Without a doubt, one of the best things about the new Netflix series, Bridgerton, was Simon Basset aka the Duke of Hastings. Those in charge made the absolute right call by casting the very charming and handsome, Regé-Jean Page, for the part.
The character wouldn’t have been half as compelling without this great casting, but his charisma makes it easy to relate to and love Simon and his flaws and struggles. But, while he might be a rich Duke, Simon also has a pretty difficult life in many regards.
His inability to fully embrace falling in love
Given what happened to his mother and how horrible Simon’s father, Lord Hastings, it’s not surprising that Simon doesn’t have a great relationship to neither love in general nor to his own emotions.
He’s rather locked down with his emotional connections in general, and he doesn’t open up a lot. This is especially true with any romantic entanglements.
People assumed he didn’t respect others
Simon is a character who follows many tropes of the womanizing bad boy with a heart of gold. However, these somehow come across as interesting and not totally cliche.
Because he’s known to sleep around, something that men in the show can get away with but not be ired for, people assume that he’s never a gentleman and that he would hurt a woman. But, this really isn’t true at all.
He was coerced into trying to produce a child without his consent
The scene when Daphne gets on top of Simon to ensure that she is impregnated by him is really problematic in a lot of ways. However, it’s also really complicated given Daphne’s minimal understanding of sexual relationships in the first place. But, this doesn’t make it any less troubling to watch a Black man be assaulted in this way.
It was upsetting to watch this happen. And, while he should have communicated with Daphne sooner why he didn't’ want to have children instead of saying he couldn’t, it’s still not an excuse.
He couldn’t make out with the woman he loved without being painted as immoral
Bridgerton takes place in a fictionalized world that is somewhat based on real-life gender and sexual politics from the Regency era. But, it’s definitely not entirely realistic.
However, it is true that in certain upper levels of society that a woman couldn’t ever be seen as not being virtuous. So, it was really sad for both Simon and Daphne that making out and being seen by someone else could have ruined Daphne’s life. It was also pretty sad when he was challenged to a duel by Anthony for kissing Daphne with her consent.
Because he internalized the idea that he was a bad person
It’s clear that in many ways Simon seems worried that he will be like his father. He doesn’t want to continue on the title and lineage of his family because of how awful his father was, and this is largely done to spite his father.
However, he also seems to hold some guilt himself for the things that happened to him and his mother’s death.
He felt like he couldn’t pursue his own happiness
While Simon has a lot of freedom compared to the women around him, it’s not like he is happy either. He might have money and the ability to travel and even sleep around and party, but these pursuits don’t seem to make him happy.
Because of his issues with his abusive father and the oath he made to him, he won’t let himself find love and doesn’t know how to have a healthy relationship.
The fact he made a vow that impacted so much of his life
Simon’s vow that the line would end with him might have been understandable, but he really just ended up hurting himself. Lord Hastings was an awful, abusive man who didn’t care about his son at all. He only cared about his title.
So, the fact that Simon wanted to hurt him in return made a lot of sense, but he should have realized that his father was dead and it was okay to find his own happiness and love.
He was neglected by his father
Now, we get into the truly saddest things about Simon, and they all have to do with his father. Lord Hastings truly despised his son for not being able to speak early on and for having a stutter.
And, he was so cruel about this that he left his son entirely to be raised by the servants. He never checked on him and could have cared less about what happened to him for the most part.
His father was verbally abusive to his mother and to him
Along with the extreme neglect Simon faced, he also had to endure emotional and verbal abuse. His father made it clear he thought Simon was stupid and worthless, and this is a horrible thing to say to any child.
He was also cruel and abusive to Simon’s mother, Lady Hastings, and treated all women, including Lady Danbury, like garbage.
The death of his mother
Simon’s life would have been much better if his mother hadn’t died giving birth to him. While his father would have still been awful, having his mother to fight for him would have given him a parent who loved him.
It was also really hard to watch how he treated his own wife as she suffered and died giving birth to their son.