While Netflix’s Bridgerton is both incredibly romantic and erotic, the reality is it’s estimated 1in 5 people in the Regency period in London had syphilis and other STIs.
Writers did it themselves back in the 19th-century so modern period dramas should be cut some slack for trying to prioritise modern aesthetic tastes over historical accuracy.
‘Bridgerton’ alludes to and obscures social, racial and political tensions in England’s Regency era, the extraordinary decade that marks the dawn of the modern world.