Tag: etiquette

Rules of a Regency Romance

Until around 1780, arranged marriages were de rigueur. It made sense–more or less—considering that marriage was a business and often political arrangement. But then the Enlightenment happened and philosophers made a mess of things that were working perfectly well—more or less. The pesky notions of reason and individualism over tradition got people thinking that perhaps …

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Preparing for Courtship: The task of finding a suitor

With all the changes over the last two centuries, it is easy to forget that during Jane Austen’s day marriage was an essential social structure. Marriage provided the key to a strong, stable society. Society identified individuals by their connections, the ones they were born with and the ones acquired through marriage. Marriage and inheritance laws …

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