Becoming Jane

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

Movie

Becoming Jane, 2007

Plot

The story of Jane Austen’s life. Discover the love that never was, the principals that kept her single, and the dreams she relived through her timeless novels.

Starring

Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Meggie Smith, and more.

The Review

I must be honest. I never read any of Jane Austen’s books—mostly because I have a hard time with language from that era. But I did watch the latest rendition of her Pride & Prejudice and fell so in love with the storyline that when the movie about her life came out, I couldn’t wait to learn more about the woman behind it all.

Becoming Jane is about so much more than the life of a famous writer. It’s about her personal struggles to choose right over wrong. Jane was an opinionated, hardheaded woman who knew exactly what she wanted from life and she was unwilling to accept anything but that. When her parents tried to force a marriage on her—to a wealthy young man—she fought it tooth and nail. Yes, her family was poor. Yes, the money would ease their financial burdens. Yes, her mother was pushing her to marry someone with money, but she could not commit her life to a man she did not love just for the sake of money.

Then in walks the true love of her life.

Tom Lefroy was penniless by himself, but with his uncle’s backing, he earned enough money to live a rather luxurious lifestyle and still send money back home to help his poor mother, father, brothers, and sisters. But even with all that money, Lefroy’s life was empty and it showed in all the wreckless things he did with his life. But the moment he set eyes on Jane that all changed. Something about her captivated him. And thus began the forbidden love affair.

The two had hoped to gain the approval of Lefroy’s uncle but he despised the idea of a penniless girl getting her hands on his family’s money and ruining the family’s reputation—the way his sister did when she ran off with “that” penniless husband of hers. And so he gave his young nephew an ultimatum. At first, Lefroy accepted the ultimatum and ended his relationship with Jane. But even money couldn’t stop true love.

He found his way back to Jane and the two ran off to get married. He’d find a way to become a successful lawyer without his uncle’s money and she’d live off her pen—as a writer. But then Jane found a letter from Lefroy’s parents thanking him for sharing his allowance so that they could survive; it had come just in the nick of time. That was all Jane needed to read to know that she could never allow Lefroy to walk away from a promising position as a lawyer in his uncle’s firm; a position that would ultimately save the lives of everyone in his family. And so she walked away from the relationship and the idea of living happily-ever-after with the true love of her life.

Years passed before the two would meet up again. Lefroy had married and had several children. Jane stayed single, true to her principals, and wrote some of the most powerful love stories of the decade. It was heart-wrenching to watch the love in her eyes for a man she hadn’t seen in years; a man who had obviously moved on with his life and found another love; although not the same kind of love. Which begs the question, could I have been so self-sacrificing?

Order Becoming Jane today!