BRIDGERTON/SEX SCENE AGAINST A TREE BETWEEN ANTHONY AND SIENA/FUN, RECKLESSNESS, DESPAIR AND THE URGENCY OF LOVE
”BREATH AND LIGHT YOU SHALL BE FOR ME…” [1A]
LA TRAVIATA [OPERA]
At the very First Time we meet young Viscount Anthony Bridgerton we saw him indulging in sex against a tree with a ”certain Lady”
I laughed and I laughed as I’m sure you did too
So young Anthony was just a rake, having reckless, exciting and provoking sex
Or was there more……..
JUST TRAVEL WITH ME TO REGENCY ERA…..
HALLO FOLKS
There She is again, your dedicated Bridgerton Fan!
As you’ll know, I already wrote a lot about Bridgerton, for you to see for Free [HAHAHAHA] [1]
Last English Post was dedicated to the Boxing Match Scene between Anthony Bridgerton and his First Love Siena [2]
I shared with you the Juicy Details [3] and travelled with you to the very very Place where Anthony Bridgerton and his two brothers enjoyed a Boxing Match, until Anthony discovered Opera singer Siena in the cheering crowd, and from that moment on, he had only eyes for her……..
Watch that Scene…..[4]
We, my FOLKS and I, sitting beneath in the crowd, witnessed the fact that Viscount Anthony stared at Siena and suddenly left the Place where the boxers were fighting and shortly afterwards, Siena left……
What happened then WE didn’t see, but watch the Scene right here .[5].
And since WE, as common Folks, only knew the proud Viscount by name, seeing him only when he galloped past us carelessly, and knowing Siena Rosso only as a celebrated Opera singer, we had no idea of any intimate connection between them.
If we had been people of the Ton [6] perhaps we would have found it suspicious, that they left the Boxing Room so shortly after one other……
But luckily for them, everyone [including the loyal brothers of the Viscount himself] got so caught up in the Match, that no one noticed their departure [except for the new ”protector” of Siena [7A], who accompanied her, but who however did not want any problems with a Lord]
So they could be together without being disturbed…..[7]
And the rest of their intense relationship happens without our knowledge
SEX AGAINST A TREE/THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW SEASON
The rich and influential aristocratic Bridgerton Family has returned from the Off Season [the Period from Late Summer to Winter when the aristocracy left London to stay at their country Estates] [8] to return to London for the Start of a new Season [9] and especially the eldest son Viscount Anthony Bridgerton after the death of his father the Head of the Family [10] is very happy about their return
We’ll soon see, why…….
Once resettled in London, it became an extra busy Period for the Bridgerton Family, as alongside the usual social activities, preparations had to be made for eldest daughter Daphne’s debut and her presentation at Court [11]
So Lady Violet, the Matriarch and the mother of the 8 Bridgerton children , had a lot on her mind and a lot to arrange [12], like her eldest son, the already mentioned Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, being the Head of the Family [13]
But unfortunately he was a LITTLE distracted, since his thoughts and mind were elsewehere.
AT MATTERS OF THE HEART…..
YES:
Our young Viscount was desperately and passionately in love with a certain Lady, an Opera singer, named Siena Rosso…..[14].
SEX AGAINST A TREE/ANTHONY BRIDGERTON, BEING HEAD OF THE FAMILY…..
Nowadays, we would say: “So what?”
But unfortunately for Anthony and Siena, their Story took place in the Regency Era, with its rigid class prejudices. And to make matters worse, Anthony was also the eldest son and Head of the Family, meaning that everything he did reflected on the Family and the Bridgerton name. [15]
FOR MAKE NO MISTAKE!
BECAUSE TO ANYONE, WHO BELIEVES THAT BEING HEAD OF THE FAMILY WAS JUST A PRIVILEGED PLEASURE AND LUXURY IN REGENCY ERA, I WILL GIVE A WAKE UP CALL HERE…..
Of course, there was the wealth, the privilege, and the political dominance. But there was a darker side—one that could be bitter and agonizing, leading to a deep despair and depression that shouldn’t be underestimated…… [16]
For being the Eldest Son and Head of the Family like Anthony Bridgerton, life didn’t belong to yourself only:
Head of a Family meant not only managing the Estates and arranging financial business, but the permanent care for the Family as a Collective and as I mentioned, your acts reflected on the Family. [17]
Now, that is no problem, as long as you play by the rules of
the Ton [London aristocracy] [18]
.But what if you fall passionately in love with the ‘wrong’ girl—such as an opera singer—and you desire something more than a fleeting affair?
For an aristocrat—and above all, the eldest son and Head of the Family—that is where the trouble begins…
A DOSE OF REALITY FOR THOSE, WHO THINK THAT A YOUNG ARISTOCRAT, WHO IS HEAD OF A FAMILY, CAN DO WHATEVER HE LIKES…..
Of course, young men in Regency Era, especially young and rich aristocrats, had a lot of freedom, could buy whatever they liked, had big political influence, wined and dined in their rich clubs……etc…..
BUT AGAIN:
You had to play by the rules of the Game of the Ton….[19]
For while keeping an opera singer [who was considered an immoral woman in the Regency Era] [20] as a mistress was no problem at all, as long as it happened behind closed doors and was just sex and excitement with no real feelings [21] , it became a massive problem the moment real love was involved, since social death for the whole Family was a real risk, when a ”scandal” came out in the open or the aristocrat intended to marry the lady…… [21A]
And since the Affair could only take place behind closed doors, it was strictly forbidden [according to Ton rules] that an aristocrat and operasinger should meet in public and do things people who are in love do, like walking in Kew Gardens, wine and dine in restaurants, etc, etc……[22]
SEX AGAINST A TREE/SEPARATION IN THE OFF SEASON AND ”WALKING ON THIN ICE” IN THE OFFICIAL SEASON……
So the Bridgerton Family was in London Town again and directly were involved with the very busy new season, with all the social activities and especially the debut of Daphne, in which Anthony, being Head of the Family, played an important part [23]
That meant he had few times for other things, what certainly must have have frustrated him, since during the Off Season, when the Family was out of town [24] he had no chance to see Siena regularly.
During that Off Season Period he most likely visited her in London whenever was possible [25] as the distance from Aubrey Hall [the Bridgerton Estate] to London was not so far [26], but since he had to keep his Affair as secret as possible and his meddling and dominant mother Lady Violet laid an immense pressure on him [27] he had to come up with all sorts of excuses whenever he wanted to go to London [since all the social activities were ended].
Therefore he likely had not so much opportunity to see her and must have missed her a lot….
That was -understandably- the reason Anthony was very happy to return to London with his Family, very longing to see his beloved Siena again.
”BREATH AND LIGHT YOU SHALL BE FOR ME…”[28]
Yet they had to ”walk on thin ice”, since their Love Relationship was not permitted, considered as ”scandalous” by the Ton and Anthony’s mother Violet, giving him all the ”consolation” of a ”Cold Shoulder”……..[29]
And then I haven’t even mentioned Gossip Magazines like Lady Whistledown…..[30]
SEX AGAINST A TREE/DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES
What also definitely did not help to satisfy Anthony’s desire to be with Siena were his continuous obligations, as Head of the Family, for Daphne’s debut and her upcoming presentation at Court. [31]
Because of this, he most likely saw Siena much less than he would have wanedt, while also being pressured for every little thing by his demanding mother Lady
Violet.” [32]
SO:
Torn between his obligations as Head of the Family and his Heart and frustrated by how little he saw Siena, since they couldn’t make a normal appointment ”In the Light” [restaurants, Kew Gardens etc] [33], he had to resort to extreme actions.
He arranged a carriage to take Siena to a vast park, finally enabling them to meet again. Anthony came on horseback, several hours before his sister’s official presentation at Court—an event where he, as Head of the Family, was obliged to attend, according to the Bridgerton Series [Historically it was different, see note 34]
As an added precaution, he arranged for the presence of a footman—a detail particularly funny and spicy for us as viewers to witness, yet for them a measure born out of pure and desperate necessity—who was tasked with keeping watch and holding curious onlookers at bay.
If anyone were to pass by that secluded spot at all…
SEX AGAINST A TREE/FREEDOM, RECKLESSNESS, LOVE AND DESPERATION
NOT ONLY SENSATION, BUT LOVE, PASSION AND DESPERATION
FOLKS
Many of you, loyal Bridgerton Fans, have viewed the Anthony and Siena Spicy Sex Against a Tree Scene and I imagine this is how you have picturing the Scene so Far
FUNNY, HOT, SPICY AND RECKLESS
Some of you may have thought that Anthony was a typical Rake [35, he was no Rake when the Story begins, being passionately in love with one woman, Siena], especially when rushing on horseback to the Presentation at Court Event/HAHAHA
And OF COURSE, the Scene is all that
FUNNY, HOT, SPICY AND RECKLESS
It is HOT AMUSEMENT, it is FUN looking at young, passionate people and it is RECKLESS, because for the risk of discovery is always there, even with a footman keeping watch…….
That may all be true, BUT NOW I GIVE YOU ANOTHER, DEEPER PERSPECTIVE
Because although young, passionate and somewhat ”reckless” Anthony and Siena’s actions stem primarily from exclusion (as they are barred from public spaces together] [36], desperation and forbidden love [37]
Forcing them to make love under a boxing ring [38] , to have sex against a tree [39], hiding from Society as if they were criminals…….
That’s the hypocrisy and Cruelty of Society:
First, they are denied normal meetings in public, and then, when they take refuge in dusty, dirty boxing rooms or make love against a tree deep in a park—just to be free with each other and avoid discovery—it is deemed ‘scandalous’ all over again……………………[
BACK TO THE STORY OF YOUNG VISCOUNT ANTHONY AND HIS BELOVED SIENA……
So Anthony arrives at the park on horseback, dismounts, nods at his footman, stands by the agreed-upon tree [they have been there before], and looks down the road, waiting longingly for his beloved……..
His whole face lights up when he sees the carriage with Siena arrive. When she steps out of her carriage, he runs toward her and they share a long embrace, happy and relieved to finally see each other again
She grabs him with desperate strength, as if she never wants to let him go, acutely aware of how little time they have together.
He strokes her hair, whispering into her ear how deeply he has missed her. As she hisses that his family will always come first anyway, he pulls her fiercely into his arms, draws her toward the tree, and makes love to her with a passionate, almost desperate intensity, while at a distance, the footman keeps watch—his back turned to them, left arm extended toward any potential passersby.”
RECKLESS AND DARING?
Some of you Folks will say that he takes a big risk there….but think that it was a vast park and the chance to meet some of his peers is practically ZERO, since it also is the Social Event of the presentation of the debutantes [among else Anthony”s own sister Daphne] at Court.
RECKLESS FOR THE LADY?
Looking at the scene, it becomes clear that it is Anthony leaning against the tree—meaning his face is visible—while he holds the lady, whose back is turned toward any potential passersby. This is his way of protecting her and her identity. Furthermore, the distance to the road is so great that one would have to come much closer to see anything clearly. Even Anthony cannot be easily recognized from that distance, except perhaps by his closest kin. And they have no idea that he is giving expression to his passion in that park; they are safely inside Bridgerton House, waiting for him so they can go to the palace together for Daphne’s presentation at Court…
Because of their forbidden union, their passion is fierce. The otherwise proud Viscount, who normally reprimands his staff over the slightest speck on his clothes, almost relishes how Siena rips open his attire with her characteristic fiery intensity. But her own clothes have not escaped unscathed either. Fortunately, knowing Anthony, she made sure to have extra clothes waiting in her carriage. Anthony himself, as a precaution, had his footman bring a cloak belonging to his sister Daphne (who has clothes to spare and won’t miss it anyway), so Siena won’t have to walk back to her carriage looking disheveled. Passion on borrowed time, stolen from the cruel and ruthless class prejudices of the Ton and the pressure of Anthony’s mother, Lady Violet. [40A] A brief moment of time and love for one another, after that off-season and all the hectic preparations surrounding Daphne’s debut.
TIME…….THEIR GREAT PAIN……..
And how does it go with people in love?
They get so caught up in their passion that they completely lose track of time. Until Anthony, embracing Siena tenderly after their love scene, realizes that the clock ticks and he is very late.
Startled, Anthony gives a decidedly unhappy Siena a tender kiss, strokes her hair, leaps onto his horse, and makes his hasty escape to the Palace, to Daphne’s presentation at Court.
‘I’m coming to you as soon as possible,’ he whispers to her.
And Siena watches him ride away for a long time, before she finally stands up and slowly walks toward her carriage, still bittersweetly savoring those few stolen hours of love [41]
MEANTIME IN BRIDGERTON HOUSE
Meanwhile, at Bridgerton House, his Family is in panic.
As Daphne prepares for her presentation to the Queen, while Anthony is nowhere to be found.
After all, he knew about Daphne’s presentation.
It was even highly ironic: at the exact moment his mother, Lady Violet, was wondering aloud where Anthony could possibly be, he was experiencing his passionate moments with Siena.
With the strict schedule of the Royal Court looming and Daphne’s presentation at stake, Violet realizes they can wait no longer. In an act of sheer necessity, the Bridgerton family departs for the palace, without Anthony. [42]
RACING AGAINST THE CLOCK/ANTHONY’S ARRIVAL AT THE PALACE
So we see Anthony, our lovesick Viscount, who rather had stayed with Siena, racing against the clock,
Realizing he has completely lost track of time, Anthony had hastily teared himself away from Siena, doubtless with pain in his heart.
However, Anthony manages to intercept his family at the very last second, right at the gates of St. James’s Palace. As he steps forward to help Daphne out of the carriage, his breathless state, crooked cravat, and disheveled clothes betray the desperate urgency of where he has just been. [43]
NAUGHTY NAUGHTY……
Understandably his mother Lady Violet is not amused and she and her son exchange a quick glance.
From Violet’s side, there is a complex mixture of annoyance and deep-seated anxiety; she senses that something is slipping through her fingers. Anthony, in turn, counters her gaze with an irritated arrogance—a familiar, defensive shield he uses to mask his true feelings and the emotional turmoil underneath.
Those annoyed glances between mother and son clearly reveal Anthony”s inner struggle between his noble duties as Head of the Family and his Heart.
FUN, RECKLESSNESS AND EXCITEMENT?/LOVE, DESPERATION AND DUTY
THE SEEDS OF RESENTMENT
NOW FOLKS, WE DRAW THE FINAL CONCLUSION!
LET’S GO!
You and I have seen and witnessed [from screen/HAHAHA] A Hot, Spicy and Reckless Scene about a young aristocrat, Head of his Family and his Beloved one, an opera singer, a Love which was a no go area in Regency Era [44]
And no matter how powerful and privileged Anthony was, there was nothing he could do to change this hopeless situation for him and his beloved.
Their meetings had to be behind closed doors and their love was incriminated [45] and what was most painful for Anthony, not only his mother Violet opposed it fiercely-which was understandable given her justified fear for the social death [46], but unforgivable due to her later dehumanization of his beloved Siena [47] and her emotional blackmail of her son [48]
Constantly torn between his noble duties, the pressure from his mother, and his heart, he was forced into a double life, which took a heavy toll on his emotional and mental state and bred a growing resentment toward his mother [49]
And precisely because this love between an aristocrat and an opera singer was constantly criminalized, making normal encounters in public impossible, they were forced into extreme escapades—such as sex under the boxing ring and sex against a tree in a park. This, in turn, was viewed as reckless and scandalous by that very same high society that had excluded them in the first place. [50]
The sex scene against the tree between Anthony and Siena may be funny and spicy, but it stemmed primarily from the impossibility of meeting each other outside in a normal way, combined with the pressure on Anthony to be involved in all the activities surrounding his sister Daphne’s debut.
While it is a funny and exciting scene for us to watch, for them it was a constant balancing act between what was or wasn’t risky, which could easily end in scandal. It was as if they were wanted criminals, when their only ‘crime’ was their love for one another.
YOU SEE IT NOW FOLKS?
IT’S NOT JUST ALL FUN, GAMES AND EXCITEMENT, BUT ALSO BITTER DESPERATION…….
AND TO END WITH
THE BITTER FRUITS OF LADY VIOLET’S SABOTAGE AND SELECTIVE EXCUSES TO ANTHONY
For the way Lady Violet, Anthony’s mother, had dehumanized his beloved and deeply hurt her own son as a result [51], combined with the sabotage of his love affair [51A], she would later pay a bitter price.
Because Anthony did not merely respond to her pressure and sabotage [in Season 2, following his bitter heartbreak over Siena at the end of Season 1 and his declared intention to Simon and Daphne to marry solely out of duty] with a chilling coldness [consistently addressing her as “Dowager Viscountess”] [52], his resentment toward her ran even deeper.
Even after his marriage to Kate Sharma, which was born out of love, he continued to treat Violet with a dutiful but cold politeness. [52AA]
For it is a common misconception among fans that Violet’s apologies to Anthony at the end of Season 2 [52A] healed their bond.
On the contrary, because that apology was only meant for her [understandable] emotional absence during her painful period of grief after the death of her husband and Anthony’s father, Edmund.
For his much larger trauma which was still fresh —the bitter pain he had suffered from the breakup with Siena [I bring to mind his heartbreaking crying after the break up with Siena at the end of Season 1 and how only his best friend and now brother in law Simon Basset comforted him while Violet probably was more then relieved] and the destructive role his mother had played in it —she offered no apologies at all. [53A]
AND WHAT WAS WORST OF ALL, BY NOT OFFERING APOLOGIES FOR THAT DEEP WOUND, SHE ACTED AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED, THEREBY CONSCIOUSLY OR
UNCONSCIOUSLY [I’LL LEAVE THAT IN THE MIDDLE], BY TRYING TO ERASE THE PAST, GIVING THE MESSAGE THAT HER SON’S DEEP FEELINGS FOR HIS FIRST LOVE DID NOT MATTER…..
And that, folks, is the crux of the matter.
The fact that someone finds happiness with a second woman [from his own social circle] does not erase the trauma of the forced breakup with his first love, especially if the person largely responsible for it refuses to take accountability and moreover, is the very person who is supposed to protect and comfort him—his mother. [53]
When that happens, the scar and the distance remain.
Folks, it was nice sharing this Post with you again
I’LL WRITE MORE ABOUT VIOLET’S SELECTIVE EXCUSES AND ABOUT ANTHONY’S LASTING COLDNESS TOWARDS HER ANOTHER TIME
ASTRID ESSED
- The-Singer: Alfredo Germont (tenor) sings these passionate words to Violetta Valéry (soprano). [1]
- The Meaning: Alfredo tells Violetta she flashed into his life like a radiant light, defining love as the breath of the universe and the “cross and ecstasy of the heart”. [1, 2]
- The Reaction: Violetta initially tries to brush it off with cynical detachment, claiming she cannot truly love, but she ultimately gives him a flower to return when it withers. [1, 2]
