The Viscount Who Loved Me

Anthony’s relationship with his father Edmund is portrayed as being atypical for the time, as Violet and Edmund considered Anthony a child first and an heir second. In the Regency era during which the novel is set, the norm for upper-class families was for household staff to do the most work raising the family’s children. Edmund, however, took a more hands-on approach with his children. Anthony admires his father so much that Edmund’s untimely death is a tremendous shock and a significant trauma for Anthony. It is worth noting that the event itself was witnessed by Eloise (a trauma that is not addressed in this novel), although the news comes to Anthony through Daphne’s retelling. Anthony’s reaction to seeing Daphne’s emotional distress signals to the reader that the Bridgertons have not endured much difficulty in their lives thus far. If Edmund and Violet’s parenting is any indication, the emotional state of the Bridgerton household is happiness and love. Anything that serves as a source of emotional distress—like the death of their uncle—is discussed in matter-of-fact terms, demonstrating feelings of detachment. Edmund’s death is not only a profound loss, but it is also the first major loss and trauma in the Bridgertons’ lives.

Edmund’s body being brought into the house and laid out in one of the rooms was a common practice at the time. In the Regency era, life and death hit close to home in a literal sense: People were born in their family’s home, their deathbed was at home if they were ill, and their body was displayed for viewing inside the home as well. Aubrey Hall is not only the site of Edmund’s death—and the painful memories that surround it—but it was also where all the Bridgerton siblings were born. Anthony became Viscount the moment his father died, where he is expected to head the family, and step in as a parental figure to his siblings despite being only 18 himself. Anthony was pulled in two directions as he came of age: having fun at parties and being a Rake, while taking on the tasks of a landowner managing estates and leading his family. In his effort to compartmentalize his life, there is little space for Anthony to process his grief. When he sits beside Edmund’s dead body, Anthony is faced with a startling realization. Not only is his father truly gone, but he is entering a time in his life when he must figure out what kind of man he wants to become, and this maturation process is when he would have relied on Edmund’s guidance the most. Anthony models himself after Edmund from the plays he enjoys to the heirloom pocket watch he carries. Anthony felt his father was the greatest man he ever knew, and now that he is left with the static image of who his father was, Anthony is frightened he cannot measure up to Edmund. Without Edmund there to teach him how to be a great man, Anthony doubts his capabilities. The profound stress of his grief leads Anthony to convince himself that he will not even live longer than Edmund; he fears that if he cannot meet the standard Edmund set, he will not surpass it either.

The Sheffield family is also haunted by loss and grief. Kate’s father and birth mother are both deceased before the novel begins. She is an orphan, Mary is a widow, and Edwina has lost her father. Kate’s mother died while Kate was still very young, so she has no memory of her mother’s death or life. Kate’s father remarried to Mary, who became Kate’s mother in “every way that matters,” and she raised Kate as if she were her own. When Kate’s father died five years before, Edwina was 12 and Kate almost 18, the same age as Anthony when Edmund died. Kate stepped into a parental role when her father died, as she sees it as her responsibility to advise Edwina throughout her debut season, as well as manage the family’s money well enough to afford the trip to London.

Edwina sees Kate as a second mother, given her proclamation that she will not marry anyone Kate disapproves of. The declaration is Shakespearean, as in The Taming of the Shrew, Bianca cannot marry until her sister Katherina does, and Katherina (much like Kate Sheffield) has little time or patience for suitors. Just like in Shakespeare’s play, Edwina’s suitors work hard to win Kate’s good opinion so that they have a chance to court Edwina. Edwina and Kate are also like the siblings of The Taming of the Shrew in that the younger Edwina is a beautiful ingenue who is the star of the social season, while the older Kate is an assertive and intelligent woman who is considered unmarriageable by many.

Unlike Anthony, who has decided to marry this season to fulfill his familial duty as Viscount, Kate and Edwina must marry this season because it is their only opportunity to do so. Anthony enters the “Marriage Mart” as a responsibility, but for the Sheffield sisters, it is a matter of survival. The stakes are much higher for the women, because if one or both cannot secure a good marriage, they will not have the opportunity to try again. Their efforts this season are all-or-nothing, whereas Anthony has the privilege to pick and choose. Kate’s anxieties about Anthony are not unfounded, given what she has read in Whistledown’s columns, but the column only presents an approximation of its subjects. Despite claiming that one cannot judge a book by its cover, Kate judges Anthony: She forms her opinion of him based upon out-of-context reports in a gossip sheet, and she stubbornly clings to that opinion without revising it, even when she meets the real man.