This weekend I watched the film, Becoming Jane. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it depicts Jane Austen’s own ill-fated romance. The heroine is rather more feisty, and definitely more beautiful, than I always imagine her to be, but many of the other players in her personal story are instantly recognisable as prototypes for the characters that populate Austen’s famous novels.

Why do I draw attention to it? Because the dialogue is superb (wish I could write like that!) and there are several delicious moments that reminded me of how lucky we – especially women writers – are to be living in this generation rather than in the eighteenth century. Two tasters …

At one point in the film, an imperious woman of high social standing, Lady Gresham, (played to perfection by Maggie Smith) visits Jane at home, with the intention of inspecting the girl who has captured her nephew’s interest.

Lady Gresham: My nephew, Miss Austen, condescends far indeed in offering to the daughter of an obscure and impecunious clergyman.
Jane Austen: Impecunious? Your Ladyship is mistaken.
Lady Gresham: I am never mistaken.
Jane darts off to jot down her thoughts.
Mrs. Austen: JANE!
Lady Gresham: What is she doing?
Mr. Wisley: Writing.
Lady Gresham: Can anything be done about it?

Brilliant! Can it, indeed?

Later Jane meets another woman writer, Mrs Radcliffe, who has made something of a name for herself.

John Warren: And the famous Mrs. Radcliffe, is she as Gothic as her novels?
Jane Austen: Not in externals. But her internal landscape is, I suspect, quite picturesque.
Mrs Radcliffe herself tells Jane that where her experience is lacking, imagination must take over – a perilous notion in those days.
Mrs. Radcliffe: To have a wife who has a mind is considered not quite proper. To have a wife with a literary reputation, nothing short of scandalous.

It is a truth not universally acknowledged that our own present rights and freedoms have been built upon the courage and sacrifice of our predecessors.

Tags: Becoming Jane, Jane Austen