the young. Most people don’t stop having desires or love interests once they reach a certain age. As long as there is life, there can be love, and as much as we all enjoy witnessing the Bridgerton kids fall in love, they’re not the only ones deserving of it. Violet still has an entire life ahead of her, and when the opportunity for happiness comes knocking, she should invite it in.