There is nothing apolitical about love stories because popular ideas of romance are steeped in 19th century imperialism.
![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]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/844819608.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Dr Alison Garden is a literary critic and cultural historian based at Queen’s University Belfast.
There is nothing apolitical about love stories because popular ideas of romance are steeped in 19th century imperialism.