Guest Abigail Reynolds: Status of Women in Regency England

Linda Banche here. Today I welcome Abigail Reynolds, whose latest book is the Pride and Prejudice retelling, Mr. Darcy's Obsession. Enjoy her discussion on the status of the Regency women, which is far and away much different from that of modern women.

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of the two copies of Mr. Darcy's Obsession which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Abigail will select the winners. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winners within a week of their selection, I will award the books to alternates. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

Abigail selected the winners Toni V. S. and Caroline Clemmons. I've sent you both emails. If I do not hear from you by October 20, I will select alternates.

Welcome, Abigail!

Much as we like to romanticize the period, life could be very difficult for women in the Regency, even those in the upper classes. Women had almost no legal rights, especially married women. In fact, a wife didn’t even exist legally, because husband and wife were considered “one person” in law. A woman’s property became her husband’s upon marriage. If the husband gave a gift to his wife, it still actually belonged to him. This is why settlements were so important, serving as a legal document guaranteeing that the property the wife brought to the marriage would be hers after her husband’s death.

While a married woman couldn’t own property, a widow could: either her own property from before the marriage or property left to her by her husband. This gave widows an unusual degree of freedom, providing a disincentive to second marriages. Why put herself in the complete power of a man—to control her, to lock her up for life—when she could be independent?

In Mr. Darcy’s Obsession, Mrs. Bennet’s worst fear comes true when Mr. Bennet dies and Mr. Collins inherits Longbourn. Mr. Collins might have allowed the Bennet ladies to stay, or he could have put them up in a cottage with a small allowance. In my variation, he is still too offended at Elizabeth for refusing his proposal to waste money on relatives he hardly knows. They aren’t destitute, but it leaves Mrs. Bennet and her daughters at the mercy of her relatives, the Gardiners and the Phillipses, neither of whom had the space or resources to take in and support a family of six ladies. Mrs. Bennet’s settlement would not last long. Given this impossible situation, Jane chooses to marry an older shopkeeper, but able to help support her family, while Elizabeth goes to live with the Gardiners as an unofficial governess to their children.

In Pride and Prejudice, Darcy is marrying far beneath him when he chooses Elizabeth. This would be obvious to a reader of the period, but the chasm between them is less obvious to a modern reader. I love that chasm, though, because it shows just how much Darcy is willing to sacrifice for the woman he loves. In Mr. Darcy’s Obsession, I increased the difference in their status in order to demonstrate his incredible devotion to a modern reader. As always, Mr. Darcy’s ardent love triumphs over all adversity!


MR. DARCY’S OBSESSION BY ABIGAIL REYNOLDS—IN STORES OCTOBER 2010
The more he tries to stay away from her, the more his obsession grows...

“[Reynolds] has creatively blended a classic love story with a saucy romance novel.” —Austenprose

“Developed so well that it made the age-old storyline new and fresh…Her writing gripped my attention and did not let go.”—The Romance Studio

“The style and wit of Ms. Austen are compellingly replicated…spellbinding. Kudos to Ms. Reynolds!” —A Reader’s Respite

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth is called away before Darcy proposes for the first time and Darcy decides to find a more suitable wife. But when Darcy encounters Elizabeth living in London after the death of her father, he can’t fight his desire to see and speak with her again…and again and again. But now that her circumstances have made her even more unsuitable, will Darcy be able to let go of all his long held pride to marry a woman who, though she is beneath his station, is the only woman capable of winning his heart?

About the Author
Abigail Reynolds is a physician and a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast. She began writing the Pride and Prejudice Variations series in 2001, and encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking “What if…?” She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit http://www.pemberleyvariations.com/ or http://www.austenauthors.com/.