One Small Change Could've Resolved the Bridgerton's Daphne Controversy
Was it really that simple all along?
Shondaland's Bridgerton is certainly the ultimate binge-watching program. However, many more viewers find themselves re-watching Season 2, which focuses on the love arc of the eldest Bridgerton, Anthony, than Season 1, which revolves around the relationship between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset.
The reason for this is that the story of the Duke and Duchess of Hastings contains a major turn-off: a sexual assault.
The Season One Controversy
The main romantic storyline of Season 1 is undoubtedly the steamiest in the Bridgerverse so far. After getting married in Episode 5, Daphne and Simon enjoy an extremely active sex life, which is somewhat clouded by Simon's unwillingness to have children and communicate properly with his young wife.
To avoid having a baby, the Duke decides to keep his innocent wife in the dark about the whole process of getting pregnant and uses the pull-out method. Soon, however, Daphne becomes suspicious, goes to her maid and learns how the sexual act should end for the pregnancy to happen.
Hurt by Simon's lie, Daphne uses their next intimate session to get on top of Simon and force him to go all the way. Naturally, this leads to a huge fight that almost breaks the two up, but in the end makes them realize how much they love each other. In the final moments of the season, Daphne has a baby.
An Easy Fix
No matter how wrong Simon was in lying to Daphne, the overpowering during sex storyline is nothing short of marital sexual assault. And many viewers find it hard to forgive Daphne for it.
However, there is one small change that could be made to the season that would completely alter the perspective and give Daphne the moral high ground. Reddit user u/Mavakor offered to simply rearrange the key scenes.
First, Daphne gets passionate and takes charge of a lovemaking session, seeing it through to its natural conclusion without realizing what's really happening. Then Simon gets angry, but still decides to keep his wife in the dark.
Only then does Daphne go to the maid and learn about the conception, realizing that Simon has taken advantage of her naivety. They fight, deal with their problems, and finally make up for a long, happy life together. The end.
Such a development wouldn't fix the shady nature of Simon's actions, but it would put Daphne's arc and character right, taking her from a sexual predator to a naive young woman who didn't know what she was doing. Wouldn't you be in favor of such a move?
Source: Reddit.