Back in the day, and even nowadays, people look down on certain relationships, especially if the people involved are from different classes. How can a duke or other titled person fall for someone outside of the ton? A movie star and a nobody? An actor and a musician? (Okay, I’m sour about the rumors of Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift, I’ll admit it.)
During the Regency era, aristocrats weren’t supposed to marry from other classes. Money, land, reputation, politics… they were what drove marriage for the upper crust. For the working class—the servants, maids, housekeepers, soldiers, etc—marriage was very important. Their parents had less of a say in whom they married, and they were a little more autonomous; however that was only within their own class, of course.
If a handmaid were to fall for a viscount… if a stablehand were to love a lady, most likely, it would not have played out well in real life, but what’s the fun in that?
My series, Beyond Boundaries, is specifically about couples who fall in love despite obstacles like class.
If you were a lady back in the Regency, do you think you would ever consider someone outside of your class despite what your parents wish for you, despite the opinions of your friends and peers? I like to think I would!
About Masked Love (Beyond Boundaries #1)
Isabelle will do anything for her lady, even accompany her to a masquerade ball. Lady Theodosia needs extra support for tomorrow she will meet the man her par-ents have pledged her to.
Meeting an enchanting young man during the course of the evening makes Isabelle wish for a life she can never have. Imagine her shock when he shows up the next morning, announcing his claim on Lady Thedosia.
Torn between duty and desire, Isabelle hopes for something more this Christmas.
Starry Love (Beyond Boundaries #2)
With the Season rapidly approaching, Lady Elizabeth is ready to make her match until her father is stricken deathly ill. Her mother is desperate and hails for doctors, surgeons, even apothecaries. The upkeep of the house falls on Elizabeth, and she spend long hours beside her father, watching as he betters one day and fares worse on others. Long walks with the stable hand Callum on starry nights save Elizabeth’s sanity.
When the inevitable happens, Lady Elizabeth is forced to go to London. The gentlemen there, however, hold no candle to the kind and caring Scottish Callum.
Shortly before her father’s death, Callum returned to his homeland to try and find a cure for her father. As time passes with no word, no letters, Elizabeth must choose whether the love that blossomed between them is worth denying the man her mother wishes for her.
About the Author
Nicole Zoltack loves to write in many genres, especially romance, whether fantasy, paranormal, or regency. She’s also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing and works as a freelance editor.
When she’s not writing about gentlemen and their ladies, knights, superheroes, or witches, she loves to spend time with her loving husband, three energetic young boys, and precious baby girl. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they’re unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dressed in garb. She’ll also read anything she can get her hands on. Her current favorite TV shows are The Walking Dead and Arrow.
To learn more about Nicole and her work, visit her blog at http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com. She can be found on most any social media site under Nicole Zoltack. Stalk away!
Susana's Parlour 
The problem for ladies is that a wife took the social position and rank of her husband. If she married a stable hand they would have to find their friends among others of that group and she would be unlikely to find women who had her education. Now if the groom is a Laird in disguise ,OK. The daughter of an earl married an actor. The families tried to do something for them == sent them to Canada. The woman hated life outside of her accustomed milieu The actor was unsuited for the management position. They returned home. . Though they were still invited to family gatherings and large routs and such, they weren’t often invited to dinner with other guests.Not quite as bad as having a family member involved in a divorce, but rather limiting. The actor was unsuited for the more gentlemanly occupations found for him and the lady didn’t like restricted society and restricted income. She was still Lady Sarah but would have done better to wholly throw herself into the part of Mrs. Actor. He had to give up his occupation. The man could more easily marry a woman of lower status. If he married a servant he might not be able to protect her from snubs. Women ran social life and they could be harpies. The earl who married and actress fared much better. his wife had s good memory and had played ladies enough on stage to have the accent and way of speaking down The actress was finally accept into society.
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Oh, yes, women at every age throughout history could be harpies!
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In those days marriage was primarily a business agreement. It was to cement alliances of families, businesses and so on, so children were brought up to expect a marriage with someone she probably knew, but didn’t necessarily love. Love often blossomed in these marriages, though, and the couple worked together to create their estate, and make the alliance between their families, and improve the “family business.” Of course there were exceptions, but the results of the mesalliances usually retired from society, and even their children could be outcasts.
A woman marrying below her would belong by her husband’s side, and share his place in society, whatever that was.
The only trope that annoys me is the housekeeper one. Governess, yes, she might be a daughter of the gentry, but no duke is going to marry somebody who attends to the household. Besides, housekeepers were the top of the tree, and they’d mainly worked up the ladder from housemaid. “Class” and the concept of class was developed and first used in the works of Marx and Engels, in the 1840’s. Before that, people didn’t think quite in those terms.
Fascinating topic!
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Definitely a fascinating topic!
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Thanks, Nicole. I would. But I’d expect to pay dearly. And it probably wouldn’t end happily ever after.
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HEA aren’t always easy to come by.
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Oh, I know I would. I’ve met people of both ranks in real life and I tell you who’s more fun! 😉
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Awesome! 😀
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I would like to think that class wouldn’t matter as long as we loved each other. Both of these books sound great Nicole.
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Thank you, Tanja!
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At the young age that they expected you to get married, I know I was too bullheaded. I would of ran off and caused a proper scandal lol.
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LOL I can just picture you making a scandal, Crystal!
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I love these kind of stories!
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Yay! 🙂
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I confess, I got hung up on the Tom Hiddleston/Taylor Swift comment. Like–What Is He Thinking?! LOL! But, I did read on and your stories sound intriguing, Nicole! Perhaps such matches were tough in real life, but we’re writing fiction and we can make it work out!
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Exactly on both counts – Just what is he thinking? and The nice part about fiction is that we can help smooth the bumps that would’ve been roadblocks in the past.
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I would definitely have married out of my class, for love and romance, I’d have probably done just about anything (except murder). Yes, I would have been outcast, but that’s OK. -Janet Greaves.
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I’d probably do just about anything too (excluding murder, of course!)!
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Marrying out of your class mean ta shut-out. Society was about networking, and making money, creating alliances, lawmaking and all that. Marrying someone who wasn’t born into those networks meant a slammed door. It would lead to poverty, isolation, and your children being shunned, too. So it wasn’t just not being able to go to parties.
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I would like to think that I would, but the pressure of family in those times along with class divide might change who I would end up marrying. Friendships however would be easier to get away with.
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That’s a good point!
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But now writers today can come up with great storylines about people breaking the rules 😉
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interesting topic
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Hi Nicole,
So is it allowed that authors can write about falling in love outside of ones class? I’ve pondered such plots but have yet to write them as I wasn’t sure it would be accepted by readers. Thanks! -Janet Greaves
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As long as you follow it through to the inevitable consequences! Those kinds of books can be really interesting, when they’re done right. Lots of built-in conflict. BTW, “Class” was a concept invented by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels in the late 1840’s, so any reference to “class” before then is anachronistic. They looked on the differences in social station a bit differently before then. There was still a regard for the strata of society you were born into, of course but with less snobbishness and more practicality.
As for “allowed,” you can write what you want, as long as you can find a readership, but as a writer of historical romance, and not historical fantasy, I prefer to see some real history in my romances!
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