Online dating spells the end of Britain’s lonely-hearts ads
A 300-year-old genre is losing its GSOH
Mr Darcy, it turns out, was undemanding. In “Pride and Prejudice” Jane Austen implies that he is a picky paramour, since he likes a beloved to have “fine eyes”, “a thorough knowledge of music” and a mind improved “by extensive reading”. But read actual Georgian “lonely heart” advertisements and it is clear that Mr Darcy was pretty lax. Others were much fussier, demanding, among other things, that their beloveds be “not fat”, have “a good set of Teeth”, and a bosom that is “full, plump, firm and white”.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “‘Sexually, I’m more of a Switzerland’”
Britain April 20th 2024
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From the April 20th 2024 edition
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