Eloise’s character has always been iffy when it comes to her views with women and women rights. In Season 1 she constantly looks down on Daphne for wanting a husband and a family and acts like she’s simple when Daphne is a smart and funny women, and even looks down on other woman for wanting the same thing. She never does anything to help women around her and just talks about helping them (even Pen calls her out on it during their argument in season 2), when Cressida (never thought I’d like her character but I do now) came to her for help she totally brushes her off and ditches her in her time of need. the only reason she helps Pen in season 3 is because she is now Colin’s wife and her family was being affected. She’s dismissive of other women’s (and other peoples) problems until they affect her or her family members, she even stopped going to the women’s right meetings because her position in high society was threatened. (tho she talks like she hates high society because of the limitations women face in it) I think her season is either going to be really good or really bad, her character flaw is that all she does is talk, in her season she could start taking action to help the women around her and acknowledge her mistakes in the past (aka how quickly she turned her back on Cressida)

She’s mean to other women for having different interests than her; for enjoying embroidery for example. And she criticizes them for “husband hunting” as if that’s not their only source of security?? She has the privilege of rejecting society while still participating in it. That said, she is still one of my favorite characters, she made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Fantastic analysis, thank you for sharing your thoughts, you’re absolutely right.

Only child club!! 💃🏽

If Eloise wasn’t played by Claudia Jessie I would despise her

Shondaland should halt production on S4 and hire you tbh give us the benedict story we deserve!!!!

I feel like her character was assassinated. She was okay in season 1. She's young so she always seemed to have potential for growth. It felt like season 2 was setting her up to really begin re-inventing herself in season 3 after finally starting to experience consequences for her actions and the cherry on top was when Penelope said, "All you do is talk about doing something," only to have Cressida say the SAME thing in season 3 after Eloise was a little too eager to abandon Cressida when she asked her for help because Eloise ultimately learned nothing. I like the comparison you made to her being just like her brothers so part of me is kind of wondering if that was a deliberate choice to not have her develop much in preparation for her arc. I'm not fully convinced, though. I think at this point, given the treatment most of the characters received in season 3, I've decided it is best to enjoy Bridgerton when you have no expectations for it to be any good so it can perhaps occasionally surprise you. Otherwise, you are left with a tangled pile of disappointments to unravel.

I have had issues with Eloise since season 1 from the way she talks about her sister's desires to marry and have what her parents had to her wanting children. I understand the trauma that she went through, but she can't understand that Daphne is the oldest so either way she had to marry. We see that Daphne herself is critical of the system way more than Eloise because she lives in it and so do other women and yet they are treated as less for following what has been asked of them, something Eloise doesn't try to understand. This comes to be a bigger issue in the next seasons with Theo, Pen, and Cress people who don't have her privileges and want to change their lives. With Theo we see a radical in the making who she dropped the moment it becomes hard for her because he is not from the ton and is poor, even if she already knew that beforehand. Pen uses her writing to better herself even if she has her issues and Cress who wants to escape a marriage that she doesn't want, Eloise abounded all in their greatest time of need because it treated her reputation. In the end, all she does is talk because there is no action behind the words.

YES! Finally people are waking up to Eloise. I've been saying this for years.

i was so caught up in being an eloise hater i didn't realize how interesting she could be if she got a character arc

I’m glad somebody else said it!! Eloise is not a girl’s girl, she proved it in Season 2

There are some things you just NEVER say. You never tell your parents/siblings you wish they were dead. And you NEVER say that your siblings are just your “half siblings” Unforgivable from Edwina. And no apology because she was angry when she said it?? Nope. I would have put her in This is Sparta because boy did she make me want to throw hands with that remark!!

You can be a selfish feminist lol

20:32 Not Edmund catching a stray from beyond the grave 😭💀

Was she supposed to be feminist?? I thought she was gonna end up trans or lesbian

5. Eloise is #whitefeminism personified and she has a legion of fans to match. I can easily imagine this legion boycotting the show if their girl is done (continues to be done? idk I didn't read the books) dirty.

Gives repressed trans masc vibes

Here is to hoping

I think you are absolutely correct in most of the evidence you give in this video. Eloise is not a girls girl. I also think that's a very modernist perspective on feminism that would have made no sense contextually. Eloise does not take women's work and art seriously, but that is a result of it being the only thing that women were taken seriously on. the whole girl's girl thing is a reaction to a pendulum swing during the 20th century, in which women were only valued by the masculine traits and hobbies they participated in, and were rejected for the feminine ones. As a result, the 'girls girl' critique and the acceptance of feminism are very important to counteracting that narrative. This would not really work, however, without that swing. During the Regency era, while we see Anthony dismissing the achievements made by women in languages and arts, this was really not the norm - those were the ONLY things valued in women, and Eloise is often judged and ridiculed by those around her for it, she clearly thinks her different interests make her a disappointment, and in some ways may be overcompensating her the judgement she feels. Eloise, notably, also does not dismiss gossip. For the first season, she sings the praises of Lady Wistledownn to anyone who would listen. Later she makes a comment about how she wishes LW would platform some more issues, which means more to us because of dramatic irony, but really isn't that out there. She only gets upset with Pen after a string of attacks against her and her family. I would also argue that Eloise is closest to Benedict and Colin (not really Anthony) because Franchesca was never really super close to any of them, and as much as she didn't understand Daphne I don't think Daphne ever really tried to understand Eloise. That kind of leaves her with her brothers, especially Benedict, who listen to her and attempt to understand her in some ways. Finally, while I agree Eloise does not want to become her mother, commitment for a woman didn't really mean the same thing as it did for men. The guys go around with whoever, and I mean, if they really didn't like who they ended up with there wasn't much social stigma about having a mistress, or else send their wife off somewhere. I dont think it's overly odd that Eloise doesn't want to be stuck in a commitment for the rest of her life at age 17-19 when she does not have the same get-out-of-jail-free card. There is also the scene in which she rejects a man because he puts women down in an attempt to complement her (not something a true not-like-other-girls character would do) . I think that she is, in some ways, trying. While it doesn't seem like a lot to us, that probably took a lot of courage and determination to do in such a patriarchally dominated society. Anyway. I think Eloise is a complicated and flawed character. I think she does have an issue taking action in support of her beliefs, and she is often self-centred in her perspective. I don't think she is this nightmare a lot of people make her out to be - our lack of understanding and compassion towards complicated and imperfect female characters I think is a feminist issue in itself. Anyway, just my opinion lmao - I really liked the video and think you pointed out some really valid issues, like the lack of intersectionality in her feminism ect. I just really do think she's trying her best lol.

Yeah she’s not like the other girls. Other girl’s interests are lesser than her

I know its not the point of the vid but my trans brother started watching Bridgerton with me recently and he seems himself in Eloise a lot, her manerisms, her high anxiety about having to be femenine etc. And i get it i see it too, i know it's not gonna happen in the show (and i know hating feminine things doesn't mean youre trans before anyone comes at me) but i think its lovely the way he views her like that. Maybe Eloise could want to be one of the boys in more than one way

she's all talk, no action We've hear her talk about how women could aspire for more and how shallow her peers are for not seeing beyond marriage, yet we've yet to see her actually stand up and look for more, her little escapades to the print with the working class guy were her feeling excited about trying to find her tabloid whisperer than true curiosity about women's rights, which the guy seemed to point her to, after that she doesn't mention it again I call it quirky feminism, its purpose its to establish Eloise as an anti-establishment character who says clever things and contradicts the norm, while she clearly enjoys the benefits of said establishment, or at least is in a position of losing nothing, and does nothing to overthrow it lol I'd love to see what the women behind her have to say, u know, all the working class women who have no prospects but a life in service, no security net like her family, no say in society, and on top, have to serve women like her

This is off topic but ur hair is awesome ❤ I'd like to try that with my own hair

I need to be able to like this video a lot more than once 😭 I’m just screaming at the screen “THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING!”😂😂

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I think it shows how privileged Eloise really is. Unlike other women in Bridgerton, they don't have the flexibility to be "bougie" about their options. The other ladies are acutely aware of their limits, including their marriageable prospects. In the 3rd season, Clarissa and Eloise, becoming friends, gave insight into her behavior. The fact she called Eloise on her loud gossip further proves why many ladies do not like Eloise. Or how the dressmaker reminds Penelope; she has far more power than she realizes. Once Eloise admits to Penelope that she's jealous of her ability to be Lady Whistledown, garner a following, and make money... that says it all. Eloise has had this idea that because she's a woman, she can't do what her brothers can. And to some degree, she can't, but she doesn't understand how her privilege has afforded her so much more than her counterparts. Maybe she finds music dull or needle work boring, but no one in her family called her on her "bougie" attitude. Then again, family has a way of making jabs in the vein of joking and fun. Which makes one wonder, why was she really friends with Penelope? She didn't take her seriously until she found out Penelope always loved Colin. Eloise goes on to try to protect her brother rather than her friend; forcing her Lady Whistledown secret out on her terms rather than Penelope's. Season 3 for Eloise was a reckoning to force her to grow up. And rather stay and attempt to do right by others; she leaves for Scotland.(Which was far more harsh than London at that time) 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

I was so excited to see this title! YES! This is exactly what I came to realise. Eloise isn't a feminist for all women, she's just upset that she can't be a boy with their same privileges in society, and is in the business of putting other women and "femininity" in general down in order to feel better about herself and her situation. Can't wait to watch this!!

A childhood classic ❤. There's something just so magical about a silly action pack adventure movie, esspecially when in contrast to our modernised environment.

She is not a feminist, at least, this season, she lost every feminist view. And this season, she is very rude with everyone

Eloise proved that she is NOT a girl’s girl this season. Multiple times she basically told Penelope she was unlovable. She didn’t give a crap about Cressida being married off to someone’s grandfather 😫

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!!!!

True and obvious the moment s2 rolls around and you see that there’s not a convo she has with a woman where she either 1. Actually lets them speak or 2. Takes their interests seriously when she actually lets them get a word in edgewise.

Hmm yeah

Great commentary 😊

Honestly? I love to see a female character that isn't interested in being perceived as generous, friendly, and goody goody. Eloise being spoiled, privileged and self centered - while also not being entirely "evil" per se - is somehow refreshing. Of course she is not concerned about the other - most of the ton and the Bridgertons themselves aren't. It's that class lenses that shades everything, and I also don't expect for a romance series to fully develop solidarity beyond some liberal and very individual perspective. There's room for growth, change and also expanding Eloises interests. Maybe the series follows this path, but I find very "obvious" that she is aligned with her brothers than with ladies that maybe appears to "take in" a type of [privileged and dull] womanhood that she finds limitating without considering her role in a big picture.

FACTS!! She is a woman complaining about not having a 🤬

I have never thought she was a feminist icon. I always yhought she was using feminist rhetoric to distance herself from the marriage mart practices and hide from possibly forming an attachment to man that would ultimately put her in the traumatizing sitiation that her mother was in the wake of edmonds death. Honestly, she has a good emotional basis to become a rake. But speaking about eloise right now, I wouldnt say she hates embroidery or gossip. But the fact that, women are limited solely to these things in her class and at this time. Additionally, she rails against the idea that women are to learn things like embroidery, managing a home, 4 languages, pianoforte, etc to be prize worthy (marriagable) for a man that may act like anthony. We also see how easily a womans interest and even their ability to choose for themselves gets shaped and made bythe men in they choose. Cressida was litterally going to be married off to an old man that hates balls and finery. Anthony had to choose between his mom of the new baby. Also, she is well within her right to tell pen to stop publishing as whistledown because the gossip was not elevating anyone other than pen, and we are talking about netflix pen. Even pen didnt realize that she was using whistledown as an outlet for her frustrations ( and bullying other women) until Seadon 3. Meanwhile, Eloise levied the same critique at whistledown in season 2. Eloise said that whistledown could write about so much more for women but chose to write about town gossip, gossip that usually painted women in a negative light. And thats isnt her being jealous, that's a fact followed by a critique. I do think the show is doing a disservice by continuing this feminist stuff. Part 2 of season 3 shot what little development she was getting in foit snd made her horrible fir the sake of being pens friend,which i dont like, but happy for them.

I think there is validity in some of the things you’re saying, you’re right that Eloise looking down on woman’s traditional roles and interests is NOT feminist, but I also think that saying a woman being selfish or doing things for herself is also not feminist of you, because women are expected to take on others burdens even against their own interests or well being a lot of the time, and to say that a woman should just “suck it up” especially if she lives within the context of an objectively patriarchal society is straight up playing into misogyny.

This! And also, feminist icons don't put other women down... Apart from never really listening to the person she considered 'best friend', she showed 0 interest in understanding Daphnie's perspective in season 1. All she did was judge...

I really enjoyed your video thank you! Also your embroidery war flashbacks haha xD

I felt this way for so long and felt crazy because I never really saw anyone else say it! She would always belittle or gaslight the other women of the show when they would show excitement at the prospect of finding a love match or enjoying stereotypically feminine hobbies was aggravating. She was incapable of having conversations without redirecting it to herself and treated everyone else’s desires as trivial. I always have a problem with supposed activists who do not have the empathy to understand other’s feelings and struggles. She kind of represents to me a lot of whats wrong with the white feminism in today’s society. Her understanding world issues beginning and ending with the problems of fellow white women, treating white men, or men in general, as these uber-privileged people without a single problem while ignoring benefits they themselves get, shunning fellow white women who don’t agree with their worldviews, and ignoring everyone below them.

I think Eloise’s character arc over 3 seasons might betray a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen situation, but if a good show runner gets a hold of her for her season, I could see them doing a great redemption arc for her. They have used Claudia Jessie’s great comedic acting talents in the past, but I know the actress has a deep and mostly untapped (in Bridgerton) ability for heart wrenching dramatic acting. So I really hope they get there. Yeah, her “feminist credentials” in the first 3 seasons look almost like a feminist parody-the best case scenario is the show turns that around and gives her chances to be a) genuinely intersectional (maybe in s4 with Sophie?) and b) truly humane in her interactions with the whole (by then, traumatized) Crane family.

LOVE this concept, I see a 'one of the boys' type to be the middle ground between a 'pick me' (pretends to like what her chosen dude likes) and a 'girl's girl' (truly prefers female spaces and company). Eloise is one of the boys in terms of genuinely having more male coded tastes and putting in zero effort to try to empathize with women who may have different views/tastes

I agree with you. It speaks volumes that the only time she defends other women is when the guy her mum sets her up with insults them. She needs to learn to extend those thoughts beyond her private interactions with men and show up for the women in her life. Cressida needed her! Penelope needed her! But nope, she was to wrapped up in her own mess to care.

I'm at the section where you compare Eloise to her brothers and it made me realise, do we ever know what Eloise's true passions are? She always talks about her lack of education but we never know *what* she'd like to be educated for, right? It could be a really interesting character trait for a person to just want education as a whole, to desire it so bad that they'd study anything, but for a character as stubborn and strong headed as Eloise, I feel like by now she would have had a specific passion chosen along with her passion for further education, so she feels even more shallow to me.

When a child experiences trauma, it often gives them a sense of being more mature than others their own age. It's like the trauma is an aging experience. So it wouldn't surprise me if Collin felt more mature for his age after his dad died, and then resented everyone in his family for treating him the same age he actually is. (I, too, am not a psychologist) Loved this video!

When Cressida was confiding in Eloise about her fears of being married to that horrid old man I felt for her, she was heavily implied at being at risk of being maritally SAed! and I was enraged on how dismissive Eloise was with her fears and attempts to devise a plan with her. If their situations had been reversed, Eloise would be frantic for Cressida and others to help her eacape her fate, and yet, when it is someone else, she is not only passive she doesn’t present as being concerned at all! I still like her character and am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt due to her age and immaturity.... but I still have concerns and hope the writers give her a chance to grow and mature in later seasons for the better.