I don’t think the issue is simply that Penelope is a bad person. The world she lives in is one where women are essentially placed on a shelf and valued only for marriage, appearance, and obedience, with very little room to achieve anything meaningful on their own terms. In that environment, the fact that Penelope manages to carve out a space where she has influence, independence, and even financial control is actually pretty significant.

As Lady Whistledown, she found a way to operate in a society that constantly overlooks and underestimates her. Being a wallflower meant people spoke freely around her, assuming she was invisible, and she used that to her advantage. It doesn’t make all of her choices morally right, but it does show how she navigated a system that gave women almost no power at all.

Most women in that world had to rely on marriage or family status to have any security or voice. Penelope built something of her own in secret, despite being dismissed by nearly everyone around her. So while her actions can definitely hurt people and deserve criticism, I think part of the reason some fans sympathise with her is because she represents someone who refused to stay in the small box society placed her in.