To Sir Phillip, With Love Literary Elements

Historical Romance

Set in England in 1824.

The narration is in third person.

Detached; Somber; Woeful; Loving

The protagonist of the book is Sir Phillip and Eloise Bridgeton. The antagonist is expectations, single parenthood, and loneliness.

The correspondence between Sir Philip and Eloise Bridgeton lead to a romantic connection and prospects of marriage for the widower and the spinster. Upon their meet-up, their expectations of each other are suddenly crushed as they have to grapple with the new reality. That Philip has children from his previous marriage while Eloise is not like anything the widower expected in regards to personality.

The climax occurs when Phillip and Eloise have an emotional exchange in which Phillip has an outburst about his unhappy marriage to Marina.

The impression each made on the other in the letters foreshadow the shattered expectations once Phillip and Eloise meet.

“Until you’ve lived through all that,” he said, “don’t you ever complain about what we have. Because to me . . . to me . . .” He choked on the words, but he barely paused before he continued. “This—us—is heaven. And I can’t bear to hear you say otherwise.”

In the statement, Sir Phillip understates the problems of his current marriage by comparing them to the issues in the previous marriage.

The narrative alludes to the traditions of the Bridgeton family as done in previous marital unions. For instance –“Normally, the ceremony would have taken place in Kent, at the Bridgerton family seat, or at the very least in London, where the family attended church regularly at St. George’s in Hanover Square”

“She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time since she’d arrived. He was quite handsome in a rough, slightly unkempt sort of way. His dark hair looked in dire need of a good trim, and his skin showed signs of a faint tan, which was impressive considering how little sunshine they’d enjoyed lately. He was large and muscular, and sat in his chair with a careless, athletic sort of grace, legs sprawled in a manner that would not have been acceptable in a London drawing room.”

The paradox is in the unorthodox origin and nature of the union between the two main characters. Eloise is a contented spinster who wishes to live life on her own terms while Phillip is a widower scarred by his former marriage yet longs for a partner.

The direct parallel in the narrative is between Eloise and her friend Penelope; both had decided to embrace spinsterhood. However, once Penelope decides to marry Colin, Eloise goes on to accept Phillip’s proposal in hopes of marriage.

“…had pronounced it “in God’s hands”

“His dark eyes assumed a devilish twinkle, full of humor and mischief”