Common Elements
Many Regency romance novels include the following:
- References to the Ton (le bon ton)
- Depictions of social activities common during the social season such as carriage rides, morning calls, dinners, routs, plays, operas, assemblies, balls, etc.
- References to, or descriptions of, athletic activities engaged in by fashionable young men of the period, including riding, driving, boxing, fencing, hunting, shooting, etc.
- Differences of social class
- Marriages of convenience: a marriage based on love was rarely an an option for most women in the British Regency, as securing a steady and sufficient income was the first consideration for both the woman and her family.
- False engagements
- Cyprians (sex workers), demireps (women of ill repute), mistresses and other women employed by rakehells and men from the upper classes
- Mistaken identity, deliberate or otherwise
- Mystery or farce elements in the plot
Read more about this topic: Regency Romance
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