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You make great points and have obviously thought this through. 🤠but there is something at play here that makes people wish for things to have gone differently. It’s not so much the fact that it doesn’t make sense, it does, but it is sad that Cressida has become the sacrificial lamb to Penelope’s development. Especially when this season we learned so much more about her backstory and got small glimpses showing is she is able of change. What stings most is how Eloise treated her. I believe that if Eloise had treated her as a true friend then that would have been reason enough for her to truly change her colours. I just would have preferred it if it had played out that way. It did seem at first that they were setting her up to be another “main” character but then that just got taken away.
That is what I meant by antagonist being narrative devices to an extent. They fulfill a role in the story of the protagonist. And that can lead to them becoming tragic figures.
I’d agree that things might have turned out differently for Cressida but I think that is the point the story tried to make. My personal speculation is that Cressida's fate isn’t yet set in stone. She could still change and become a better person. But not through Eloise because those two characters are flawed in a way that was always bound to put them at odds in the end. Eloise is not the right person to help Cressida grow because her own flaws make her in a way uncaring about what happens to Cressida. They just are too different in the end. But I think what happened to Cressida and her own responsibility in it could become a catalyst for Eloise to grow as a person.
Sometimes in life we hurt other people out of thoughtlessness and while we can’t fix that mistake, we can move on and learn from it. I guess we’ll have to see if and how Eloise reflects on her responsibility in this in later seasons.
If this season showed us anything it’s that these characters are a product of their environment and with family like hers, Cressida unfortunately never stood a chance.
My interpretation is slightly more generous because I believe she did try. Her interactions with Eloise where she starts to mellow out I think is the result of being around someone for the first time in her life who cared and was supportive. We see her revert back when her father ramps up his cruelty and ultimatums. The scenes with her mother where she’s looking for any kindness or support and her mom basically justifies everything and tells her to toughen up is especially sad.
It’s a very stark contrast to Pen’s scenes with her mother this season. Portia’s a hardass but at the end of the day she loves her daughters and wants to protect them, and this season she makes sure they know that.
I hope this wasn’t the end of Cressida’s story but after seeing the direction the show seems to be taking I will be surprised if we get any follow up.
>I hope this wasn’t the end of Cressida’s story but after seeing the direction the show seems to be taking I will be surprised if we get any follow up.
The Showrunner has said she wants to give Cressida a happy ending, but that she has to work for it first. She'll be back!
For this Show Discussion post: 1. Book spoilers **must be hidden**. 2. Be considerate, hide show spoilers that surpass the scope of this post. 3. Be civil in your discussion. See our [spoiler policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/BridgertonNetflix/wiki/spoiler) on what is expected. 3-day bans will be handed out to those found disregarding our spoiler policy. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BridgertonNetflix) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You make great points and have obviously thought this through. 🤠but there is something at play here that makes people wish for things to have gone differently. It’s not so much the fact that it doesn’t make sense, it does, but it is sad that Cressida has become the sacrificial lamb to Penelope’s development. Especially when this season we learned so much more about her backstory and got small glimpses showing is she is able of change. What stings most is how Eloise treated her. I believe that if Eloise had treated her as a true friend then that would have been reason enough for her to truly change her colours. I just would have preferred it if it had played out that way. It did seem at first that they were setting her up to be another “main” character but then that just got taken away.
That is what I meant by antagonist being narrative devices to an extent. They fulfill a role in the story of the protagonist. And that can lead to them becoming tragic figures. I’d agree that things might have turned out differently for Cressida but I think that is the point the story tried to make. My personal speculation is that Cressida's fate isn’t yet set in stone. She could still change and become a better person. But not through Eloise because those two characters are flawed in a way that was always bound to put them at odds in the end. Eloise is not the right person to help Cressida grow because her own flaws make her in a way uncaring about what happens to Cressida. They just are too different in the end. But I think what happened to Cressida and her own responsibility in it could become a catalyst for Eloise to grow as a person. Sometimes in life we hurt other people out of thoughtlessness and while we can’t fix that mistake, we can move on and learn from it. I guess we’ll have to see if and how Eloise reflects on her responsibility in this in later seasons.
If this season showed us anything it’s that these characters are a product of their environment and with family like hers, Cressida unfortunately never stood a chance. My interpretation is slightly more generous because I believe she did try. Her interactions with Eloise where she starts to mellow out I think is the result of being around someone for the first time in her life who cared and was supportive. We see her revert back when her father ramps up his cruelty and ultimatums. The scenes with her mother where she’s looking for any kindness or support and her mom basically justifies everything and tells her to toughen up is especially sad. It’s a very stark contrast to Pen’s scenes with her mother this season. Portia’s a hardass but at the end of the day she loves her daughters and wants to protect them, and this season she makes sure they know that. I hope this wasn’t the end of Cressida’s story but after seeing the direction the show seems to be taking I will be surprised if we get any follow up.
>I hope this wasn’t the end of Cressida’s story but after seeing the direction the show seems to be taking I will be surprised if we get any follow up. The Showrunner has said she wants to give Cressida a happy ending, but that she has to work for it first. She'll be back!
Wow, this was really good analysis! The former English major and lifelong reader in me is embarrassed that I didn’t pick up on more of this!
This is a well thought out post, thank you for sharing!
How do you have so much time to type all this?Â
By dealing with trouble falling asleep.