What Does 'Ward' Mean? 'Bridgerton' Season 4 Tackles A Complicated Family Dynamic
In season 4, Bridgerton turns its attention to an atypical family dynamic when the show introduces Sophie Baek, a character described as a “ward.”
Sophie, played by Yerin Ha, is introduced in the premiere of the new season, which hit Netflix on January 29, and quickly becomes the love interest of Benedict Bridgerton (even if he doesn’t know it yet).
Sophie’s backstory comes to light in the second episode of the new season, in which she is revealed to be a “ward” of Lord Penwood, a term you might not be familiar with if you were born after the 1800s.
What Does ‘Ward’ Mean in Bridgerton?
In episode two of Bridgerton season 4, Lord Penwood describes Sophie as “my ward,” meaning he is her legal guardian. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a ward is “a person, especially a child, who is legally put under the protection of a law court or a guardian.”
However, Lord Penwood is slightly misleading in describing Sophie as his ward to his new wife, Araminta, as it’s clear that he is actually her biological father. Sophie is his illegitimate daughter born out of wedlock. This is confirmed at Lord Penwood’s funeral when it’s revealed that Sophie’s late mother was Lord Penwood’s servant and mistress.
Araminta, who resents Sophie, tells her that Lord Penwood left her nothing in his will and gives her a position as an unpaid maid in the Penwood household. If you couldn’t already tell, we have a Cinderella situation brewing here.
Needless to say, Sophie’s parentage will become relevant later on.
In An Offer from A Gentleman, the third novel in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series (on which season 4 is based), Sophie is just three years old when she gets dropped off at Lord Penwood’s estate by her dying grandmother. To hide the shame of fathering an illegitimate daughter, Penwood tells people that Sophie is the orphaned daughter of a friend whom he’d taken in as his ward. However, for many, it is an open secret that Sophie is his biological daughter.