What was life like for the widows of Jane Austen’s world? When a woman’s husband died, she was expected to spend a full year (long enough for a baby conceived in her marriage to be born) in full or deep mourning. During this time she was expected to dress in all black, refraining from public appearances. Movie adaptations of Sense and Sensibility portray Mrs. Dashwood in widow’s weeds. The next six months she would wear subdued colors like … Continue reading →
So what’s wrong with a little romance? According to a regency era perspective, nearly everything. It’s Valentine’s Day and there’s romance in the air. What’s wrong with a little romance, right? Especially in the pages of a good book. A regency romance; the hero and heroine looking longingly into each other’s eye, declaring their deepest love for one another. She weeps as she lets him know how she was waiting for this moment, as everyone … Continue reading →
Regency society organized itself around marriage and family. Adults were identified by their place, or lack thereof, in a married, family unit. Married women were ranked higher and more respected than the unmarried spinsters. The plight of the regency spinsters is fairly well documented. The local tax or judicial records says it all. Women were typically identified in tax or judicial records by their marital status (spinsters, wives and widows) whereas men were always identified … Continue reading →
Marriage was a serious business in the regency. Divorce was nearly impossible to obtain, but what about annulments? What happened if a young person ‘married in haste’ but then repented of his or her decision? Annulment, when possible, was the best option to end a marriage since it did not carry the social stigma of a divorce (which was nearly impossible to obtain). Unlike a divorce, an annulment voided a marriage, making it as if it … Continue reading →
Though nearly all of Jane Austen’s works end with a love match and a wedding, she does not represent the prevailing attitudes about love and marriage of the day. What did regency marriages look like? Marrying for Love was Unlikely While love might have been on the minds of regency era couples, they generally expected it to come AFTER marriage (if at all), rather than before. For most, practical considerations were the backbone of most … Continue reading →
