The article discusses the idea of love, which in the mid-18th — early 19th cc. implied the possibility of marriage in Russian and European aristocratic circles. Behind actual or fictional marriages one can discern social and cultural ideas easily recognisable by contemporary readers. The article only considers objective factors that were rooted in traditional religious and wealth- and classrelated values and therefore seen as obstacles or taboos by any member of the society from the very outset. Most of the conditions for a real-life marriage were pre-determined by social codes and traditions, based on social stratifications which had to be observed in disregard of lovers’ feelings. The extent to which an author dared to abandon the imposed limitations demonstrated the writer’s level of innovation and their stance on social issues.