What did Jane Austen’s ladies do all day? Were they ladies of leisure or full time working women? Period dramas have left many of us with the notion that ladies of the landed gentry in the Regency era had little to do but dress in lovely gowns, embroider and gossip. Reality could not be farther from this image. In general, both master and mistress of the manor did a great deal of work around the estate, … Continue reading →
During the Regency era social class played a huge role in all aspects of life. The nuances of social class and what makes a gentleman a gentleman remains a perennial source of confusion for Austenesque and Regency readers. How these men provided a livelihood for themselves and their families proves even more bewildering as some gentlemen had a profession, others did not, some were wealthy and some could find themselves in very dire straits. Social … Continue reading →
In a society governed by strict rules regulating the interaction of the sexes, the dance floor provided only of the only places marriage partners could meet and courtships might blossom. The ballroom guaranteed respectability and proper conduct for all parties since they were carefully regulated and chaperoned. Even so, under cover of the music and in the guise of the dance, young people could talk and even touch in ways not permitted elsewhere despite the … Continue reading →
Confound it all! One of the frustrations of writing historical fiction is discovering your character could not do/hear/see/say something because it had not been invented yet! Such is my plight as I just discovered my heroine could not say ‘Confound it!’ as the saying did not exist for nearly another 40 years! A few other things she could not say (and the year in which she could have said them) include: botheration – c. 1835 … Continue reading →
