Straight Time and Queer Utopia: Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma’s Disorientating Desire in the Regency

Abstract

This article analyses the romance between Anthony Bridgerton (portrayed by Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) in season two of the Shondaland production of Bridgerton. In dialogue with queer theory, principally the notions of straight time and queer utopia by José Esteban Muñoz, reproductive futurity by Lee Edelman and queer orientation by Sara Ahmed, I argue that Kate and Anthony’s relationship can be understood as “queer” within the Regency-inspired diegetic context of the series. I examine this context, as well as the historical details upon which it is based, to underscore the marriage expectations that Anthony seeks to conform to, but which his desire for the queer Kate veers him away from. Through close reading, I argue that this queer dynamic is visually reinforced, particularly through their doubling and the same-sex coding of their relationship. Ultimately, I show that instead of remaining “unhappy queers,” in line with Ahmed’s scheme, they lose their queer status in the resolution of the series as they are reincorporated into the heteronormative dominant culture through their “happy ending.” At stake, I argue, in the initial framing of their relationship as queer, is the heightened audience investment through prohibition and delayed gratification in an era of relative permissiveness.