Becoming Jane (PG)
Directed by Julian Jarrold
Born in 1775, Jane Austin grew up in genteel poverty in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Life was leisurely in Regency England and matters of the heart were governed by financial considerations. Jane never married but is famous for her novels that feature young women who overcame difficulties and were rewarded with loving husbands. Her witty social comedies also make sure that the unpleasant characters either remain single or end up in unpleasant marriages.
The earliest surviving letter from the English novelist to her sister Cassandra tells of her flirtation with Irish law student Tom Lefroy when she was twenty years of age. This was a youthful, exuberant and feisty young lady, not the prim and proper spinster with the icy wit that we have associated with the author of those classics of English literature that were written 200 years ago.
The film is a love story that is inspired by this romantic encounter in a time when affection was desirable in a marriage, but money was absolutely indispensable.
The youthful Jane (Anne Hathaway) believed in a world beyond class, commerce, pride and prejudice, and her fictional heroines had all they desired. She refused an offer from the nephew of the wealthy Lady Grisham (Maggie Smith) despite the warnings of her parents (Julie Walters and James Cromwell) about the ways of the world at that time. It was the intelligent but impoverished Tom (James McAvoy) who caught her eye, and they danced around each other and had bold conversations. They considered eloping, but knew it would take considerable fortitude to challenge the sense and sensibility of the age.
Whether her relationship with Tom was as pivotal as the film makes out will never be known but Becoming Jane is a passionate insight into one of English literature’s most enduring romantic writers. It captures the social landscape of Jane Austen’s England in a romantic tale of intrigue and duty.
