While an affluent young woman's occupation may have been limited to that of wife, mother, or the hunt for a husband, during the Regency Era an educated woman of some means could be a novelist.

Less well off-but well bred women could be a companion or chaperone. Poverty could force a young woman of breeding to be a governess. Poor women without the luxury of breeding made a living as servants or sold wares.

Men could be barristers, soldiers, work for the government, farmers, miners, shopkeepers, vicars, or servants. They could aspire to high positions in the church. The noblemen of the day could be active in the House of Lords or in the streets as Reformers.