Jennifer Phegley, chair of the Department of English at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, examines how many of our modern marriage traditions – including wedding dresses and honeymoons – have their roots in the Victorian era.

Write a personal ad for your favorite character from Victorian literature to win a copy of Jennifer's book and a box of Christopher Elbow chocolates!

Today’s internet dating even has predecessors in Victorian personal ads in newspapers, matrimonial agencies, and courtship correspondence groups.

Phegley draws on little-known conduct books, domestic guidebooks, letters, and novels to reveal the Victorian versions of “dating” and “tying the knot.” And she points out that Victorian ideas of romance may have left us with unrealistic expectations about finding our “soulmates.”