Regency Romance

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"On the Threshold" by Edmund Blair Leighton (1900)

Regency Romance ( English for "Regency romance literature") is a genre of romance novels whose actions are settled in the era of British Regency (1811-1820).

Regency romance novels - like all English-language romance literature - are classified as trivial literature ( formula fiction ). However, only part of this literature is purely costume pieces; these are not considered Regency Romance in the strict sense, but fall into the subgenre of Historicals . The traditional Regency Romance is rather an independent literary genre with a characteristic plot and its own stylistic conventions.

The starting point for literary history is the work of the British bestselling author Georgette Heyer (1902–1974), who published two dozen Regency romance novels from 1935 onwards. The overwhelming majority of the Regency novels that followed Heyer, however, were written by American authors. The reading audience is almost exclusively female.

Traditional Regency Romance

Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer's work Regency Buck , published in 1935, is considered the first Regency romance novel in literary history, although it was also a detective novel . It was characteristic of Heyer's work that the social-historical framework for her novels was not a mere - and ultimately interchangeable - backdrop, but on the contrary steered and determined the events. Her novels are distinguished by their distinct descriptions of details; Heyer had meticulously studied the age she was writing about and visibly incorporated her knowledge into the novels. Although many of Heyer's main characters exhibited modern sensitivities, such as the desire for a love marriage , these were criticized by the more conventional characters as eccentricities. Heyer's work shows almost exclusively the world of the wealthy upper class; Topics such as poverty, religion or politics only appear marginally. Further stylistic characteristics of the traditional Regency Romance are witty and fast-paced dialogues and a high degree of romance.

Heyer's best-known Regency romance novels include Arabella (1949), Frederica (1965), False Colors (1963), Venetia (1958) and The Grand Sophy (1950).

Many well-known English and Scottish authors have described the Regency as contemporaries, including Maria Edgeworth , Sir Walter Scott , Susan Edmonstone Ferrier , Thomas Love Peacock , Lord Byron , Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Shelley . The most important writer of the Regency, however, was Jane Austen . Heyer's novels can only be compared to a limited extent with Austen's work. Thus, unlike Heyer, the focus of Austen's novels is the criticism of the social conditions of the time, which did not allow female members of the gentry any other choice than a good marriage. It is true that Austen's heroines always end up getting married; However, unlike Heyer, their goal is not to find and marry a man they love. Rather, they want to solve the difficult task of getting married in such a way that, on the one hand, they fulfill their socially imposed duty, but on the other hand, enter into a marriage that is emotionally and humanely satisfactory.

Example: Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer (1935)

The setting is London , the year 1811. The siblings Judith and Peregrin (Perry) Taverner, attractive young aristocrats from the country ( Yorkshire ), plunge into the hustle and bustle of social life after their arrival in the big city. As a result of an error, the opaque Earl of Worth (Julian) was appointed her guardian. The siblings don't like him. Judith's aversion intensified when Julian thwarted the marriage proposals that the young woman received in large numbers. The siblings are particularly fond of their cousin Bernard Taverner.

Perry has a lot of money but all the less sense and gets into trouble all the time. He is challenged to a duel, ambushed and barely escapes a poison attack. Julian thinks Bernard is the villain behind everything, while he tries to convince Judith that, conversely, Julian is the culprit. In the end, the real culprit reveals himself, and after Judith discovers whom of the two men she can trust, she also finds her lover and bridegroom.

Characteristic

The traditional Regency Romance (often short: Trad ) is considered by many connoisseurs to be the most intellectually demanding genre of serial English-language romance literature. The subgenre is characterized by a relatively high level of fidelity to historicity. The authors have studied the Regency in depth, and their readers are notorious for tracking down and criticizing large and small inaccuracies in the portrayal of the epoch. The central theme is the manners and social customs of the time. The focus is on the figures, their relationships to one another and their respective position in the strictly hierarchical social structure. The setting, the very limited sphere of London's high society, often acts like an independent character. The activities of the characters are largely limited to things like carriage rides, morning calls (= formal morning visits), dinner parties and balls. Similar to Jane Austen film adaptations, their behavior is extremely correct and controlled.

Traditional Regency romance novels were mostly around 65,000 words long, a good third shorter than most other historical romance novels. Her tone is always light and almost corresponds to that of a moral comedy. Erotic tension is definitely present in these novels, but the explicitly described actions hardly go beyond kisses.

Other authors

Within the Regency Romance, works are classified as "traditional" if they are based on the work of Georgette Heyer in terms of content and style. After Heyer's work became popular in the United States in the 1960s, American publishers encouraged female authors who wrote similar novels, including Clare Darcy and Elizabeth Mansfield . Like Bodice Ripper literature, Regency Romance was only published in paperback editions in the USA, for example by Signet, Dell and Fawcett; Fawcett developed its own imprint for Regency Romance , Fawcett Coventry .

Around 2000, the traditional Regency Romance lost its popularity. Because many readers now preferred erotic novels more strongly, some of the authors who had previously written traditionally followed the recipe for success of authors like Mary Jo Putney and from then on wrote Regency Historical Romance . Other authors who - such as Joan Wolf - did not suit the erotic genre switched to the niche of Christian romance literature ( Christian Romance , Inspirational Romance ). As early as 2009, the traditional Regency Romance with authors such as Carla Kelly , Julie Klassen and Julianne Donaldson experienced a revival that continues to this day.

Regency Historical Romance

Regency romance novels are classified as Regency Historical (short: Historicals ), which deviate from the content and stylistic specifications of the traditional Regency romance novel. Firstly, this applies to novels that are characterized by a heightened degree of social realism, secondly, but also to those works that, on the contrary, are historically unfaithful and put figures whose behavior corresponds to modern values ​​into the scenery of the Regency. The term historical is therefore misleading. Historicals are also more extensive than trades .

Some writers who started with traditional Regency Romance later wrote historicals , including Mary Balogh , Jo Beverley , Loretta Chase, and Mary Jo Putney . Authors such as Amanda Quick , Eloisa James , Christina Dodd , Mary Balogh, Jo Beverly, Loretta Chace, Lisa Kleypas , Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn made particular use of this freedom to weave stronger emotions, more passionate love relationships and many explicitly described erotic scenes into the novels to be able to. Cat Sebastian has published a number of erotic Regency romance novels starring LGBT main characters.

literature

For a list of Regency romance novels see: Regency Romance / Title List .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Grace Anne A. DeCandido: Words with Ann Bouricius, author of The Romance Reader's Advisory: A Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks. Retrieved April 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Traditional Regency. Retrieved April 19, 2019 .
  3. ↑ The Regency Romance Hoax. Retrieved April 19, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Namera Tanjeem: Corsets and carriages: 15 Must-read regency romance novels. Retrieved April 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Traditional Regency. Retrieved April 21, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Kristin Ramsdell: Romance Fiction. A guide to the genre . 2nd Edition. Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-1-59158-177-2 , pp. 277 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  7. ↑ a b c Elizabeth Camden: Where did the traditional regency go? Retrieved April 21, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Leslie Wainger: Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies . For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-7645-2554-4 , pp. 66 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  9. ↑ a b c What is the difference between a Traditional Regency Romance and a Historical Romance? Retrieved April 20, 2019 .
  10. ^ Signet Regency Romance. Retrieved April 21, 2019 .