Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, the visually decadent hit show Bridgerton has managed to take some of the edge off and provide sweet relief from this world full of social unrest, pandemics and scirreless politicians set an eight thirteen London during the regency period. Bridgerton quickly wrecked previous Netflix viewership records, with eighty two million households worldwide tuning in during its
first four weeks of release. That's a stunning of their subscriber base. No doubt people tuned in because they had heard tales of the diverse and gorgeous cast. All those steamy sex scenes didn't hurt either. But hot lovin isn't all that. Bridgerton is about. Feminist themes permeate throughout the first season, and the show also shines a bright light
on class issues that plagued society still today. Nonetheless, bridgertain is a fictional television show sas on an equally fictional book series, so it's safe to say that some creative liberties were taken. So what did Britain get right and wrong? Historically speaking? Is it a true representation of life in
regency England. Executive producer Shonda Rhymes is known for shattering ceilings and stereotypes, so it really shouldn't have shocked anyone that her team cast a black man in the leading male role as the Duke of Hastings and sadly the scenario would have been very unlikely in regency England. But we spoke via email with Whitney S. Christensen, a regency historian. She explained that only about twenty thousand of the one point three million people in London at that time were black,
or about one point five percent of the population. She said Britain is largely a fantasy in terms of the diversity of the population shown. The majority of the black population was poor or working class, with most employed as servants. There are some exceptions, however, she said, while the numbers of high ranking black people in Britain is fantasy, some of the ways they're depicted are based in fact. A black boxers like Bill Richmond and Tom Molino were a
popular form of entertainment, much like Hasting's friend Will. Additionally, into racial marriage, while rare did happen and was depicted in the literature of the time. Let Us also not forget the Queen Charlotte herself is portrayed in the show by a black actor. This may very well be rooted in fact. Christiansen said one of her ancestors may very well have been a more or black, a mistress of
one of her ancestors. A portraits of her definitely illustrate an African cast to her features, including her curly hair. But there were almost five hundred years between Queen Charlotte and the Moorish mistress that may have been her ancestor. Watch any period drama and you'll likely wind up in sensed by the portrayal of women's rights or black thereof Britain does a great job of depicting a close representation of the rights of women of the day, whereas most
of the female characters obsess over finding a husband. The character of Eloise Britain routinely laments her genders societally imposed limitations in life. She says in one scene, must our only options be to squawk and settle or to never leave the nest? She says in another, you wish to follow your heart and I wish to nurture my mind. The thing is the women depicted who worry over finding
a husband do so for good reason. In that time period, Christenson explained, quote women could typically not inherit and in fact many estates were tied up in entailments, which meant that upon the deaths of their fathers, their homes were inherited by the nearest male relative, sometimes leaving unmarried women homeless. This made marriage incredibly important because there was no real way to support yourself financially if you were not of
the working class. Hence the London season, which during the regency period ran from around Easter to the end of the summer. During this time, the debutantes came out at Queen Charlotte's Ball, a tradition that continues today. During the regency period, this marked the beginning of a month's long process of lavish balls, where men and women considered each
other for marriage potential. Christiansen said, and the hunt for a husband was indeed known as the marriage mart and people did indeed track how many times you had danced with a specific partner, and particularly if they were in a row, three times in one night meant you were practically engaged already. Many young women felt immense pressure to find a husband immediately, as the character of Daphne Bridgerton does.
A Christiansen explained, there is some truth in the idea that a failure to find a husband in your first season was a disaster, but it's not because of your reputation. It's more that the money spent on a successful season, the gowns, the carriages, the travel expenses, the balls hosted in one's own home could be ruinous if they didn't pay off. The pressures on Daphne to make a good
man match would have been very real. In the area of costumes, the show took some liberties, although the fashions are rooted in reality, A Christiansen said, these are mostly fantasy, with the designers taking the silhouettes from the era and playing with color and creativity for effect. The silhouette of
Daphne's gown is largely accurate. A Regency era gowns were inspired by Greek sculpture, as the Parthenon marbles were moved to London during this time, and so neoclassical ideals were all the rage, but use of color in Britain is much more mad cap than the reality would have been. Detail oriented viewers might also note that Queen Charlotte and our courtiers are outfitted in a much different style, more
suited to the Georgian esthetic. A. Christiansen said that this is accurate because court dress remained several decades behind fashionable dress, with large hoops being worn until eighteen twenty. As with most films, books, and TV shows set in previous times, Brigitte and presents a double edged sort of sorts, A
christians And explained. For example, those who take Britain's version of history is truth may fail to understand the deep racism that marked early nineteenth century London, including how it's depictions of black men as boxers or Marina as sexually experienced may actually reinforce racist stereotypes rather than challenge them. However, fantasy history can also be a powerful way to get
people interested in real history. It's often the pretty dresses and romance and charismatic characters that draw us into discovering the real life facts behind these people in places. It's a great marketing campaign that can lead to real scholarship. Today's episode was written by A LEEA Hooint and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of
other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio or more podcasts in my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.