Was Eloise a Terrible Friend All Along? Team Penelope Divides Bridgerton Fandom

But in Netflix's fan-favorite romance show Bridgerton, the conflict situation isn't so straightforward — it's the friendship between Eloise Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington that makes the viewers take sides and root for one of the heroines.

The characters' relationship is certainly not a simple one, and it's even hard to tell which of the women has been a terrible friend all along.

There are plenty of those people who believe that Eloise is a terrible friend and not a very good human being in general. For one, many viewers are annoyed with the character because she's so oblivious to her own enormous privilege.

With her wealthy, titled, and close-knit family, Eloise is among the very few 19-century women who can afford such a lifestyle — and she doesn't even have to marry to get all that.

Her privileged position is all the more obvious compared to where Penelope finds herself, facing the threat of dropping out of high society, as she has to marry without a dowry or be left with no means of supporting herself. And yet, Eloise is the one who complains about being oppressed and life being unfair to her. She also shows little compassion towards Penelope — and little genuine interest in her friend too.

Nevertheless, whenever the topic of Eloise and Penelope's relationship comes up in Internet discussions (on Reddit, for example), fans are quick to point out that, while Eloise may have been a bad friend and superficial person, Penelope is still the one who abused and betrayed her trust.

Revealing the secrets you've been entrusted with for your egotistical reasons and nearly ruining several lives in the process — which is what fans accuse Penelope of doing — well, that's a whole different level of unethical behavior.

Furthermore, almost from the beginning of the show, Penelope has been manipulative towards Eloise, trying to milk information and gossip from her friend to publish under her pen name Lady Whistledown. That clearly proves that the friendship between the two women was not particularly genuine on both sides.

However, only one side actively betrayed and tried to throw the other under the bus — and that definitely was Penelope.

People's discussions about Eloise and Penelope and the worth of their friendship continue to divide the fandom into two rivalring groups — and at times, it seems that team Penelope simply tries to vilify Eloise for the sake of excusing their favorite character's actions.