It’s been a while since I read the book but isn’t it set during the great game? Which runs pretty much the entire 19nth century. I know it was published at the turn of the 20th but unless he mentioned dates I can’t remember it could have been set much earlier.

I’ve heard once that romance novels are too women what porn is to men.

Porn can give men unrealistic expectations and entitlements to women.

Romance can give women unrealistic expectations and entitlements to men.

I think the only real difference is that men are taught pretty quickly that the behavior is bad. Whereas women aren’t taught at all. On average of course. It’s something to keep in mind. Media can only really affect us if we let it. Makeing a conscious decision to separate fantasy from reality is a good idea.