The Duchess

One of the movies I have watched so far over Spring Break is the movie The Duchess starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes.  It is based on the life of Georgiana Spencer, who became the Duchess of Devonshire.  Her marriage was one that was arranged on the promise that she would produce a male heir for the Duke.  At first she seems to love her husband and at the age of 17 when she married that may be why it appears that she loves him.  The love doesn't last when she realizes that her husband enjoys having affairs, but during that time period it seemed perfectly acceptable for the men to have affairs and the Duke didn't really have to hide it.  G, as she was called, become friends with Lady Elizabeth Foster, who would end up living with the Duke and Duchess.  Lady Bess would become a mistress of the Duke and this affair became known within their circle.  G would have 3 children with the Duke, the first two were girls and the 3rd was a boy that resulted from the Duke raping Georgiana.  The Duchess then started an affair with Earl Charles Grey, who she knew before she married the Duke.  The Duke was not happy with G upon learning of the affair and he threatened her by saying that if she continued with the affair or left him that he would make sure that she never saw her children again.  She chose her children and ended her affair but she was already pregnant by Charles.  The Duke arranged for Georgiana to leave the country to have the baby and then she was forced to give up the baby to be raised by Grey's family.  I would say that this movie was a love story even though it may not seem like it.  Georgiana may not have ended up in a loving marriage or had the typical happy ending but she did love Charles Grey and if she hadn't of been threatened with never being able to see her children again and having the pressure from her mother to stay with the Duke, G could have ended up with the man she wanted.  There was an obvious double standard during Georgiana's time.  The Duke could have as many affairs as he wanted but when she had an affair, he was furious with her.  Georgiana even raised the Duke's daughter from an affair as her own but he wouldn't let her raise her own daughter from an affair with Grey.  I did enjoy this movie and while some may say this isn't a love story in the traditional sense, I think it is and the movie does have the 8 Essential Elements that we have discussed in class.