Georgian Vs Regency England as Settings for Romance by Christy English

Is there any film more lush than DANGEROUS LIAISONS? Since this story took place in France, it can’t technically be considered a Georgian piece, but it was my first introduction into the world view of that culture, the hedonistic, pleasure-seeking of the eighteenth century aristocracy. From what I have read, this was as true in Georgian England as in pre-Revolutionary France.

 

In the fabulous Devil DeVere series written by my host, Emery Lee, under her alter ego’s nom de plume, Victoria Vane, we are given a look into that world. Innocent it is not, but there is a certain measure of joy the characters take in their debauchery that seems almost carefree.

While the nobility of both the Georgian and the Regency periods live in opulent luxury, the Regency brings us the Napoleonic wars and their aftermath. After the Revolution in France, the world is changed. Perhaps only the Prince Regent himself continues to embody the complete obsession with pleasure and self indulgence.

My heroine, Caroline Montague, becomes an adult just as the wars with Napoleon are ending. Those wars kept her from her father for much of her childhood. Though she was allowed to run almost wild across the moors in Yorkshire, she has a keen sense of duty and an almost worshipful devotion to her absent father. When Baron Montague returns from the war with the man he has chosen for her, it never occurs to Caroline to balk, though she is a strong-willed young woman. Though the Regency period allows for girls to embark on Seasons in London where they might catch a husband in the Marriage Mart just as they once had done during the Georgian period, marriages are still arranged primarily for family alliance financial gain. 

Though Georgian England was often at war, the scope of the Napoleonic wars so close on the heels of the French Revolution engulfed the whole of Europe, changing history. Anthony Carrington and Caroline Montague, both of whom had their lives changed by those wars, come together with more of a somber attitude than the devil-may-care Georgians. The Regency a distinctly different world in which to fall in love.

ABOUT CHRISTY ENGLISH

After years of acting in Shakespeare’s plays, Christy is excited to bring the Bard to Regency England. She can often be found hunched over her computer, immersed in the past. Her latest novel is HOW TO TAME A WILLFUL WIFE, a re-telling of The Taming of the Shrew. She is also the author of the historical novels TO BE QUEEN and THE QUEEN’S PAWN. Please join her on her website http://www.ChristyEnglish.com