Brona Croft, later known as Lily Frankenstein, is a character on Showtime's Penny Dreadful, portrayed by Billie Piper. Created by writer John Logan, Brona begins the series as an Irish immigrant living in London. An original take on the Bride of Frankenstein story, Piper's character and acting have been acclaimed by critics, calling her "alternately elegant, bewitching, coarse, and frightening."
Storyline
Before the series
Through conversations with Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Brona recounts tales from her past. Born and raised in Belfast, Ireland, she went to London, England to get away from her abusive fiancé, whom her mother was trying to force her to marry for his money. Penniless and alone, she was forced to become a prostitute in order to survive, and suffered frequent beatings and sexual assaults at the hands of her customers.
At some point after coming to London, Brona gave birth to a daughter, Sarah. One night, she left Sarah at home by the fire while she went out. She encountered a customer who refused to pay her, and knocked her unconscious. When Brona came to, she hurried home, only to find that her daughter had frozen to death.
Season One
Brona Croft lives at the Mariner's Inn in London, and works as a prostitute while trying to find another job. She is slowly dying of tuberculosis, but is unable to pay for medicine. She meets Ethan Chandler, and the two quickly bond. Brona goes to the home of Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), and models for photographs for him. Gray is attracted to her illness, and the two have sex.
Despite her sickness, Brona and Ethan fall in love and pursue a relationship. She briefly grows resentful of his wealthy friends, and rejects him. However, she quickly gets over it, and the two resume their relationship.
She eventually becomes bedridden, and coughs up blood constantly. She gives Ethan her pendant of St. Jude, which he will later use during his exorcism of Vanessa Ives (Eva Green). Her sickness gets to the point that she can barely talk, and Ethan begs Dr. Victor Frankenstein to help her.
Victor inspects Brona, and claims there is nothing to do but wait for her to succumb to her illness. However, when Ethan steps out, Victor holds a pillow over her face and smothers Brona to death. Ethan is distraught, but Victor assures him that he will take care of her body. Secretly, he intends to resurrect Brona as his Creature's (Rory Kinnear) undead mate.
Season Two
Victor resurrects Brona, under the name of Lily Frankenstein. Though the Creature is eager to have Lily to himself, Victor insists on having time with Lily to re-acclimate her to life. Lily claims to have no memory of her life before the "accident," and is informed that she is Victor's cousin, and was engaged to marry the Creature, calling himself John Clare.
Though the creature grows impatient, Victor spends more and more time with Lily, and the two appear to fall in love. Victor takes Lily to a ball, where she is re-introduced to Dorian Gray. The two are fascinated with each other, much to both the Creature and Victor's chagrin. One evening, during a thunderstorm, Lily climbs into Victor's bed and takes his virginity.
Despite claiming to be in love with Victor, Lily begins a friendship with Dorian Gray. After an evening out with Dorian, Lily strays from her neighborhood and goes to a pub. A man attempts to seduce her, and she goes back to his house with him. During sex, she strangles him to death and lays with his corpse until morning, claiming to a livid Victor that she fell asleep on a park bench.
Eventually, the Creature grows impatient with Victor's possessiveness of Lily, and confronts her while Victor is away. After Lily rejects him, he attempts to attack her, but she shoves him to the ground and berates him, mocking his ugliness and naivety. She reveals that she knows exactly what she is, and that she knows her resurrection made her immortal. Lily promises that she will never serve another man again, and instead swears that they will kneel to her. She offers the Creature the chance to overthrow mankind with her, but he is terrified and refuses.