#polin are gonna have 15 children very fast the way they're going

[pensbridge]

Thinking about how Pen and Colin parallel Charlotte and George: Both women at 17 make declarations about their ideals on marriage for how they must pave their way in society. Granted, Charlotte is against marriage so young (to a man she doesn't know and a king at that), because she thinks it will strip her of freedom; meanwhile Pen begins her journey of realizing her priorities and eventually setting out to find a husband, because she thinks it will give her freedom escaping the confines of her home. Charlotte struggles under the title as queen in the confinement of this home, where the dinners are very formal and her husband is rarely there. All the while George has this secret regarding mental illness and his shame that burdens him with a woman who he does not know will accept this part of him. Pen and Colin knew each other, but have the Whistledown secret hanging over their marriage, and they spend time close, but with a wall that shuts them off from the root of what's going on emotionally. Both couples are in their marriages lonely and not being fully honest with each other about it. George and Colin are also very similar, as internal beings who are not outward in how they solve their inner conflict. They retreat into themselves, and try to distract with particular interests of stargazing, farming and writing (it doesn't work out for Colin as much as it doesn't for George because both are clearly unhappy in their distractions, but it's more obvious for Colin when writing is an outlet that needs a clear-headed thought process). They also both have a huge shift when the love of their lives tell them they love them explicitly like never before.

Last but not least, collectively both couples are the the youngest leads Bridgerton has had, Penelope and Colin having the smallest age gap, and it gives a feel (for both) of navigating the world together like never before while having these communication issues and missing each other going on under the surface.