What Happens To Eloise In The Bridgerton Books & How The Show Is Different

Warning! SPOILERS about Bridgerton season 3, episode 8 and To Sir Phillip, With Love ahead.

Summary

• Eloise’s role in Bridgerton season 3 diverges from the books, focusing more on self-discovery and a return to questioning societal norms.
• Eloise’s story in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and To Sir Phillip, With Love leads her to run away to Gloucestershire to marry Sir Phillip Crane after a year-long epistolary exchange.
• Bridgerton season 3 sets up Eloise for a new path, prioritizing her aspirations to change the world over just pursuing a marriage out of fear of remaining a spinster alone.

With Bridgerton season 3 focusing on Colin and Penelope’s romance, Eloise unmistakably played a big role, leading to her story developing differently in the show from Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books. Bridgerton season 2 ending with Eloise discovering Penelope’s secret identity as Lady Whistledown and swearing off their friendship guaranteed Eloise would have had a big part in Bridgerton season 3, because of Colin courting Penelope and especially Whistledown’s secret being such a central theme in Penelope’s story. Eloise and Penelope’s fight changed many Bridgerton season 3 developments compared to the books, making an equal change in Eloise’s future story likely.

If Bridgerton season 2’s ending saw Eloise put herself first after faulting Penelope for her choices of the morsels of information she shared on Whistledown, season 3 saw her pushing back on everything that made her Eloise, instead wishing to fit in, even trying to make friends with other debutantes beyond Cressida. Bridgerton season 3, part 2 put Eloise in front of even bigger challenges with Penelope’s secret being discovered by Colin and her once-friend Cressida blackmailing Penelope, making sure that who she was at the beginning of season 3 wasn’t the Eloise that emerged in Bridgerton season 3’s ending.

What Happens To Eloise In The Bridgerton Books

Eloise’s Story In Season 3 Diverges Completely From Romancing Mr. Bridgerton’s

Eloise discovering Penelope’s Whistledown secret before everyone else in Bridgerton season 2 guaranteed her story would have been a relatively clean slate in season 3, only marginally mirroring her journey in Colin and Penelope’s book, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. If Bridgerton season 3, part 1 saw Eloise more opposed to Colin and Penelope’s marriage than in the book, her feelings were similar once she reconciled with Penelope. Indeed, Eloise felt as lonely as a consequence of everyone pairing up in Bridgerton season 3 as she did in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, but her reaction in the show differed greatly from the book’s.

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton portrayed Eloise as more secretive, always hiding away in her room to write letters, but only the sixth Bridgerton book, To Sir Phillip, With Love which focused on her story revealed why. While Eloise also hid something from Colin in Bridgerton season 3, her reasons were different, as she wanted to protect Colin, while in the books, Eloise kept her correspondence with Phillip a secret at first by chance, wanting to talk about her problems with her siblings but being unable to, and later by choice because he was the only thing nobody knew about.

Eloise’s story in the books is very different from her path in
Bridgerton
season 3, as she kept a correspondence with her prospective love interest in the fourth
Bridgerton
book before running away to his estate in the fifth book,
To Sir Phillip, With Love
.

The secrecy of Eloise and Phillip’s year-long epistolary exchange in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton prompted Eloise’s most reckless choice, to run away to Gloucestershire in To Sir Phillip, With Love to figure out for herself if Phillip could be a potential companion and husband. Their relationship not only struggled to translate from the letters to their face-to-face meetings but it was also only welcomed by Phillip because he was looking for a new maternal figure for his twins Oliver and Amanda after the death of his wife, Marina Thompson. These premises caused many obstacles in Eloise and Phillip’s romance at first.

Who Eloise Marries In The Bridgerton Books

Eloise Runs Away To Sir Phillip Crane & Eventually Marries Him In To Sir Phillip, With Love

Running away from London already guaranteed Eloise would have likely had to marry Phillip in To Sir Phillip, With Love, even if they eventually understood each other and where they were coming from, finding love as a result. Despite being fueled by the wrong reasons (feeling sorry having been left alone because the person she counted on remaining a spinster with married her brother Colin), Eloise’s gamble led her to true love and marriage in the books. However, Eloise’s happy ending also included from the first moment two children, as she bonded with Oliver and Amanda before connecting with Phillip.

Oliver and Amanda struggled with the grief of losing Marina like Phillip, but his absence made it worse, prompting a cycle of the twins acting out to get Phillip’s attention, which would get their governess or teacher to leave, eventually leading to Phillip punishing them. Eloise found herself propelled into the Cranes’ problems in To Sir Phillip, With Love, forcing her into a maternal role before she realized she wanted a romantic relationship with Phillip. This development was already unusual for book Eloise, who didn’t actively look for a match, but would be completely at odds with TV show Eloise.

How Bridgerton Is Changing Eloise’s Book Story

Eloise’s Story In Bridgerton Season 3 Is Much More Focused On Herself Than Reacting To Colin & Pen

Her path in Bridgerton season 3 made sure Eloise’s book story won’t happen, at least not how the books introduced it. Indeed, while Eloise willingly “joined the winning side” in Bridgerton season 3, part 1, not fighting the rules of society she never understood, even trying to fit in, part 2 showed her more similar to how she was in Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2. Eloise’s fallout with Cressida and worries about Penelope being ruined as the Lady Whistledown secret hovered over them forced Eloise to face her path to find herself, beyond feeling lonely because everyone else paired up.

The epitome of Eloise’s book changes in Bridgerton season 3 is her request to follow Francesca and John Stirling to Scotland, wanting to “live for a little while outside our tiny bubble” and have adventures, as a prerequisite for her wish to change the world. Eloise expressed twice the wish to see the world to change it in Bridgerton season 3’s ending, first in her talk with Benedict, and then when she asked Francesca if she could join her in Scotland. Returning to wanting to change the world put the focus back on Eloise’s aspirations, this time beyond uncovering Whistledown.

Eloise’s path in
Bridgerton
season 3 and the story’s focus on finding her purpose puts her farther away from her book story.

While Eloise’s escape to Gloucestershire in the book is fueled by the fear of remaining alone, Eloise’s trip to Scotland is motivated by a wish to learn more about life outside the ton, something she already felt in Bridgerton season 2 and pushed her toward Theo. Bridgerton season 3 made sure to put Eloise’s wishes at the center of her story, allowing her to find her purpose similarly to her brothers, without pushing her into a marriage she never wanted, as her sisters apart from Hyacinth all married rapidly.

The development doesn’t erase romance from Eloise’s story, as she could very much find love with Phillip, or Theo, or any other new potential romantic interest in the future. However, putting Eloise’s desires and plans to change the world first centers on her purpose and decenters love, which was never one of Eloise’s wishes or interests to begin with in Netflix’s Bridgerton. This makes Eloise’s story in Bridgerton’s future all the more interesting, as it could not only tell a different story from the books but also lead to the fulfillment of Eloise’s full potential.

Bridgerton season 3 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.