Participants in the annual Jane Austen Regency Costumed Parade walk through the centre of Bath in England on September 9, 2017 [File: Matt Cardy/Getty Images]
There are more than a few universally acknowledged truths when it comes to writing romance: the course of true love should not run smooth, lovers should be beautiful and readers generally prefer a Happily Ever After (‘HEA’ as it’s known in the romance community).
While love stories are still routinely sidelined by some academics and critics, the politics of love, sex and desire, and the stories we tell about them, cannot be overestimated. There is absolutely nothing apolitical about love stories because our popular ideas of romance are a colonial hangover, steeped in the reactionary values of the imperial 19th century. At this point isn’t it worth asking: what’s universal about our modern idea of love?
Camille Silvy (1834–1910) National Portrait Gallery, London
Sarah holds a book – a sign of her education. On her left hand, rings are clearly visible, as she leans against the desk behind her. These photographs were taken one month after their wedding, a grand event which took place in Brighton on 14th August 1862, attracting large crowds and a flurry of media attention. Despite being one month later, in Silvy s photographs, Sarah wears her wedding dress.
Taken in Silvy s Porchester Terrace studio not long before the newlyweds travelled to Sierra Leone, these staged photographs were possibly intended to be distributed as cartes de visites, which Silvy produced for his wealthiest clients. This recently developed technique was based on the idea of taking six or eight small portraits, in several different positions and poses, on one glass negative. The sitters would then select from the results.