I keep seeing these takes going around about the show, of people saying:
Why can't Benedict marry Sophie anyway at this point in the story?
If Benedict can marry Sophie, why can't Eloise marry Theo?
Anthony married below his station, why can't Benedict?
And it's clear that these people aren't familiar with 1800s class division.
Class division was very strict and rigorous. Obviously, people could move up and down. But moving too quickly in either direction would have caused scrutiny. And that's just with the upper and middle classes.
Spoilers from this point on
I am not a historian, my knowledge could be faulty. If it is. I'm sorry
I know the books and show are not ment to be historically accurate. In the show, they have people of colour in power in regency time. However, just because you got rid of racism doesn't mean you got rid of misogyny or classism or whatever laws and rules were in place regarding working-class living conditions. Because it's never stated what laws and rules are in place, I'm assuming it's the same as the real 1810s.
First off, Sophie is the bastard daughter of an earl and a maid. (I know there's theories in the show that's she's Earls sister daughter, but I'm not using that for this. In the books her mother's a maid) He passes her off as his ward. A child he has legal guardianship over, and who he does leave a dowry to in his will.
However, for the sake of pushing this point, we'll just say that for all intents and purposes, she's a maid. A regular working-class maid. She's not, but for this she is.
Theo (who is a show-only character) is a printer boy, a regular working-class man.
The main reason, technically, that neither Benedict nor Eloise could marry working-class people is the scandal it would cause. It's not illegal to marry outside your class. But for the aristocracy, which is what Benedict and Eloise are, it can cause complete social and even financial ruin.
Benedict kind of could get away with it better than Eloise. Mainly because the woman takes on the man's status. Sophie would be marrying up. The worst Benedict would get, would be complete social ostracism and the complete ruin of his family.
(Which isn't good at all really, but I'll get how it could be worse later)
Not only would it ruin the reputation of his unmarried sisters. It would affect his brothers, his mother and even his married sisters, if they all choose not to (at least publicly) cast him off. Which I highly doubt any of them will do. He would be completely cut off from London society.
The reason I say Benedict could get away with it better is that, he has something to fall back on. Benedict owns My Cottage. That is his house he bought himself, no one can really take that away from him, apart from maybe the tax man. It's situated in Wiltshire, far enough away from London. Despite the pressure to disown him, I doubt that Anthony would cut off Benedict completely. Most likely helping financially. But if he did, then at least Benedict could earn money himself.
If he continues painting he could get into a gallery under a pseudonym. Probably not the National Gallery like in the books. But potentially something more local. If not, then he'll have to go into a different profession. Such as potentially the military, clergy, or depending on his education, a lawyer.
Whilst being out of London society, he does still have options. He might not like it, but he'll have them. And whilst his children would struggle to enter London society, should they wish to, and would technically be their prerogative. Because of the way things went, I highly doubt their parents would encourage them to do so. If money does run low, selling My Cottage is also an option and it would probably go for a reasonable price.
Assuming things come up roses, Benedict can still paint as a profession and no one in Wiltshire ever finds out about Sophie's background. Benedict and Sophie would almost have almost the same life they do at the end of the book. They would be cut off from London, and depending on what the rest of the Bridgertons decide to do, possibly the whole of Benedict's family. Not the best ending, but again, marrying below your class comes with major consequences.
And despite Benedict in the show, is quite outspoken about not liking social norms. He still gets the consequences of breaking them. He thinks they're dumb sure, but still knows they're there. He's not going to put his family's reputation on the line just for love. I get it's a romance show. But there's a lot in the way of them being together. And yes Violet in the books says she wants her children to marry for love, no matter the status. But she also knows that all her children have very privileged lives, and wants them to know what they will lose in marrying lower than socially acceptable.
It's different for Eloise as, surprise surprise, she's a woman. And once again, because the woman takes on the man's status. Her marrying Theo would bring down her status majorly. She would be brought down from the aristocracy, through the landed gentry, through the middle class down to the working class. The conditions some working-class people lived in during the Georgian era, were abysmal. And it wouldn't get better for centuries. Depending on how poor a family were, you could find multiple families in one room, unsanitary living conditions, no health and safety in the workplace and no workers' rights.
Eloise is used to having servants, lady's maids, clean clothes and linen, hearty cooked food, and access to clean water. Yes, regular full-on bathing was not common during that time, but people still washed themselves daily. I don't think she would handle such a drastic change well.
She would also have to start working. Technically she could work in the same printing house as Theo. Women could work in printing houses as typesetters, or handling accounts. However, as I said previously, working conditions could be dangerous. Mainly from asbestos, toxic fumes from chemicals and ink and even just from sheer exhaustion from long hours.
If not, her opinions were limited. She would either have to go into services to another household, or she could take in laundry from other working-class people. All of which involve domestic labour, and are physically demanding.
Show Eloise is constantly going on about women not having enough options or freedom in society. Which is fair enough. However, the working class had even less. Yes, women like Eloise couldn't vote, go to university, and had limited education. But it was basically the same for working-class men.
Working-class men, like Theo, wouldn't get the vote till 1867, and they would receive only the basic education as children before being sent to work, if any education at all. Because Theo works in a printing house, he actually probably would have a higher level of reading than most of the working class. But that's where the peak of his education would end.
Eloise's education, whilst also limited compared to her brothers, would far outstrip Theo's. Yes, she is taught mostly domestic tasks like looking after a household, how to be a good hostess and a lot of domestic arts. But she also would have been taught languages, and even some geography. Not to mention that Eloise has access to a large library, and could, if she wished, educate herself outside of her tutors. Yes, such things were discouraged, but at least she had that option open to her. Certainly not the ideal education, but definitely better than most of the working class can boast.
Eloise would also potentially lose out on enormous financial freedom. Because of the Bridgerton's immense wealth, Eloise's dowry would definitely be quite larger. If Anthony releases it on her marriage, which I believe he would, even if he doesn't approve of her marriage choices. If he does, Eloise and Theo could in theory live solely off Eloise's dowry. They would certainly have to downsize to make it last, but it could be possible. However should the dowry eventually run out, or if Eloise were part of any other family and Anthony were literally anyone else, and refused to give Eloise her dowry. They would be in trouble.
The working class could own their own homes, but it was a lot less common than renting. If they couldn't afford servants, guess who all the domestic labour falls to. Should they have any children, guess who the responsibility of their upbringing and education falls to? She wouldn't have nurses, nannys and tutors to fall on to. Basic things like food and clothing would have to stretch far, if they are renting, missing out on payment could land Theo and Eloise in debtor's prison. Which some would argue, is worse than just living on the streets.
Not to mention on top of all that, she would face the same social outcasting that would affect Benedict. Alongside the ruin of her family, again if they decide to (at least publicly) disown her.
This is what I find so confusing about people wanting Eloise to be with Theo. It wouldn't give Eloise the best scenario in life. It would definitely take her out of the societal setting she hates so much, but it just replaces it with a life that she has been completely sheltered from and isn't prepared for. A life of physical labour, poverty and restriction. Even more restrictions than the life she has now.
And yes even in the books, Eloise does marry down. She marries into the landed gentry. But Sir Philip is titled, he owns land, he has people who work that land. He offers a much more stable life than the one Theo can offer her. Eloise in the show is so outspoken about the constraints of society, but also lives comfortably in them without knowing. In the show, she has also felt the scrutiny of scandal when she is called out in Whistledown. Whether she could handle completely committing to that, I highly doubt.
(Show Eloise actually really gets on my nerves but that's a topic for a different time)
Last point I wanted make was about Anthony and Kate. Yes, Anthony did marry below his class. But it is very different to Benedict marrying Sophie.
For starters, Kate is not of the working class. Yes her father in the show is a merchant, but merchants were considered more of the middle class. They didn't inherit wealth like the landed gentry, they earned it themselves through trade or profession. Still quite shabby in the eyes of the aristocracy, considering what happened to Mary. But Mary was under the eye of the queen in the show.
Kate in the books is actually of a higher rank. Her father was the second son of a Barron, so whilst she was considered quite low in rank, and her family were struggling with money, she was still part of the aristocracy.
Second, Kate is legitimate. Her parents were married, but her mother died. Doesn't matter that she has a stepmother. (In fact, the majority of the people would probably have step-mothers, considering death rates.) If Kate and Edwina were boys, Kate would have been entitled to the majority of her father's assets, depending on how he split his will.
Sophie as illegitimate, is technically entitled to nothing. Regularly, illegitimate children of noble men and servants would be sent to live with their mother's families. Which actually Sophie is at the start of the book. If she stayed with her mother's family, she would have ended up where she actually is in the book, a servant. She would have had none of the education she does have and would be a regular working-class maid.
It's implied that Sophie's mother died either in childbirth or when Sophie was a baby. She's then left at Penwood Park by her grandmother, who it's implied is also dying, and is taken in by the Earl. Only because the Earl takes Sophie in as a ward, she was raised as a lady.
In the show, the earl shows Sophie a lot more emotional interest in Sophie than he does in the books. But in neither book nor show does he ever acknowledge her as his daughter. Her being illegitimate overshadows her being the daughter of an earl. So the only way the earl finds he can make Sophie respectable is to pass her off as a ward. The fact that he leaves Sophie a dowry does imply he intended for Sophie to enter society, and that no one would ever find out her background. Because even he knew that she wouldn't be accepted.
Even the Bridgertons have to make up a story to make her legitimate, and basically have to blackmail Ariminta into complying.
If Sophie were legitimate, then she would be higher in rank than Benedict, as the daughter of an Earl and Countess. Depending on how the earl wrote his will, and if Sophie had no brothers, the title and house would still pass to a cousin of the earl as it does in the books. But her dowry would probably be larger. (We never actually know how much the earl had left her in the books.) And could have potentially included some land as well.
So no, just because Anthony marries below his class,(in the show), doesn't mean he and Benedict are in the same situation.
Jesus, that was a long one. But it was just something that was bugging me. And I have no one else to talk to about this topic. So I've decided to scream it into the void of the internet.