‘Bridgerton’ Season 1: Marina Thompson’s Necklace Was a Subtle Nod to George Crane
Netflix’s Bridgerton stays pretty accurate to the main plot points of the romance books that inspired it. However, one of the biggest scandals of the show’s first season didn’t happen at all in Julia Quinn’s books that the show is based on. That is the sad backstory of Ruby Barker‘s character, Miss Marina Thompson, who shows up in Quinn’s works, but only in the past tense and much later on.
Marina Thompson’s necklace had a significant meaning
Marina Thompson comes to stay with the Featheringtons in Mayfair at the beginning of the social season and is swiftly courted by several eligible bachelors. However, the audience soon learns that Marina is pregnant while her lover, George Crane, is fighting in the Peninsular War in Spain. Marina’s “condition” may be evident to the observant, though, as she wears a tiny portrait of her lover’s eye around her neck on a strand of pearls.
Bridgerton’s costume designer, Ellen Mirojnick, told Insider that the necklace Marina wears has profound meaning. According to Mirojnick, in the 18th century, it was common for women to commission miniature paintings of their lovers’ eyes to be worn as jewelry, such as a necklace, brooch, ring, or pendant. Lover’s eye jewelry allowed wearers to discreetly keep a token of their significant other close at all times. Marina’s pendant is made of pearls and hangs from a simple gold chain.
What happens to Marina Thompson in’Bridgerton’?
By the time Marina Thompson gets to Mayfair, her lover George Crane has stopped answering her letters. Marina and her cousins plan throughout the season to have her hastily married off to Colin Bridgerton or another nobleman to hide her pregnancy. When things don’t work out, Marina is forced to take a third, much safer option that comes up just in time.
At the end of the first season, a very downtrodden Marina learns the heartbreaking reason George hasn’t been writing her back: he died in the war. Marina learns of George’s death from his brother, Philip Crane, who proposes to marry her to protect his family name. Since Marina’s pregnancy has been publicized throughout the Ton, thanks to Lady Whistledown’s envious pen, she has little choice but to accept Philip’s proposal and leave with him.
In Season 2, once Colin Bridgerton returns after traveling the world, he decides to visit his former flame. Marina may not be happy with where her life has taken her, but she has accepted it and is now sending Colin and his dreams of a happy ending away. Meanwhile, Philip and Colin develop a bromance, much to Marina’s displeasure, and we learn that she gave birth to twins.
What happens to Marina Thompson in Quinn’s books?
Very little of what happens in the show occurs in Julia Quinn’s books. Even when Marina’s narrative does appear in Quinn’s works, it is only in flashbacks. We encounter Marina for the first time in the prologue of To Sir Philip, With Love, which chronicles Eloise Bridgerton‘s journey to finding love.
At the beginning of the book, Philip is still grieving over the attempted suicide and subsequent fever death of his wife of eight years, Marina. He recalls Marina as being “melancholy” the whole time they were together and as someone who “did not laugh or joke.”
Unlike in the show, Marina is not presented as a hidden lover of George Crane. She is instead described as George’s fiance before his death. Additionally, Marina has twins with Philip, who says he didn’t love her and had never really loved her.
Quinn’s version is a tragic ending for a protagonist who never seems to win. So, here’s to hoping that Netflix makes some changes to the original story to give the on-screen Marina the happy ending she deserves.
