What happened when Jane Austen’s heroines and heroes were finally wed? Marriage is at the
centre of Jane Austen’s novels. The pursuit of husbands and wives advantageous matches and
of course love itself motivate her characters and continue to fascinate readers today. But
what were love and marriage like in reality for ladies and gentlemen in Regency England?
Rory Muir uncovers the excitements and disappointments of courtship and the pains and pleasures
of marriage drawing on fascinating first-hand accounts as well as novels of the period. From
the glamour of the ballroom to the pressures of careers children managing money and
difficult in-laws love and marriage came in many guises: some wed happily some dared to elope
and other relationships ended with acrimony adultery domestic abuse or divorce. Muir
illuminates the position of both men and women in marriage as well as those spinsters and
bachelors who chose not to marry at all. This is a richly textured account of how love and
marriage felt for people at the time—revealing their unspoken assumptions fears pleasures
and delights.
