When Did Happily Ever Afters Become Popular?

Once upon a time (yes, really), fairy tales didn’t end so sweetly. The earliest versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and even Little Mermaid had endings filled with betrayal, pain, or straight-up death. “Happily Ever After” was not the default — it was the marketing department rewrite before the printing press even cooled. The Fairy Tale Glow-Up It was really the 17th–18th centuries when authors like Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm started reshaping oral folktales. Perrault, writing for the French court, polished grim peasant tales into glittery lessons where goodness was rewarded. By the Victorian era, England had fully embraced the sugary bow on top — and fairy tales became bedtime staples. Enter Romance Novels Fast forward to the 19th century: writers like Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë weren’t always giving us steamy scenes, but they were serving up HEAs. Elizabeth Bennet marries Darcy, Jane Eyre gets her Mr. Rochester — and the “marriage plot” became the gold standard of what readers expected. The Mass-Market Boom By the 1970s and 80s, with Harlequin and Avon Romance cranking out pocket-sized paperbacks, HEAs became non-negotiable. If you bought a romance novel, you knew you’d close it with a smile (or at least a relieved sigh). The genre built its empire on that guarantee. Why They Stuck Readers fell in love with the certainty. In a messy world — war, recessions, Twitter meltdowns — the promise of an HEA became comfort food. Romance isn’t just about attraction; it’s about reassurance that love wins. Today’s Twist Now we’re remixing the formula: Dark romance? The hero may be morally gray, but he’s still all yours in the end. Romcoms? The couple may be awkward, but they’ll figure it out. Reverse harems and Omegaverse? The HEA may look different, but it’s still there. Bottom line? Whether in 1700s France or 2020s TikTok, we’ve always wanted the same thing: love, safety, and a guaranteed smile at “The End.”