Though we will have to wait two years for another season of Netflix’s highly rated show, Bridgerton, we do know that Season 4 will be centered around Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second son and artsy bohemian of the family. According to Julia Quinn‘s novels, Benedict’s destined love interest is the “plucky [and] endlessly resourceful” Sophie Beckett, who Variety reported will be played by Yerin Ha. Known for her role in the Steven Spielberg-produced TV show Halo, Ha is an Australian-Asian actor who is committed to diverse representation, making her perfect for Bridgerton‘s mission. All that being said, if you haven’t read Quinn’s novels yet, you may be wondering: who is Sophie Beckett anyway? 

Sophie Has a Cinderella Story in the Bridgerton Novels

Sophie’s story, which takes place in Quinn’s third Bridgerton novel An Offer From a Gentleman, is heavily inspired by Cinderella. Her father passes away, leaving Sophie in the care of her neglectful stepmother, Araminta, and at the mercy of her stepsisters, Rosamund and Posy, until her twentieth birthday. Sophie acts as their lady’s maid, forced to slave away at three-times the workload and help them get dressed for the upcoming masquerade ball held by the Bridgertons — one she isn’t allowed to go to. As the Netflix show’s Season 4 official logline reads: “Benedict is loath to settle down — until he meets a captivating Lady in Silver at his mother’s masquerade ball.”

In true Cinderella fashion, Sophie manages to attend the ball with her housekeeper’s help. She wears an old gown from her grandmother’s closet, a borrowed mask, and a pair of Araminta’s shoes. Her wish fulfilled, Sophie heads off to the ball and immediately captures the attention of Benedict, with all the talking and dancing leading to a magical kiss. Her alluring mystique earns her the moniker of “Lady in Silver.” Their meeting is naturally one of the pivotal scenes that the Netflix show needs to incorporate, especially considering the likely extravagance of the set design and the surrounding Cinderella connotations. However, Sophie and Benedict’s time together is cut short, as she’s forced to leave at midnight in hopes of returning home before Araminta and her daughters do. Despite this, Araminta discovers Sophie’s secret and kicks her out of the house, but not before Sophie steals away two shoe clips as retaliation and a memento of her free and beautiful night.

Drama Follows the Bridgerton Masquerade Ball’s “Lady in Silver”

After leaving her taskmasters, the resourceful Sophie is determined to provide for herself and finds a maid job at the Cavender household. However, during a party that the Cavender son, Phillip, is throwing, Sophie is entrapped by Phillip and his friends as they attempt to sexually assault her. Fortunately, Benedict, who is attending, saves her from this ordeal and whisks her away to his cottage where he promises to find work for her in London, on the Bridgerton estate. Notably, she recognizes him, but he doesn’t recognize her as the Lady in Silver. This leads into one of the more iconic and significant scenes of their romance, the lake scene, which encapsulates the perfect storm that is their relationship. Benedict propositions Sophie to be his mistress after she catches him swimming nude in the lake, but she refuses, adamant about the risk of a bastard child. Gradually, he does convince her to join him in London, where she takes up the role of Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell in the Netflix show) lady’s maid.

Eventually, Benedict recognizes Sophie as the woman he fell for during the ball, causing a deep and complex influx of emotions. As resilient as ever, Sophie leaves the household, determined to figure out a new path in life, only to be caught by Araminta and arrested for stealing her shoe clips. Araminta, Benedict, and Violet all lock horns in jail, as the Bridgertons crusade for Sophie’s release. However, this only comes when her stepsister, Posy, arrives and takes the fall for the shoe clips, further divulging that Sophie’s father’s will had left her a dowry, one that Araminta had squandered with her exuberant lifestyle. Our beloved Violet saves the day by leveraging this against her, leading to Sophie and Benedict’s romance being cemented with a marriage.

Sophie’s character can be likened to both Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). She shares Kate’s outward confidence and hardworking nature — just as Kate was determined to pave the way for her sister, Sophie’s grit allows her to persevere. On the other hand, like Penelope, Sophie is able to financially provide for herself, and though her occupations are not as lucrative as Lady Whistledown, she still manages to stand fairly independently in a man’s world.

Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ Will Likely Take Creative Liberties With Sophie’s Story

It’s not really a matter of whether Netflix’s Bridgerton will take creative liberties with Sophie and Benedict’s story, but rather what changes the show will make. Season 3 revolved around Penelope’s and Colin Bridgerton’s (Luke Newton) romance, which is told in the fourth installment of Quinn’s series, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. Additionally, Francesca Bridgerton’s (Hannah Dodd) relationship with John Stirling (Victor Ali) is more fully detailed in When He Was Wicked, Quinn’s sixth novel. Season 4 will be taking a step back and adapting An Offer From a Gentleman, the third novel in the series. This lack of chronology already indicates that the series will have to reshape a couple of aspects, though hopefully not the instrumental ones.

Benedict himself also greatly diverges from the source material, as Season 3 sees him exploring his sexuality alongside Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) and Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio). With Bridgerton‘s renewed commitment to engaging with queer love stories, Benedict’s narrative becomes an important part of this mission and will undoubtedly play into how he interacts with Sophie. As such, that brings into question how Sophie’s character will be adapted, though her core characteristics of resourcefulness and resilience should be retained. As such, Sophie Beckett’s introduction to this dazzling world spells out drama and another powerful female character to swoon over.

All three seasons of Bridgerton are available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.