The Duke and I

Quinn uses her prologue and first chapter to lay out key themes and introduce the two main characters, Simon and Daphne. The prologue’s emphasis on Simon’s childhood trauma establishes that these issues, and Simon’s struggle to reconcile with his past as an adult, will be important to the rest of the work. Quinn also establishes continuities between Simon’s younger and adult selves: Simon remains persistent and self-directed. As an adult, he is haunted by his past—uncomfortable with any association with the father who rejected him and firm in his resolve not to marry. However, Simon also appears aware of his own loneliness and that a family like the Bridgertons may have something his own life has been missing. This allows Quinn to foreshadow that meeting Daphne will prove consequential for Simon in ways he may not want or anticipate.

The Duke and I primarily features two alternating perspectives: Daphne’s third person narrative, and Simon’s. This way, the reader is aware of Simon’s secrets and the reasons he refuses marriage. At the same time, the reader is able to sympathize with Daphne’s devotion to her family, her growing love for Simon, and her desire for a family of her own. The alternating perspectives ensure that the reader understands the central conflict before the characters do, helping to create sympathy for each of them. The brief interludes from the perspectives of other characters in later chapters will allow the reader to access information Daphne does not yet have. Lady Whistledown’s gossip sheets serve a similar function, providing a method of exposition and plot momentum that does not rely on character action.

Quinn also uses these early chapters to establish what will be the primary conflict of Daphne and Simon’s developing relationship: While Simon disdains society and his place in it, Daphne is absorbed with gossip and social standing. Lady Violet’s preoccupation with Lady Whistledown’s identity—and the power her words may wield—reinforces that social status for women depends on their marriageability and their ability to produce families. Violet feels personally attacked by public discussion of her daughter, and Daphne can only calm her down with reminders that her marriage prospects have not truly been damaged. The Bridgertons are a slightly unusual family in a way Lady Whistledown does not mention: Daphne’s parents were happily married, and her brother is unwilling to see her marry someone she dislikes, even though he is the patriarch of the family and could insist. The romance genre requires that the plot of a work center around a relationship, and a happy ending: Quinn builds upon this requirement by constructing characters who share a more egalitarian vision of marriage.