Jane Austen Marriage Manual

How was Elizabeth Bennett expected to respond to Mr Darcy's gauche advances? How was a mother meant to present her daughter to society for the first time?It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man, even these days (if reasonably educated), recognises the beginning of that quotation! A strict code of conduct governed courtship and marriage in Regency England during the period in which Jane Austen s novels were set, broadly 1796 to 1816. Young, genteel women had to learn and adhere to these rules. What was a girl to do? How should a mother direct her eligible (or not so eligible) daughter? Many turned to the etiquette manuals made available by a burgeoning publishing industry. Published to coincide with the bicentenary of the death of Jane Austen, The Jane Austen Marriage Manual draws from this pool of early how-to popular literature, read by Jane and her contemporaries (and actually referred to in her novels), as well as Jane s own experiences. It traces the many stages of courtship and its potential pitfalls, from a girl s first entry into society through to her wedding day and beyond.