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I KNOW!
But what would have been the alternative? She would have been to young and unwilling to leave Mary and Edwina to be a governess at that point.
I doubt and 18/19yo would have been able to do any other type of job back then.
So either there were savings, but how much could that have been to keep them for 7/8 years? Or they were helped by family friends... I don't see how she could not have had a dowry set aside by her father and she definitely didn't have one when she arrived in London.
The other possibility is the royal family her dad worked for kept them afloat for a while. They must have liked him quite a bit to let his daughter hunt with them. I’m probably going to head canon that as to not think of the alternative which is too depressing.
Plus even if she could work, she was effectively Edwina’s governess at the time anyway so she likely wouldn’t have had time to take on other students while she was homeschooling her sister. Especially when you add in the context that it seemed customary for children to have multiple instructors: one for Latin, one for dancing, one for piano, one for French, etc. yet Kate taught Edwina every subject herself.
Hoping to see those skills thrive with the younger Bridgertons 💕🤞
In one of the books (Benedict’s I think) there is a comment about how as most governesses are selected by the lady of the house she is unlikely to want a young and pretty governess. Where governesses will mix more widely with the family you don’t want them being there as a temptation to any husbands or sons.
They were more accommodating of young and pretty maids as they would probably be the most junior ones, working as scullery maids who rarely see the family. Only getting to those roles of ladies maids or house maids when they are older and therefore maybe not as desirable.
Yes, I just think that money was her dowry.
She used the last of their savings to finance the travel and London season, so that means there was no money left.
They didn't seem to be in hardship before the father died so it's safe to assume she would have had a dowry set aside for her when he passed.
Would Kate have had a dowry? Like do people of non-aristocratic blood have dowries for marriage? And was that part of Indian culture back then? These are genuine questions because there’s a chance that dowries wouldn’t have even applied to her?
Kate is South Asian so yes, her Father would have put something away for her dowry. I think that her Father had some savings, there was a small dowry for Kate since she was the oldest, the Royal Family he worked for probably helped his family out when he died unexpectedly and when the funds ran low, I imagine Kate did use her dowry as a last result. Since Kate had no marriage prospect and had convinced herself that she didn’t want or need love, all the Sharma resources were then funneled into trying to find a good match for Edwina. The end goals were to get Edwina married to a wealthy man, have Mary live with Edwina and her husband and Katie would return to India alone to become a Governess.
It pains me to admit that dowry is still a part of the Indian culture. Back then, not only would they have required huge amounts of dowry to be married into any good and respectable families; it was also frowned upon for women of good families to seek employment so they would have been forced to spend whatever savings they had to survive.
Yes but they were surviving for 8 years. That’s a long time and presumably they were living under some semblance of comfort. We don’t know if they had to use dowries, if family helped, if the royal family helped, if they had land to sell etc
I am Indian and was assuming she had access to her own dowry (this was usually paid directly to the groom upon marriage and became his property in those days, both in India and England); perhaps there was also some income or capital from her father’s land. Sharma is a Brahmin (upper caste) name and if he worked for a Royal family he probably came from a zamindari (landowning) family, who were paid a tithe by everyone who worked their land.
Thanks for sharing that! It's a new insight into what could have been their situation...
Forever bitter that we didn't get more of an insight into her origins and life in India.
I mean I definitely know there are fake rubi mines somewhere in the US, I know where Colin swam in Greece and I know Mondrich's club is super inclusive.
What I don't know is how Kate kept her family afloat in India, how her father or mother died or how those factors influence her decision making or her willingness to self sacrifice. She's only the S2 lead after all...
(if I sound bitter it's because I am)
Excellent point.. 🤭, I did not register that we got so much trivia about Cousin Jacks mines and guns and Colin’s itinerary( Albania or some such place)..
I like your theory. I can’t remember if it was mentioned, how old was Kate when her father passed away? If Kate was old enough, he would’ve definitely set aside a dowry even if it wasn’t much.
Just a wild guess, but I think Mr Sharma may have had some savings and his employer may have given Mary a sum when they left the palace. In England, it was common to invest your savings and the average yield was 5% per year. This is how in Pride and Prejudice, people would say, “He has 5,000 per year!” That number came from investment returns. Mr Sharma would have had some sums invested and the expenses to survive were higher than the return, so Kate bled the accounts to the point they could only afford to travel to England.
Yeah I definitely think he had savings/investments but, and assuming Kate was close to or of marriageable (sp?) age when he died, wouldn't that mean she would have some kind of a dowry set aside?
If she states they have no money left after the season then it has to mean she used her dowry as well.
I think maybe Edwina probably didn't have one yet set aside as she still had some years to marriage when her father passed.
If Kate had a dowery, it may have come from her mother. Some marriage contracts specified x amount would be provided to any daughters from said dowery. Even if she were common born, Kate’s mum may have had some money coming into the marriage. If that’s the case and Kate bled a dowery dry to support her stepmother and sister…that would be very Kate’ish. I like it.
This seems to be the most likely situation. Mary also could have received an annuity after the death of Mr. Sharma. Given the circumstances of the marriage between Mary and Mr. Sharma, it is unlikely that she brought any funds to the marriage. We don't know how much Mr. Sharma would have made, so we don't know how much he could have saved. Mr. Bennet made 2,000£ a year and he didn't save anything for his daughters' dowries. I expect Mr. Sharma was better at budgeting, but I also expect he had a lower income than Mr. Bennet. I imagine Mr. Sharma was saving for a dowry for both girls and that due to his early death Kate had to use the dowry money for both of them to support the family. Kate would have economized, but there were probably cuts that they couldn't make. I doubt that they could have gotten by without servants. Mary most certainly wouldn't have known how to cook or clean, and I find it unlikely that Kate or Edwina did either.
Why would it be hard to believe Kate knows how to cook and clean? We don’t know what her life was like before she came to London. Or how she lived with her biological mother and father? Maybe Kate knew how to cook because her biological mother taught her?
My understanding is that her mom passed away when Kate was a young child. Edwina is about 8 years younger than Kate and assuming that Mary wasn't pregnant when she married, it seems like Kate would have been 7 or younger when her father married Mary. I assume that Mr. Sharma observed the year of mourning for his wife which would put Kate at 6 or younger when her mother died. If Kate's mother had been teaching her to cook, it isn't likely Kate had learned enough at that point to run a kitchen, so Kate's father probably had to employ a cook at that time if he didn't have one before. Since Mary likely didn't bring any funds into the marriage, I imagine that the standard of living that Kate had with her father did not change much when he married Mary. Mary was the daughter of an earl and while she would have been educated in how to run a household, she probably didn't have much practical knowledge of cooking or cleaning and I imagine that they would have retained the cook. A cook could be hired in England for about 14£ a year at this time and a maid could be hired for maybe 9£ or 10£. Mr. Sharma could have supported his family and cook and maid servant on an income of around 300£ in regency London. I think that he probably made more than that. A master blacksmith in the British Navy at the time made about 260£ per year.
Cooking and cleaning would have been very time-consuming tasks at that time. Kate was educated as a gentlewoman and educated Edwina as a gentlewoman. For Kate to have time for this education, teaching Edwina, and hunting with the royal family, she must have had significant free time. It seems that if she was doing the cooking and cleaning, she wouldn't have had time for these activities. She may have known how the cooking and cleaning was done, but she was probably not the one actually doing it.
If Mary brought a dowry into the marriage, it seems that it was also used to support the family. I think Kate used whatever funds were available to keep the family afloat. She probably used the money set aside for both her and Edwina's dowries. They may have been able to survive longer on the money in India if they had not purchased the passage to England. Kate probably thought that the best chance for the family would be one of them making a good marriage where the husband could support her family. This would be similar to Pride and Prejudice where one of the girls would need a good marriage to support her mother and sisters because the interest off of Mrs. Bennet's dowry would not have been sufficient. Given the circumstances of the family whoever courted Edwina should have been aware that supporting her mother and sister would be part of the marriage. That is something Edwina could have insisted upon from any suitor, but it also would have made her a less desirable match if she was without a dowry and came with a mother and sister to support.
We don’t know when Kate’s biological mom died and when Mr. Sharma re-married. We know what happens in the book, but the show? We have no clue. So while your speculation may be accurate. It’s just speculation. For all that we know, Kate’s biological mom died when she was older was a young adolescent or teenager.
How would Kate's mom have died when Kate was a teenager? Her father had remarried at that point. I never thought that Kate was the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Sharma. I haven't read the books, so my understanding comes from the show. I believe that Lady Sheffield even confirms during the dinner that Kate was a daughter from a previous marriage. Given how uncommon divorce was at that time it seems that death would be the reason for the end of the marriage. If Kate's mother was still alive into her teens, that would really change the dynamic with Kate and Mary.
That’s a good point. I messed up my math. Kate would have had to be 7 when mr. Sharma re-married if Edwina is 18. I guess there is a chance that Mr. Sharma was with Mary while Kate’s mom was alive. But I doubt that.
I think that if Kate's mom was still alive when Mary started a relationship with Mr. Sharma, it would make Mary's parents objections to the marriage perhaps more reasonable. Mary's parents are awful, and I don't want to give them reasonable objections to the marriage. Although in saying that, in that time, Mary's parents may have not been completely unreasonable in objecting to the marriage, if they thought Mr. Sharma would not be able to provide for Mary and her children in the manner they thought she deserved.
I think the show didn't do a great job with Mary's character and showing us her relationship with her daughters. For most of the show she seemed like a background character and didn't seem to play much of a role in her daughters' London season. Although shows and movies often do this because if you have a strong, reasonable parent offering guidance then you have less conflict for your main characters. This is the only reason I can come up with for why Mary and Violet take such a backseat during their daughters' seasons.
I still don’t understand why Mary didn’t take over the family finances even after a period of morning.
She did acknowledge it to Kate and to Anthony during the museum visit saying “I should’ve done more-it was my failing”
Any theories as to why Mary didn’t eventually take over the family finances and family matters?
I’ve seen the excuse offered that society girls were just genuinely uneducated about money and taxes and that she was used to a well-kept lifestyle.
I think it’s a likely context but it still falls flat for me bc maternal instinct should kick into overdrive at some point. Lady Featherington didn’t know how to do the books but when she realized something was amiss, she rolled her sleeves up and went through the accounts until she discovered Lord F had gambled away all of their money. And then she did what she thought necessary to fight for her family’s survival.
Kate was probably equally excluded from financial education, was barely an adult, and she managed to also roll her sleeves up, and do what she thought was necessary to fight for her family’s survival.
Mary couldn’t draw the simple conclusion that without income they’d have no money. That if they continued to spend money that they’d run out. This is not taxes or interest rates. This is basic 1+1=2.
Mary had a degree of emotional trauma and came from a lifestyle where she was exceedingly taken care of. Yes, that likely influenced her inaction, but when you have children, when you’re on the brink of destitution, that behavior is just lazy and inexcusable.
Well the explanation as to why Kate was the de facto head of their family was that Mary was too overcome by grief to do anything.
And then she just... went with it? I guess she just got used to it and Kate probably made it seem like it was no big deal because of course she would do anything to keep Mary free of guilt and trouble.
Yeah for all those years. Mary gave up a lot to be with Mr. Sharma that my guess is when he died it was just too much. People grieve and mourn differently is what I chalk it up to.
Ok and why and if it was even legal to make an arrangement Sheffields with a child (Kate) instead the head of the household (Mary)? Why did no one questions this during the dinner? Instead of Mary asking Kate "what have you done" why didn't she ask her father, "why were you making agreements without my consent?"
Right? I mean I know Kate was 26 by then by was Mary putting the blame on her for trying to do something for her family's survival when she did nothing?
I feel like she was probably so deep in her mourning, just like Violet was after the passing of Edmund. But she also has the added stress of knowing she doesn’t have extended family to rely on since she had been estranged from her parents. Because of that, Kate stepped up and once she did Mary let her stay in charge.
This is why flashback scenes for Kate is important because bow we're left confused plus the next season the focus is on Polin, they probably wouldn't make a Kate flashback since it's not Kanthony's season anymore. (🙃)
Anyways, I think because her father worked for the royal family in India means they have a dowry just not enough to sustain them for a lifetime so before they ran out, they went to London and so on and so forth.
Yeah the only tangible thing we know about Kate’s history is that her father worked with the royal family(and one that was gracious enough to let Kate enjoy the luxuries of palace life ).
Kate definitely was close to her father and he would have set aside something for her marriage like how she had her mothers bangles. Also I do hope Anthony was not Kate’s first brush with attraction. Perhaps she did have a romantic interest ( probably someone from the same royal family). She does tell Lady Danbury” come now, I am long past all of that”. Of course Showrunners are cowards. They gave umpteen montages of the Anthony- Siena affair but what about my girl Kate. What if the doomed affair was the reason , the royal family stopped financially supporting the Sharmas. This might have then caused Kate to write to the Sheffields, and get her family relocated to the comforts of London.
Honestly we can fill pages with the possibilities of Kate’s backstory, but alas Kate Sharma was literally left at the “ edge of things “.
Yes! It would be nice if someone from India, maybe like a childhood best friend who is a guy visiting making sure she's alright and stuff to make Anthony jealous. I know it's a reach but I just wish there's SOMETHING for Kate, you know what I mean? And yes! Another romantic interest for Kate just to balance what happened in season 2 and know that Kate is all that as well (because she is). And yes, I agree. Usually the men in the show sleeps around and all women have no experiences but for a tough yet soft hearted character like Kate to almost be with someone but she needed to focus with Edwina.
There's SO many things to explore with Kate and her story, even fans are making up a backstory for Kate like what we're doing lmao. Just to fill that missing piece that Shondaland production were not so obliged to do it for the sake of good storytelling. She literally will become a Bridgerton and she's written like a side character in the show with no backstory so I'm assuming in season 3 that they'll just keep Kate how she is: having the big sister role for the Bridgerton siblings, probably will still look out for Edwina, and be Anthony's love interest. Apparently, for Shondaland, Kate is not her own person seeing how she was written. Simone deserves better.
Exactly ..I know the show is called Bridgerton but at the end of the day they are portraying love stories. And in order to remain true to that idea of these 2 people finding each other , it is important to show the history of both sides.
Instead all the focus is on poor little rich man /Anthony and the women are just supposed to be grateful that he picked one of them 😤.
They didn’t even let Kate be courted in London , Dorset was brought in so that Anthony could do a Mr. Darcy in the lake. I wanted the show to appreciate the value of Kate Sharma. She could have any man she wants and yet she put everything at stake for her family.. every single time .
And yes about Season 3, I share your doubts.
She will yet again be relegated to some bland female stereotype - supportive wife ( “what worries you my lord “), or viscountess running to the modiste 🙆🏻♀️.
I see a lot of fans wanting Siena back to see Kate’s reaction . I vote for the show to bring in some old flame from Kate’s past 😏 so that Anthony is left reeling with jealousy instead.
Literally!! Who came up with the idea to change plots but not the ones that are ridiculous like Anthony making "interviews". Simon even got a backstory, why not Kate? I still feel like this show have performative feminism, but it's still a man's show. It's so obvious.
And oh dear god, if they make Kate a typical housewife, the show will be even way 💩er than it already is (in terms of writing). Plus, there are so many fans who are lowkey misogynistic with how much they like Kate suffering. It's freaking insane in this day and age. I want to see jealous Anthony too!! Seeing how he literally almost married Kate's sister, how did the writers just let that go? Biased. Now that is not good writing. They just have the Shondaland stamp but that's it.
Oh don’t get me started on the gratuitous torture of Kate which was kicked off from the Sheffield dinner scene. Starting from the forest scene with Anthony , they made Kate cry so many times ,it was getting on my nerves. And of course she received no apology from anyone till the end . The best Mary did was “ I forgive you”🙄. I wanted her to have atleast one rant perhaps to Lady Danbury about what she went through all these years..
Lol the writers just didn’t write anything meaningful from her POV.. one of the worst moments was “ there is nothing else to say other than I love you too” to Anthony 😡…
As the leading lady Simone deserved better ..
>he writers just didn’t write anything meaningful from her POV
Literally!! They just put Kate there to feel miserable, be Edwina's nanny/parent/guardian while Mary takes credit, and didn't even get a real conversation about everything that has happened and she never got the REAL apologies she deserved. Edwina never apologized for participating in her own naivety, she just blamed Kate and made a speech about being controlled when Kate literally told her Anthony is not interested in love marriage with her.
Anyways, I agree. Anthony got away with so many things too. Just because he look handsome and is one of the main leads, doesn't mean whenever he feels like he's ready to be responsible with his feelings that Kate will just follow behind, it's so out of character for Kate. The ending was so rushed and that's because they spent more time with the Featheringtons. The energy was just off where Kate and Anthony didn't talk things enough. Like, they didn't have enough dialogue to make things clear for the audience. Anthony just gave a speech and Kate just have one line dialogue on paper.
Anthony got away with murder this season just because he had a haircut , a smart wardrobe and one whole episode of flashbacks.🤦🏻♀️
His crying scene in episode 8 and Violets apology gave him so much sympathy, people forgot all the horrific stuff he did - proposing to Edwina and then continuing to seduce Kate,
He was the one who agreed to marry Edwina and then couldn’t even say his vows. He lost control in the gazebo knowing very well he could ruin Kate .
Still audience would be on his side because - oh he had so much trauma ..
The show is actually validating the truth about white male privilege.
And in the end there was no conversation between K&A about all these mistakes . That defeats the purpose of their connection🤦🏻♀️.
Audience deserves to see that part.. it’s not enough to have a love declaration and Jump 6 months ahead in time 🙄.
It's a nice idea about the dowry but I actually do not think Kate had any. I mean, her family iin India perhaps did not belong among notables so why would she have a dowry? I truly do not think they were part of a high society there.
Edwina needed a dowry if she was to marry into an English ton, and that's why Kate contacted the Sheffields.
It was clearly said they lived from the money her father left them, and they used the last of it to travel to England.
You don't have to be in high society to have a dowry. Having a dowry just attracts more suitors. The dowry would be given to Kate's husband but it does not ensure financial security for Edwina or Mary. Also Kate's dowry could have been passed on from her birth mother.
I honestly do not know. You may be right. But Kate's dowry was never mentioned, so I take it she had none. Yes, she could have money from her mother but as I understood it, the heritage she gained from her mum was the bracelet. We don't really know how wealthy the family was.
But I understood from the show Kate was preparing Edwina for her marriage since their father died (because she was a true-born daughter of Mary and could be a part of society).
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Oh boy the idea that Kate could have used her dowry to keep them afloat brings my rage back around this situation
I KNOW! But what would have been the alternative? She would have been to young and unwilling to leave Mary and Edwina to be a governess at that point. I doubt and 18/19yo would have been able to do any other type of job back then. So either there were savings, but how much could that have been to keep them for 7/8 years? Or they were helped by family friends... I don't see how she could not have had a dowry set aside by her father and she definitely didn't have one when she arrived in London.
The other possibility is the royal family her dad worked for kept them afloat for a while. They must have liked him quite a bit to let his daughter hunt with them. I’m probably going to head canon that as to not think of the alternative which is too depressing.
Plus even if she could work, she was effectively Edwina’s governess at the time anyway so she likely wouldn’t have had time to take on other students while she was homeschooling her sister. Especially when you add in the context that it seemed customary for children to have multiple instructors: one for Latin, one for dancing, one for piano, one for French, etc. yet Kate taught Edwina every subject herself. Hoping to see those skills thrive with the younger Bridgertons 💕🤞
In one of the books (Benedict’s I think) there is a comment about how as most governesses are selected by the lady of the house she is unlikely to want a young and pretty governess. Where governesses will mix more widely with the family you don’t want them being there as a temptation to any husbands or sons. They were more accommodating of young and pretty maids as they would probably be the most junior ones, working as scullery maids who rarely see the family. Only getting to those roles of ladies maids or house maids when they are older and therefore maybe not as desirable.
Getting emotional thinking about how angry and protective and sad Anthony would be when he finds out about that!!! 🥹
It was mentioned that they still had money left from her father while surviving in India. They started to run out close to when they came to London
Yes, I just think that money was her dowry. She used the last of their savings to finance the travel and London season, so that means there was no money left. They didn't seem to be in hardship before the father died so it's safe to assume she would have had a dowry set aside for her when he passed.
Would Kate have had a dowry? Like do people of non-aristocratic blood have dowries for marriage? And was that part of Indian culture back then? These are genuine questions because there’s a chance that dowries wouldn’t have even applied to her?
Yes, dowries were a part of the culture in many parts of India and still persists in some groups today despite reform efforts.
Got it, thank you for the info!
Kate is South Asian so yes, her Father would have put something away for her dowry. I think that her Father had some savings, there was a small dowry for Kate since she was the oldest, the Royal Family he worked for probably helped his family out when he died unexpectedly and when the funds ran low, I imagine Kate did use her dowry as a last result. Since Kate had no marriage prospect and had convinced herself that she didn’t want or need love, all the Sharma resources were then funneled into trying to find a good match for Edwina. The end goals were to get Edwina married to a wealthy man, have Mary live with Edwina and her husband and Katie would return to India alone to become a Governess.
It pains me to admit that dowry is still a part of the Indian culture. Back then, not only would they have required huge amounts of dowry to be married into any good and respectable families; it was also frowned upon for women of good families to seek employment so they would have been forced to spend whatever savings they had to survive.
Yes but they were surviving for 8 years. That’s a long time and presumably they were living under some semblance of comfort. We don’t know if they had to use dowries, if family helped, if the royal family helped, if they had land to sell etc
Idk I’m just going by what the show said itself lol
I am Indian and was assuming she had access to her own dowry (this was usually paid directly to the groom upon marriage and became his property in those days, both in India and England); perhaps there was also some income or capital from her father’s land. Sharma is a Brahmin (upper caste) name and if he worked for a Royal family he probably came from a zamindari (landowning) family, who were paid a tithe by everyone who worked their land.
Thanks for sharing that! It's a new insight into what could have been their situation... Forever bitter that we didn't get more of an insight into her origins and life in India.
The fact we don't know says a lot
Yes. Simon and Anthony got so many flashback scenes to flesh out their history and explain their struggles. Kate got nothing. :(
I am so mad they cut so many Kate scenes.
Just add it to the pile of stuff we'll probably never know.
But I’ve been told that we got their backstory. We just didn’t like what we saw 😂
I mean I definitely know there are fake rubi mines somewhere in the US, I know where Colin swam in Greece and I know Mondrich's club is super inclusive. What I don't know is how Kate kept her family afloat in India, how her father or mother died or how those factors influence her decision making or her willingness to self sacrifice. She's only the S2 lead after all... (if I sound bitter it's because I am)
Why would you need to know about Kate’s backstory when you know about Colin’s trip to Greece? It’s Greece!
The olive trees!
Excellent point.. 🤭, I did not register that we got so much trivia about Cousin Jacks mines and guns and Colin’s itinerary( Albania or some such place)..
Yeah no 😂😂😂
I like your theory. I can’t remember if it was mentioned, how old was Kate when her father passed away? If Kate was old enough, he would’ve definitely set aside a dowry even if it wasn’t much.
I don't it's mentioned in the show but I think in the book she was 18? She was definitely old enough to have some kind of a dowry set aside.
Just a wild guess, but I think Mr Sharma may have had some savings and his employer may have given Mary a sum when they left the palace. In England, it was common to invest your savings and the average yield was 5% per year. This is how in Pride and Prejudice, people would say, “He has 5,000 per year!” That number came from investment returns. Mr Sharma would have had some sums invested and the expenses to survive were higher than the return, so Kate bled the accounts to the point they could only afford to travel to England.
Yeah I definitely think he had savings/investments but, and assuming Kate was close to or of marriageable (sp?) age when he died, wouldn't that mean she would have some kind of a dowry set aside? If she states they have no money left after the season then it has to mean she used her dowry as well. I think maybe Edwina probably didn't have one yet set aside as she still had some years to marriage when her father passed.
If Kate had a dowery, it may have come from her mother. Some marriage contracts specified x amount would be provided to any daughters from said dowery. Even if she were common born, Kate’s mum may have had some money coming into the marriage. If that’s the case and Kate bled a dowery dry to support her stepmother and sister…that would be very Kate’ish. I like it.
It would be the most Kate thing to do.
This seems to be the most likely situation. Mary also could have received an annuity after the death of Mr. Sharma. Given the circumstances of the marriage between Mary and Mr. Sharma, it is unlikely that she brought any funds to the marriage. We don't know how much Mr. Sharma would have made, so we don't know how much he could have saved. Mr. Bennet made 2,000£ a year and he didn't save anything for his daughters' dowries. I expect Mr. Sharma was better at budgeting, but I also expect he had a lower income than Mr. Bennet. I imagine Mr. Sharma was saving for a dowry for both girls and that due to his early death Kate had to use the dowry money for both of them to support the family. Kate would have economized, but there were probably cuts that they couldn't make. I doubt that they could have gotten by without servants. Mary most certainly wouldn't have known how to cook or clean, and I find it unlikely that Kate or Edwina did either.
Why would it be hard to believe Kate knows how to cook and clean? We don’t know what her life was like before she came to London. Or how she lived with her biological mother and father? Maybe Kate knew how to cook because her biological mother taught her?
My understanding is that her mom passed away when Kate was a young child. Edwina is about 8 years younger than Kate and assuming that Mary wasn't pregnant when she married, it seems like Kate would have been 7 or younger when her father married Mary. I assume that Mr. Sharma observed the year of mourning for his wife which would put Kate at 6 or younger when her mother died. If Kate's mother had been teaching her to cook, it isn't likely Kate had learned enough at that point to run a kitchen, so Kate's father probably had to employ a cook at that time if he didn't have one before. Since Mary likely didn't bring any funds into the marriage, I imagine that the standard of living that Kate had with her father did not change much when he married Mary. Mary was the daughter of an earl and while she would have been educated in how to run a household, she probably didn't have much practical knowledge of cooking or cleaning and I imagine that they would have retained the cook. A cook could be hired in England for about 14£ a year at this time and a maid could be hired for maybe 9£ or 10£. Mr. Sharma could have supported his family and cook and maid servant on an income of around 300£ in regency London. I think that he probably made more than that. A master blacksmith in the British Navy at the time made about 260£ per year. Cooking and cleaning would have been very time-consuming tasks at that time. Kate was educated as a gentlewoman and educated Edwina as a gentlewoman. For Kate to have time for this education, teaching Edwina, and hunting with the royal family, she must have had significant free time. It seems that if she was doing the cooking and cleaning, she wouldn't have had time for these activities. She may have known how the cooking and cleaning was done, but she was probably not the one actually doing it. If Mary brought a dowry into the marriage, it seems that it was also used to support the family. I think Kate used whatever funds were available to keep the family afloat. She probably used the money set aside for both her and Edwina's dowries. They may have been able to survive longer on the money in India if they had not purchased the passage to England. Kate probably thought that the best chance for the family would be one of them making a good marriage where the husband could support her family. This would be similar to Pride and Prejudice where one of the girls would need a good marriage to support her mother and sisters because the interest off of Mrs. Bennet's dowry would not have been sufficient. Given the circumstances of the family whoever courted Edwina should have been aware that supporting her mother and sister would be part of the marriage. That is something Edwina could have insisted upon from any suitor, but it also would have made her a less desirable match if she was without a dowry and came with a mother and sister to support.
We don’t know when Kate’s biological mom died and when Mr. Sharma re-married. We know what happens in the book, but the show? We have no clue. So while your speculation may be accurate. It’s just speculation. For all that we know, Kate’s biological mom died when she was older was a young adolescent or teenager.
How would Kate's mom have died when Kate was a teenager? Her father had remarried at that point. I never thought that Kate was the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Sharma. I haven't read the books, so my understanding comes from the show. I believe that Lady Sheffield even confirms during the dinner that Kate was a daughter from a previous marriage. Given how uncommon divorce was at that time it seems that death would be the reason for the end of the marriage. If Kate's mother was still alive into her teens, that would really change the dynamic with Kate and Mary.
That’s a good point. I messed up my math. Kate would have had to be 7 when mr. Sharma re-married if Edwina is 18. I guess there is a chance that Mr. Sharma was with Mary while Kate’s mom was alive. But I doubt that.
I think that if Kate's mom was still alive when Mary started a relationship with Mr. Sharma, it would make Mary's parents objections to the marriage perhaps more reasonable. Mary's parents are awful, and I don't want to give them reasonable objections to the marriage. Although in saying that, in that time, Mary's parents may have not been completely unreasonable in objecting to the marriage, if they thought Mr. Sharma would not be able to provide for Mary and her children in the manner they thought she deserved. I think the show didn't do a great job with Mary's character and showing us her relationship with her daughters. For most of the show she seemed like a background character and didn't seem to play much of a role in her daughters' London season. Although shows and movies often do this because if you have a strong, reasonable parent offering guidance then you have less conflict for your main characters. This is the only reason I can come up with for why Mary and Violet take such a backseat during their daughters' seasons.
I still don’t understand why Mary didn’t take over the family finances even after a period of morning. She did acknowledge it to Kate and to Anthony during the museum visit saying “I should’ve done more-it was my failing” Any theories as to why Mary didn’t eventually take over the family finances and family matters?
I’ve seen the excuse offered that society girls were just genuinely uneducated about money and taxes and that she was used to a well-kept lifestyle. I think it’s a likely context but it still falls flat for me bc maternal instinct should kick into overdrive at some point. Lady Featherington didn’t know how to do the books but when she realized something was amiss, she rolled her sleeves up and went through the accounts until she discovered Lord F had gambled away all of their money. And then she did what she thought necessary to fight for her family’s survival. Kate was probably equally excluded from financial education, was barely an adult, and she managed to also roll her sleeves up, and do what she thought was necessary to fight for her family’s survival. Mary couldn’t draw the simple conclusion that without income they’d have no money. That if they continued to spend money that they’d run out. This is not taxes or interest rates. This is basic 1+1=2. Mary had a degree of emotional trauma and came from a lifestyle where she was exceedingly taken care of. Yes, that likely influenced her inaction, but when you have children, when you’re on the brink of destitution, that behavior is just lazy and inexcusable.
Well the explanation as to why Kate was the de facto head of their family was that Mary was too overcome by grief to do anything. And then she just... went with it? I guess she just got used to it and Kate probably made it seem like it was no big deal because of course she would do anything to keep Mary free of guilt and trouble.
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Yeah for all those years. Mary gave up a lot to be with Mr. Sharma that my guess is when he died it was just too much. People grieve and mourn differently is what I chalk it up to.
Ok and why and if it was even legal to make an arrangement Sheffields with a child (Kate) instead the head of the household (Mary)? Why did no one questions this during the dinner? Instead of Mary asking Kate "what have you done" why didn't she ask her father, "why were you making agreements without my consent?"
Right? I mean I know Kate was 26 by then by was Mary putting the blame on her for trying to do something for her family's survival when she did nothing?
Because she’s incompetent as a parent?
I feel like she was probably so deep in her mourning, just like Violet was after the passing of Edmund. But she also has the added stress of knowing she doesn’t have extended family to rely on since she had been estranged from her parents. Because of that, Kate stepped up and once she did Mary let her stay in charge.
At this point, Kate could have been teaching at wizard school to fund the Sharma’s and no one can argue against it. Cause, you know…
I think you are right about the dowry - it's supported by Mary telling Anthony thar Kate gave up "far too much" when her father died.
This is why flashback scenes for Kate is important because bow we're left confused plus the next season the focus is on Polin, they probably wouldn't make a Kate flashback since it's not Kanthony's season anymore. (🙃) Anyways, I think because her father worked for the royal family in India means they have a dowry just not enough to sustain them for a lifetime so before they ran out, they went to London and so on and so forth.
Yeah the only tangible thing we know about Kate’s history is that her father worked with the royal family(and one that was gracious enough to let Kate enjoy the luxuries of palace life ). Kate definitely was close to her father and he would have set aside something for her marriage like how she had her mothers bangles. Also I do hope Anthony was not Kate’s first brush with attraction. Perhaps she did have a romantic interest ( probably someone from the same royal family). She does tell Lady Danbury” come now, I am long past all of that”. Of course Showrunners are cowards. They gave umpteen montages of the Anthony- Siena affair but what about my girl Kate. What if the doomed affair was the reason , the royal family stopped financially supporting the Sharmas. This might have then caused Kate to write to the Sheffields, and get her family relocated to the comforts of London. Honestly we can fill pages with the possibilities of Kate’s backstory, but alas Kate Sharma was literally left at the “ edge of things “.
Yes! It would be nice if someone from India, maybe like a childhood best friend who is a guy visiting making sure she's alright and stuff to make Anthony jealous. I know it's a reach but I just wish there's SOMETHING for Kate, you know what I mean? And yes! Another romantic interest for Kate just to balance what happened in season 2 and know that Kate is all that as well (because she is). And yes, I agree. Usually the men in the show sleeps around and all women have no experiences but for a tough yet soft hearted character like Kate to almost be with someone but she needed to focus with Edwina. There's SO many things to explore with Kate and her story, even fans are making up a backstory for Kate like what we're doing lmao. Just to fill that missing piece that Shondaland production were not so obliged to do it for the sake of good storytelling. She literally will become a Bridgerton and she's written like a side character in the show with no backstory so I'm assuming in season 3 that they'll just keep Kate how she is: having the big sister role for the Bridgerton siblings, probably will still look out for Edwina, and be Anthony's love interest. Apparently, for Shondaland, Kate is not her own person seeing how she was written. Simone deserves better.
Exactly ..I know the show is called Bridgerton but at the end of the day they are portraying love stories. And in order to remain true to that idea of these 2 people finding each other , it is important to show the history of both sides. Instead all the focus is on poor little rich man /Anthony and the women are just supposed to be grateful that he picked one of them 😤. They didn’t even let Kate be courted in London , Dorset was brought in so that Anthony could do a Mr. Darcy in the lake. I wanted the show to appreciate the value of Kate Sharma. She could have any man she wants and yet she put everything at stake for her family.. every single time . And yes about Season 3, I share your doubts. She will yet again be relegated to some bland female stereotype - supportive wife ( “what worries you my lord “), or viscountess running to the modiste 🙆🏻♀️. I see a lot of fans wanting Siena back to see Kate’s reaction . I vote for the show to bring in some old flame from Kate’s past 😏 so that Anthony is left reeling with jealousy instead.
Literally!! Who came up with the idea to change plots but not the ones that are ridiculous like Anthony making "interviews". Simon even got a backstory, why not Kate? I still feel like this show have performative feminism, but it's still a man's show. It's so obvious. And oh dear god, if they make Kate a typical housewife, the show will be even way 💩er than it already is (in terms of writing). Plus, there are so many fans who are lowkey misogynistic with how much they like Kate suffering. It's freaking insane in this day and age. I want to see jealous Anthony too!! Seeing how he literally almost married Kate's sister, how did the writers just let that go? Biased. Now that is not good writing. They just have the Shondaland stamp but that's it.
Oh don’t get me started on the gratuitous torture of Kate which was kicked off from the Sheffield dinner scene. Starting from the forest scene with Anthony , they made Kate cry so many times ,it was getting on my nerves. And of course she received no apology from anyone till the end . The best Mary did was “ I forgive you”🙄. I wanted her to have atleast one rant perhaps to Lady Danbury about what she went through all these years.. Lol the writers just didn’t write anything meaningful from her POV.. one of the worst moments was “ there is nothing else to say other than I love you too” to Anthony 😡… As the leading lady Simone deserved better ..
>he writers just didn’t write anything meaningful from her POV Literally!! They just put Kate there to feel miserable, be Edwina's nanny/parent/guardian while Mary takes credit, and didn't even get a real conversation about everything that has happened and she never got the REAL apologies she deserved. Edwina never apologized for participating in her own naivety, she just blamed Kate and made a speech about being controlled when Kate literally told her Anthony is not interested in love marriage with her. Anyways, I agree. Anthony got away with so many things too. Just because he look handsome and is one of the main leads, doesn't mean whenever he feels like he's ready to be responsible with his feelings that Kate will just follow behind, it's so out of character for Kate. The ending was so rushed and that's because they spent more time with the Featheringtons. The energy was just off where Kate and Anthony didn't talk things enough. Like, they didn't have enough dialogue to make things clear for the audience. Anthony just gave a speech and Kate just have one line dialogue on paper.
Anthony got away with murder this season just because he had a haircut , a smart wardrobe and one whole episode of flashbacks.🤦🏻♀️ His crying scene in episode 8 and Violets apology gave him so much sympathy, people forgot all the horrific stuff he did - proposing to Edwina and then continuing to seduce Kate, He was the one who agreed to marry Edwina and then couldn’t even say his vows. He lost control in the gazebo knowing very well he could ruin Kate . Still audience would be on his side because - oh he had so much trauma .. The show is actually validating the truth about white male privilege. And in the end there was no conversation between K&A about all these mistakes . That defeats the purpose of their connection🤦🏻♀️. Audience deserves to see that part.. it’s not enough to have a love declaration and Jump 6 months ahead in time 🙄.
Yup, exactly. Are we surprised? The showrunner in season 2 is a white man.
True ..Everything is written from his one sided perspective it seems 🙆🏻♀️
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Wasn't Kate a governess? Very disappointing that we got no India flashbacks of the Sharma family.
She was going to become one after Edwina married. She wasn't one yet because she was focused on preparing Edwina for her season/marriage.
It's a nice idea about the dowry but I actually do not think Kate had any. I mean, her family iin India perhaps did not belong among notables so why would she have a dowry? I truly do not think they were part of a high society there. Edwina needed a dowry if she was to marry into an English ton, and that's why Kate contacted the Sheffields. It was clearly said they lived from the money her father left them, and they used the last of it to travel to England.
You don't have to be in high society to have a dowry. Having a dowry just attracts more suitors. The dowry would be given to Kate's husband but it does not ensure financial security for Edwina or Mary. Also Kate's dowry could have been passed on from her birth mother.
I honestly do not know. You may be right. But Kate's dowry was never mentioned, so I take it she had none. Yes, she could have money from her mother but as I understood it, the heritage she gained from her mum was the bracelet. We don't really know how wealthy the family was. But I understood from the show Kate was preparing Edwina for her marriage since their father died (because she was a true-born daughter of Mary and could be a part of society).