Fairy Tales

O the stuff fairy tales are made of. Like many children, especially little girls, I grew up on stories of princesses being rescued by knights in shinning armor. The two would ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. As a child, I never put much thought into exactly what that happily ever after might be. It’s interesting to see how Hollywood has portrayed the lives of princesses and how historical figures have been dealt with.

The film Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst, is a good example of happily ever after – almost. Marie’s life was certainly one of opulence, parties, friends, and generally having a good time. Of course there were a few small difficulties associated with being the Queen of France – the traditions of morning dressing for instance at Versailles, or her troubles consummating her marriage with Louis XVI. Her life goes along fairly well in this movie, until of course the French Revolution takes place. Then things go down hill. But for a while, it looked like those fairy tales of my childhood might have actually taken place in history according to Hollywood.

Recently I watched Keira Knightley in The Duchess, and while her character Georgiana isn’t a princess, her lifestyle is certainly close enough. As the movie started, it was somewhat clear that Georgiana would later fall for a male character, Charles Gray, introduced in the opening sequences. At the same time, though, she was thrilled to become the Duchess of Devonshire and didn’t pout to her mother that she wanted to marry Gray instead. The film quickly devolves from the typical fairy tale to almost a horror story. Obviously there isn’t a monster or something after Georgiana, but her marriage quickly turns out to be a bit of a sham. Her husband isn’t overly interested in sexual activity, at least with her. He seems to have several mistresses, until he takes Georgiana’s best friend as his live-in mistress. Her joy for life quickly dissolves from there.

I don’t recall anything spectacular in the special features of the Marie Antoinette that dealt with the historical accuracy (or inaccuracies as the case may be) of the film. Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised by the special features for The Duchess.

Part of the special features was obviously devoted to costume development, but another section was an interview with Amanda Foreman, the author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. In this interview, Foreman discusses the collection of Georgiana’s letters that are available in the archives at the Cavendish family home in Chatsworth. In talking about these letters, Foreman reveals to the viewer the maturation of Georgiana – visible in her hand writing and in the topics she discusses. It’s also interesting, as Georgiana’s letters were censored by her friend (and her husband’s mistress) Bess Foster. Bess either scratched out or ripped out certain parts of letters and apparently only left select letters for future generations.

I was thoroughly impressed to see this section in the special features. It was a somewhat shameless plug for tourists to go to Chatsworth, but at the same time, it made archival history interesting and relevant to a movie viewer. How often do you really think about the evolution of a person through their handwriting and the subject matter of their letters?

Check out the movie if you’ve got a chance. It’s not too bad. Typical in many ways, but still a pretty good flick. If nothing else, the costumes are great!