Any suitor wishing to gain an audience with Miss Edwina Sharma, must first tame the rather prickly spinster of a beast otherwise know as her sister.
This is said by Lady Whistledown at the beginning of episode 2 of the second season of Bridgerton, it is in reference to Kathani 'Kate' Sharma, the female protagonist of the season, a dark skinned Indian woman newly arrived in England. In breaking down the sentence to understand the meaning, we can see that 'her sister', referencing Kate, is the subject of the sentence - not Edwina as may first be thought - and that the description given to Kate is beast.
Using the word beast to describe anyone can be problematic with its dehumanisation, for a priveliged white woman to use it to describe a woman of colour it is more than problematic, it takes on racist undertones. I would hope that this is addressed in season 3 within a redemption arc for Penelope, however, I fear the writers thought this was clever and never took into account the optics of the line, showing a lack of awareness on the part of the writers.
Image Credit: Netflix
Historically terms such as 'animalistic' 'beastly' 'savage' have been used to describe people of colour by Europeans, invoking imagery that associates people of colour with being animals. In Othello animal imagery is used to demean, diminish and insult the lead character - a Moor - giving the play racist subtext. When looking at the use of the language in relation to British-Indian relations we have to remember that it is alleged that Winston Churchill referred to Indians as a 'beastly people with a beastly religion', further in Pride and Prejudice Mr Darcy states 'every savage can dance' in response to Mr Lucas showing the racism of the time. Beast and Beastly have been used in the past as ways to insult others on their manners to imply that people are uncouth and lack the manners of refined society, they are also terms that have been associated with the devil (evil & sin), however, in the context it is used in Bridgerton it is not just a simple insult - it becomes a dehumanising racist trope used by Penelope to describe Kate.
For some viewers this description of Kate Sharma - the season 2 lead - was more than uncomfortable, it was offensive, and comments online indicate this was the point that they turned against Penelope as a character, many were not only offended, but also disappointed in the production. Bridgerton is a show that went out of its way to ensure a diverse cast in a genre that is usually not diverse, it is a show that has cast a dark skinned Indian woman as the romantic lead without turning the character into a caricature, and to have this very same lead referred to as an animal with all the negative connotations that implies for people of colour is tone deaf, and furthermore has hurt the perception of the character that will take the lead in season 3.
In context of the show what we have is an established character, who is a privileged white woman, talking about a woman newly arrived in London from India, which at the time was a colonial outpost of Britain. At this point in the season Penelope had not even met Kate, she had never spoken to her or Edwina, in fact I don't think Penelope spoke to Kate once during season 2, so why did Penelope use such an offensive racist trope to describe Kate? And will we see Penelope redeem herself with the viewers who felt represented by Kate and dehumanised by Penelope?
In the fan fiction story 'The Engagement of Lady Whistledown' on Archive of our own, writers hptriviachamp and orangepeelshortbreadcookies have included a scene where the Bridgertons are holding Penelope to account for the hurt she has caused due to what she wrote about them, and during this discussion (intervention?) Kate brings up Penelope calling her a beast, (excerpt below reprinted with the permission of the authors - emphasis mine):
“You did not even know me back then, did you? Of course not. I had just arrived in England after all, from India, of all places. Imagine my surprise when after mere days of being in a new country, my name already made the papers. The whole thing would have been amusing if it weren't so insulting. We had never talked until that point, had we, you and I? I cannot fathom what transgression on my part had branded me to be deserving of such treatment. Does demeaning the existence of a complete stranger make you feel better about yourself, Miss Featherington? Contrary to popular belief,” Kate said with harsh pointedness, “those with my colouring, those from my homeland, are not animals .”
This excerpt encapsulates all that is wrong with Penelope's words, especially the last part, it was a popular belief at the time that people of colour were animals, for some of white European descent this is a view that persisted into the twentieth century - and still lingers today. Whether intentionally or not Bridgerton has perpetuated this racist trope in the words of Penelope. We can hope that there is some accountability from Penelope for these words (along with her other actions), though it is most likely that this will not be addressed, and the viewers - like Kate - will be expected to welcome Penelope into the family with no accountability for the way she spoke about the Viscountess.
It has been reported that it took the director of episode 7, who was a woman of colour, to bring awareness to the optics of having Kate and Anthony engage in pre-marital sex when Daphne did not, so it is unsurprising that the writer of episode 2 - a white man - did not consider the optics of a white woman calling their Indian female protagonist a beast. But it is not just the optics, when you have Americans writing an historical show set in England the nuances of British relations with their colonies is brushed over, not all experiences were the same during the period of European colonisation. The writers appear to be seeing the English historical setting of Bridgerton through the lens of American history and so the more specific issues within the nations they are writing about is lost, and the result is that this line shows very little understanding of not only the optics of what is being written, but the historical implications in the context of English and Indian relations.
Whilst the whole phrase is undoubtably sexist, the unnecessary addition of calling Kate a beast added racist undertones and completely changed both the meaning and the reception to this line. I do not believe that Penelope is racist per se, and I do not believe that the writers actually meant to write her as saying something racist, but this line - and the reaction from some fans - shows how tone deaf the writers and producers are - not to mention the executives at Netflix who allowed this through. This should have been flagged, it would not have changed the story at all to re-record the Lady Whistledown voice over for the beginning of this episode.
Whilst I am giving the benefit of the doubt to the writers for this line, in suggesting they did not write it to be a racist slur against Kate, it can't help but be noticed that in the trailer for season 2 this line was cut, and they had Lady Whistledown referring to Kate as a 'prickly spinster', eliminating the addition of beast to the quote. Whether this was deliberate to cover the racist slur, or whether it is a coincidence we won't know, but if the former it shows an understanding and awareness that I have not credited them.
By writing Lady Whistledown and Penelope as if they are separate characters the Bridgerton writers have written themselves into a corner for season 3 with the viewers who see Lady Whistledown's words as Penelope's words.
The challenge for the writers and the new showrunner in the upcoming season is how do they turn the viewers opinion of Penelope around? How do they have Penelope atone for her racism towards Kate who is now the Viscountess Bridgerton - the most senior ranked woman in the family Penelope will be marrying into - and how do the writers make it palatable enough for the viewers to want to have Kate welcome Penelope into her family and into her home? But perhaps they see the challenge as making viewers forget that they ever had Penelope write such words about Kate.
With only a week or so until part 1 of season 3 releases, and just over a month before the release of part 2 it will be interesting to see if this is addressed, or if the writers have brushed it away and will have Kate just be welcoming to Penelope, irrespective of Penelope's dehumanising and racist words about Kate.
