The Bridgerton series written by Julia Quinn came out between 2000-2006, including 8 books which were later adapted as a Netflix series in 2020. The story follows the eight Bridgerton siblings as they explore Regency Era England on a journey to find love. The siblings are most famous throughout the series for their looks, charms, and names in alphabetical order. Starting with the oldest:

Anthony played by Jonathon Bailey

Benedict played by Luke Thompson 

Colin played by Luke Newton

Daphne played by Phoebe Dynevor 

Eloise played by Claudia Jessie

Francesca was played by Ruby Stokes in the early seasons and now Hannah Dodd

Gregory played by Will Tilston

Hyacinth played by Florence Hunt 

So far, just the first two books have been fully developed into the Netflix series with the first half of season three just recently aired. It is to be noted that the showrunner, Jess Bronwell, attempted to stay “very faithful” to the books throughout the television series. Although this fact was shown through the first season, there were key changes to Anthony’s story, The Viscount Who Loved Me. The producers and showrunner clearly stated that they are trying to stick to the third book as much as possible. However, this might be difficult to achieve due to the alterations in the original storyline in season 2.

The first season opens with the infamous Lady Whistledown as she announces the season’s debut. The season follows Daphne as she debuts on the marriage market. She is declared the diamond of the season and her suitors are unlike anyone else. Her younger sister Eloise spends the season apathetic towards the marriage season, as she hunts for the identity of Lady Whistledown. Anthony Bridgerton spends most of his time turning away Daphne’s suitors and evaluating her eventual husband Simon, the Duke of Hastings. The story aligns with the first book to pretty acuartaly with changes not affecting the overall paring. While the differences such as Daphne’s introduction to London High Society, the Duke and Daphne’s first meeting, the secrecy of their scheme, their controversial bedroom scene, new characters, and a few minor add ons. 

While in the show Daphne is considered “flawless” and a “Diamond of the First Water,” she was not as desired in the ton during Quinn’s series. She was seen as more of a friend than a potential wife and was entering her second year on the marriage mart. That wasn’t, however, the greatest change in the serie’s first season. The meeting between Daphne and Simon differed completely. There was a small fight between Daphne and another man, Nigel Berbrooke, which occurred in the film; however, that was the instance in which Daphne and Simon met in Quinn’s book. In episode 1, Daphne and Simon met in the ballroom while Daphne was attempting to evade Mr. Berbrooke. As Anthony evaluates Simon during Season 1, Simon and Daphne have their own scheme to make suitors come to Anthony. However, in the books Anthony was made aware of their scheme to maintain order and constraint between both of them. The most pivotal moment throughout both the book and show was the controversial bedroom scene which occurred similarly but very different indeed. While in both the show and book Daphne realized what Simon was doing to maintain his vow of not continuing his heir, how and when she went about it was different. In the book series, Daphne saw her time when Simon came home drunk and flustered, while in the show they were both willing participants and Daphne simply took advantage of Simon’s vulnerability. There were very few other differences besides simple add-on characters like the dressmaker Genevieve Delacroix who worked with Lady Whistledown, Prince Friederich who Daphne almost married, and a few others. 

The second season follows the eldest Bridgerton Anthony as he starts to consider the marriage market seriously. With the pressure of continuing the Bridgerton name, he becomes acquainted with Edwina Sharma, the younger half-sister of Kate Sharma. Through a messy turn of events, Anthony ends up with Kate Sharma. Throughout the season we also follow Eloise Bridgerton in her first season on the marriage market and her disdain for it. As she tries to hunt down Lady Whistledown, she ultimately discovers in the last episode that it is her best friend Penelope Featherington. 

The second season following Anthony’s story is where the most happens and the most changes from the book are made. Both stories start with him meeting the Sharmas; however in the books, they go by the Sheffields. Throughout the book, Anthony makes it clear to himself, and soon to Kate, that he has no intention of falling in love this season as he plans to never outlive his father. In the show, Anthony proposed to Edwina and she was ready to walk down the aisle. However, once she was ready Anthony was not, and that’s when she realized he wasn’t in love with her, he was in love with her sister. In the book, that never happened. There is the famous ‘Bee Sting scene’ which occurred in both the show and book. However in the book, it is what prompted Anthony to propose to Kate after being caught in a compromising situation. Lastly, the main difference which in return, prompted change in the third season, was that Eloise never discovered the true identity of Whisteldown.   

The first part of season three follows Penelope Featherington on her third season on the marriage market. Her long term friend Colin Bridgerton came back from a three month long trip which took him to over 17 different European cities. As Penelope grapples with the fact that her best friend Eloise had found out the truth of her Lady Featherington allies. With the sixth Bridgerton beginning to look for a suitor, Francesca gains the fascination of the Queen much like her older sister Daphne. She attracts the likes of John Stirling who shares her love of the arts. The first half of the season ends with Colin and Penelopes heated discussion which leads to Colins marriage proposal.

The third season starts off with a change as they skip over Benedict and jump to Colin. It begins with Francescas entering into society. In the books, she was already Francesca Striling, a widow after losing her husband after two years. We then see the disdain and longing Penelope holds for Eloise and their friendship as she bears witness to her new relationship with the ‘devil herself’ Cressida Cowper. While Cressida enters her third year in the show, she is widowed in the book (as she pretends to be Lady Whistledown). 

Now onto the two love birds of the season, Colin and Penelope. Penelope lives through the book as a spinster with Eloise and the Bridgerton family by her side. The book focuses on revealing Lady Whistledown when Lady Danbury announces she will give 10,000 pounds to the person who can reveal her. Differing from the main point in season three being Colin helping Penelope find a husband. Both instances play out similarly in the sense that Colin slowly begins developing feelings for her. 

The show takes a very heavy turn as well when the carriage scene comes to be and Colin proposes to take her hand. Although it occurs in both the show and the book, the book played out extremely differently. Colin followed Penelope to an old church, in which she accidentally reveals herself as Lady Whistledown. While in season 3, Penelope was escaping an embarrassing situation. This plays into a new cliffhanger for those we read “Romancing Mr. Bridgerton” as we wonder how the second half of the season will play out.