'Bridgerton' star Phoebe Dynevor on the difference between Regency era courtship and dating now

"I think the problem today is there is no social etiquette."
 By 
Rachel Thompson
 on 
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'Bridgerton' star Phoebe Dynevor on the difference between Regency era courtship and dating now
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lt's hard to imagine a dating scene more dramatic and horny than Netflix's Bridgerton. Courtship was a little bit different back in Regency era England, at the beginning of the 19th century.

As Phoebe Dynevor, who plays Daphne Bridgerton in the show, points out, ghosting didn't exist.

"I think the problem today is there is no social etiquette, you can ghost someone and just blank them completely and there's no repercussions to that," Dynevor told Conan O'Brien. "Also, if someone was into you in those days, they would come round and bring you a big bouquet of flowers, it was simple as that. You knew where you stood with people."

These days, you're lucky if you get a text back, never mind a bunch of flowers. (Cynic? Moi? Never...)

Of course, it wasn't all plain sailing. Courtship might have been pleasant enough, but let's not forget the fact marriage was transactional, and women treated as chattels owned by their male counterparts. "That was the benefit of being a woman back in those days," says Dynevor. "Obviously that's probably the only benefit."

Pretty much.

Bridgerton is now streaming on Netflix.

Topics Netflix

Rachel Thompson, sits wearing a dress with yellow florals and black background.
Rachel Thompson
Features Editor

Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.

A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.

Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.


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