Why do you think so many people consider sir Phillip "problematic" and are completely quiet about book! Benedict, who is far more problematic than Phillip?
Do you want the honest answer or the diplomatic answer? Because I might lose a couple of followers for this. So please note that this is my personal opinion and in no way reflects the fandom or Benophie and philoise shippers in general
The honest answer is that a lot of people apply an internalized mysoginy double standard to historical fiction way too much to be healthy.
In fact that's the whole reason I came up with my genderbent Philoise au. Because if Phillip had been a woman, his actions wouldn't look problematic, he wouldn't be 'trapping' Eloise in a life she didn't want in the country with kids that aren't hers (which lemme tell you, in a post pandemic society, sounds like a modern woman's worst nightmare). If his actions were taken by a woman, he'd be a much more typical romantic heroine.
Similarly with Benedict, he did try to trap Sophie in an arrangement she didn't want. But it's just easier for the modern reader to think of Benedict's proposal as romantic than Phillip's because, in Benedict's case, Sophie the female lead doesn't 'lose' anything by being his mistress or by marrying him. She stands to gain both family, home, love and security away from Aramintas clutches
And There in lies the double standard, people can let go of Benedict's problematic behavior, because at the end of the book, the one losing his freedom and his society comforts in the altar of love, is Benedict. That seems like a fitting sacrifice, because he's a man. He's stereotypically able to handle it with the romantic hero buff. But not for Eloise, because she's a woman.
Wheras Eloise 'Loses her freedom' she's seen as giving up more in the altar of love than Phillip is. Because he gets to go on with his life with only the most positive of changes. He gets love, comfort, a mother for his children (same as Sophie) wheras to the modern reader it looks like Eloise gains nothing from the relationship that she didn't have before. And in fact is seen as being losing out on the life she could have had as the spinster sister of a Viscount. So it's easier to be harder on Phillip because of that
Wanna talk problematic?: Here's a rundown of my top 10
1)I personally don't like Benedict much until the end of AOFAG he's pushy, borderline uses his position of power to trick Sophie into situations she doesn't want to be in and ultimately behaves like a spoiled brat denied candy when Sophie insists she doesn't want to be his mistress and side note could you believe I've seen people get annoyed at Sophie's 'hipocrisy' for insisting she doesn't want to be his mistress while being evidently attracted to him, I mean have you seen the entitlement in which Benedict approaches the mistress arrangement with? Seriously? (But then again Benedict's entitlement is purposefully highlighted because getting over it is the whole theme of the book)
2) Anthony, gosh I love him, as a character but the man was willing to marry the sister of a woman he seriously wanted to sleep with. Just because Edwina was a socially acceptable choice. He was also going to marry her fully prepared to cheat on her with any mistress available from the get go. And if you want problematic talk about the scene where he gets mad at Kate for overhearing what I stated above. Kisses her quite passionately may I add. And then throws the key to the room on the ground, to vindictively watch her humiliate herself to pick it up and take her only chance to escape him and avoid further humiliation. Anthony's most problematic scene for me? That one. Takes the cake.
3)Colin, also love him, but have you read Romancing Mr Bridgerton? Colin has the worst temper of all the Bridgertons. Especially with Penelope, like seriously, the guy can get violent pretty easily whenever Penelope does something he doesn't like. But on a scale of one to 10 yeah he's on the low scale
4) Phillip, lied to Eloise about having children and wanting a monther for said children. But considering El was supposed to be Marina's cousin, why didn't Eloise know Marina had children with Phillip?. He's got a temper but he's not on Colin or Anthony's level of mean. And excuse me if I don't consider how bad he did in his early years of marriage with Marina as a strike against him. Thats like me saying Anthony was super problematic after Edmund died because he went full rake and didn't know how to deal with his siblings. Sorry but yeah Phillip isn't that bad
5)Gareth fully planned to trap Hyacinth into marriage. As in the whole ruinning her was premeditated.
6) Simon. Ok Simon isn't problematic, we can leave him alone. He's just not okay with getting married or having children and will do everything to avoid it including taking the risk of killing a Viscount and lying to his wife about why he doesn't want children, that's not problematic
7) Gregory. Also not that problematic. Stupid as hell, yeah. Problematic, no. Lucy probably wanted him to be a little more problematic if I'm being honest. Maybe take Hermione and ravish her or something. Instead Gregory was all about sticking to Lucy like a loyal puppy and honestly, persistently pursuing an engaged woman he knows will marry a gay man, isn't even in the top ten of behaviors I have problems with. Maybe if Haselby had been straight, I'd be like 'oh my gosh Gregory you can't just go after Lucy she's going to get married next week, why didn't you get your head out of Hermione's grass sooner' but meh it's not like Gregory did anything I personally consider jerk behavior
8) honorable mention to Michael who fell inlove with his cousin's wife and later married said cousins widow because *puts on reading glasses* oh yeah, he was goaded into teaching her what being wicked was like. But yup not problematic at all
My point is that, all your romantic heroes are problematic as hell in one way or another. And that depends on what kind of thing you personally consider romantic when you're reading fiction.
I can freely admit I love my male leads, the more problematic the better. You should have seen me at 16 totally obsessed with Edward Cullen and that phase I went trough where I was seriously into Darth Maul ( good times)
But we're not here to deep dive into my psyche of why liking problematic characters who's behavior I'd never tolerate in real life has provided me a great deal of personal growth, helped me recognize toxic traits in real life men and given me a good idea of the difference between reality and fiction as well as developed my critical thinking skills.
And that's the tea
