【Jin Seo】

Source：Inspiration Information Network Editor：Science Time：2025-06-26 16:04:50

Our love for Fleabagwill never pass.

Nor will our love of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's incisive and Jin Seodaring writing which infused realism and complexity into one of the most interesting female characters we've seen on our screens in years.

But like, where did the character of Fleabag actually come from?

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In a special episode of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Waller-Bridge chatted to broadcaster Jenni Murray about the inspiration behind the character.

Murray asked the question that many of us have ruminated on after watching Waller-Bridge's Emmy-award winning series: "Who is Fleabag?"

"When I was in my twenties and I was feeling quite cynical, when I was standing on the precipice of being too cynical or becoming a little bit depressed about the pressures of society, and starting to wake up to the reality of the pressures that women are under — men as well, but particularly women — I felt that if I looked down over the precipice, into the chasm below, at the bottom was Fleabag wearing lipstick and looking up at me," said Waller-Bridge.

"It was the worst case scenario of a kind of spiral of self-loathing and judgement."

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For many of us avid viewers and diehard fans of the show, Fleabag's character throws the concept of womanhood (and particularly women's sexuality) in a patriarchal society into sharp relief. "It [Fleabag] was really about a woman who felt she was really valued primarily by her sexual desirability," said Waller-Bridge. "And I really wanted to write about that in a way that was accessible and funny so people didn't realise that's what it was about until it sneaks up on you."

SEE ALSO: The one line in the 'Fleabag' finale that cut me to the core

The central friendship in the first season of the show also takes its inspiration from Waller-Bridge's life. Specifically, her relationship with her best friend Vicky Jones, the director ofFleabag, the one-woman stage play which was first performed at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe festival.

In Season one, we witness the unravelling of Fleabag's relationship with best friend Boo, after Fleabag sleeps with her boyfriend.

Waller-Bridge told Murray that Fleabag's behaviour in that friendship is "under no circumstances, absolutely not" something she would ever do. When Waller-Bridge first suggested that aspect of the plot to Jones, it provoked a strong reaction from her.

"When I did say that to Jones, the instant I said it we both imagined if that had happened between the two of us and actually how you would survive it," she said. "And to be honest, we probably would survive something like that because we are the greatest love story in each other's life. And we obviously trust each other not to do that sort of thing.

"That kind of heartbreak, that kind of betrayal from a friend, it can feel Shakespearean in its pain and its drama," she added.

A lot of people make the assumption that Fleabag is autobiographical. But, as Sian Clifford (who plays Claire) has previously pointed out: "Phoebe is not Fleabag."

But Waller-Bridge said she let go of being bothered by viewers' assumption that the show was based on her.

"I had to let that go quite early on, because I assumed people would," she said. "And I called it Fleabagwhich is my family nickname, so I was asking for trouble."

You can listen to the Woman's Hour podcast with Phoebe Waller-Bridge on BBC Sounds.

【Jin Seo】

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