LADY VIOLET BRIDGERTON
ANTHONY BRIDGERTON
LADY VIOLET’S SON
SIENA ROSSO
ANTHONY AND SIENA/HAS ANTHONY EVER MENTIONED SIENA [OR HIS HEARTBREAK OVER HER] IN SEASON 2?
“I have finally set the course of my life. To find a viscountess. I shall take love out of the equation. It is the only way to ensure I do not fail this family again.”
“Love is the last thing I desire. I am looking for a wife who is suitable, a woman who is a credit to her rank. I do not wish for my heart to be involved in the matter at all.”
“To love is to risk a loss I am no longer prepared to endure. I shall marry for duty, for the sake of the Bridgerton name, and nothing more.”
ANTHONY ABOUT HIS DISMISSAL OF LOVE AT THE END OF SEASON 1 AND IN SEASON 2…..
HALLO FOLKS
There she is again!
I already wrote a lot about Bridgerton [1] and there is far more to come!, but the love affair of Anthony Bridgerton and opera singer Siena Rosso [2] I think is one of the one of the most painful, moving and touching scenes of the series. [3]
As you, my loyal readers [HAHAHA] know, I wrote a lot
about that [4], as about Anthony’s vow [at the end of season
1, after the dramatic break with Siena Rosso], to completely
give up on love and to go for a ”marriage for duty” [4]
We know that that was a direct reaction on his severe heartbreak, when Siena broke up their love relation, greatly pressed by the severe opposition of Anthony’s mother Lady Violet against their relationship [out of realistic fear for social
death, to say to her defense] [5] and the social pressure of the Ton [6]
His heartbreak that followed the break up with his beloved Siena increased the already existing tense relationship between
Lady Violet and Anthony, who understandably blamed his mother
not only for her opposition [which you could still understand], but also her dehumanization of Siena as a person [calling her ”a certain soprano”] [7] and complete coldness towards him regarding his great loss, directly leading to his cold behaviour towards his mother.
To her defense [again] must be said, that she did not act out of lack of love, loving him deeply, but when you are in deep pain [which he felt after the break up with Siena] it matters not if the very architect of that pain acts out of deliberate coldness or out of
”failed love” [8]
But I deal with that another time.
Now I want to focus on a very important part from Season 2, which is often overlooked by fans, because it is not ”visibly” present.
Namely the ”ghost” of Siena……
Because any sensible person, who has watched the series and
watched the intensity of the Anthony/Siena relationship [9] and
knows what heartbreak does with someone understands that
Anthony still suffers from that heartbreak in season 2!
That shows itself in his cold behaviour against his mother and his
absolute decision only to marry out of duty, almost killing the passionate and reckless [out of love and youthful enthusiasm!]
young man he was in Season 1!
So far, so good [or so bad for suffering Anthony, only finding
comfort with his best friend Simon [who comforted him after the break up with Siena] [9A] at the end of season 1 and with his sister Daphne in season 2]
But in all this misery:
Did Anthony ever really MENTIONED the name of Siena in
Season 2?
THE GHOST OF SIENA
Well, dear Folks, you have mentioning and mentioning
Actually, Siena was present all along in Season 2, although not
physically, but nonetheless
In the heart and mind of Anthony of course, even in his feelings
for Kate Sharma [since he was afraid to give in to his feelings for
her, out of fear to be hurt again, like happened with Siena]
But also in the mind of his mother Lady Violet, who, perhaps
for the first time [although she had already had more than a
glimpse of it [10] realized how deeply she unintentionally wounded Anthony by so opposing his great love [11]
Also Lady Danbury, the only one who openly dared criticized Violet, pointed it out to her, though not openly mentioning Siena’s name [12]
So the Ghost and the Shadow of Siena WAS present and alive!
And
NO
Anthony never mentioned Siena by name and so painful it was, that he even avoided the opera and the opera houses, where
his Happy Time with Siena had been….
He totally wanted to erase the very idea of their happiness together, like he burned the program folder of Siena after their break up in Season 1 [13]
Too painful, too deep a memory….
SCARS OF SIENA/ANTHONY’S COMMENTS ON THE BANNING OF LOVE
Although Anthony never mentioned Siena, the scars the break up
caused him is to be found, not only in the cold behaviour against
his mother Violet [I deal with that in a moment], but also in his
decision to marry for duty and to ban love entirely out of his life
This remains until he gets feelings for Kate Sharma
And he declared his banning of love loud and clear, to his sister Daphne and her husband Simon, 2nd Duke of Hastings [his closest friend, who comforted him after the break up with siena [14A] and married to his sister Daphne [14], as to others:
Here are some declarations Anthony made…..
“I have finally set the course of my life. To find a viscountess. I shall take love out of the equation. It is the only way to ensure I do not fail this family again.”
TO DAPHNE AND SIMON
“Love is the last thing I desire. I am looking for a wife who is suitable, a woman who is a credit to her rank. I do not wish for my heart to be involved in the matter at all.”
“To love is to risk a loss I am no longer prepared to endure. I shall marry for duty, for the sake of the Bridgerton name, and nothing more.”
‘Do not lecture me on my responsibilities! I have spent every waking hour of every day since my father died fulfilling those responsibilities. I have sacrificed EVERYTHING for this family! My youth, my desires, my… my very soul has been dedicated to ensuring the survival of the Bridgerton name!”
ANTHONY TO HIS MOTHER VIOLET IN SEASON 2, WHEN SHE REMINDS HIM ON HIS DUTY AGAIN TO THE POINT OF ANNOYANCE
OUTBURST AGAINST HIS MOTHER VIOLET
But there is more:
It was inevitable, that there came a moment that the tensions
between mother and son ran so high, that an outburst would come.
Now Violet could be extremely annoying, continually reminding
Anthony of his duties as if he were a little boy [remember that
he was more than a grown man of 28 years!]
And that she did again, in the dining room, after a dinner
And it was at that moment/point, that all the resentment of ruining his happiness with Siena, as the frustration about her constant whining over the marriage prospects of his sisters, as the fact, that she had totally abandoned him for months after his father’s death.;leaving him to rule the household and the family, due to her deep mourning after the death of her husband [not her fault of course] [15], without any appreciation for his efforts, was too much for him.
So when she started whining, nagging and complaining again, he
finally gave her a taste of her own medicine, screaming:
””Do not lecture me on my responsibilities! I have spent every waking hour of every day since my father died fulfilling those responsibilities. I have sacrificed EVERYTHING for this family! My youth, my desires, my… my very soul has been dedicated to ensuring the survival of the Bridgerton name!”
See for the whole conversation under note 16
This is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in which Anthony
utters his deep pain over the loss of Siena [remember that he says ”EVERYTHING” AND remember how heartbroken he was
after the break up with Siena……] without mentioning her name.
At this very moment, she is present in the room, without physically being there.
It is a moment of deep tension, pain and frustration, in which he even calls Violet ”Dowager Viscountess” as he does more often
in Season 2
He says:
”“Happiness? You speak of happiness as if it is a simple choice. You forget that while you were drowning in your grief, I was the one who had to hold this family together. I have done my duty. I am doing my duty now by finding a wife who is suitable. If that does not meet the Dowager Viscountess’s exacting standards of ‘romance’, then that is a burden she must learn to bear.” [17]
VIOLET’S REACTION ON ANTHONY’S OUTBURST
And Violet’s reaction is almost pathetic and pitiful, when
you forget her emotional blackmail [in season 1, about his father who would have done things far more better] [18], her dehumanization of the woman Anthony loves [19] and her emotional coldness [20]
I think at that moment when he lashed out at her [which was unusual to him, [his sister Eloise would have done it long ago [21], she realized the immense and unreasonable sacrifices
she had asked from him and that his coldness was caused by her sterness, her lack of emotional support and neglect of
his personal needs [22]
And Yes, I understand her fear for the social death, her deep mourning and her [wrong] assumption, that she ”helped” him by being stern…
But you know, as I said, at a certain moment, whether Iit concerns love, good intentions or bad intentions, when the
But you know, as I said, at a certain moment, whether Iit concerns love, good intentions or bad intentions, when the
result harms someone, it no longer matters!
But to get back on Violet’s reaction
Actually it is a bit pitiful and to feel sorry for her
For here she is, with her unmistakable love for her son, clouded by her obsession with ”scandals” and ”social death” as the
”marriage prospects of her daughters” , realizing that NOT by
her understandable fear for social death [23], but by her apparent sterness and coldness, she is in danger of losing her son [24]
Whether she really ”loses” him or not, is a point
for a later Post
In this Post I showed you, how, although Anthony never mentioned Siena openly in Season 2, she still was his silent love
companion for a long time.
She was with him
In his decision only to ”marry for duty”
In his coldness towards his mother Violet
In doing his strict duty as a Viscount
In the long evenings
In his lonely nights
And even at the breakfast table in the morning
She was the silent ghost standing between him and his mother
And even in his happy marriage with Kate Sharma, a part of him
would always love her.
What if……..
ASTRID ESSED
NOTES
NOTES 1 T/M 9
NOTE 9A
NOTES 10 T/M 12
NOTE 13
NOTES 14 T/M 16
NOTE 17
NOTES 18 T/M 24
Annette Lubbers