Interviews with the Cast from Becoming Jane
Anne Hathaway - Jane Austen
David Letterman (Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway)
Anne Hathaway interview for Becoming Jane
James McAvoy - Tom LeFroy
James McAvoy - BBC Breakfast
BECOMING MANNERED JAMES MCAVOY
Both Anne and James
Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy Interview - Becoming Jane
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Our Friend Jane
10 Reasons Why We (THINK we) Want to Be Jane's Friend:
I asked 10 girls why they would want to be Jane Austen's friend. All of these people are real.
- "She is obsessed with guys. It would be fun to hang out with them all the time," Taylor R.
- "She is a smart, intelligent lady. She would give me some good advice. She could be my mom," Tierra J.
- "Jane Austen intimidates me, so I don't know if I want to be her friend..." Lexus R.
- "I would be her friend because it would be cool to pick her brain on current social issues," Jodie W.
- "She wrote sweet love stories, I would love hearing about her love stories. I wonder if they are real...." Bernadette D.
- "She has a vivid imagination, and she would seem interesting to talk to," Jaclyn I.
- "She is famous, so I definitely want to be her friend," Lauren P.
- "She is kind of inspirational for girls for all generations," Jasmine G.
- "We could write magical love stories together," Jan S.
- "I'm all for the feminist! I would want Jane Austen to be at my peace rally," Chelsea T.
Who is Jane Austen? Today we think of her as a heroic character of influence, but she was a considered an ordinary person at some point. People today get Jane the person confused with Jane the hero, and Becoming Jane helps support this theory. This is why the movie title is on a first name basis.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
What's it All About, Huh?
Brief Summary of Becoming Jane
***Spoiler Alert!!
The movie starts with an uninspired, young Jane Austen in Hampshire, England. She tries to find a light of inspiration in her family, friends, books, even the piano forte, but doesn't get anywhere until she finds the one thing she can't stop writing about, love. But what she didn't ask for was forbidden love. Meanwhile, Thomas LeFroy, a young man studying to be a lawyer with a known reputation from London is sent away to his relations in Hampshire where we find the dissatisfied Jane. Angered LeFroy shows up late to a community gathering honoring Cassandra's (Jane's sister) engagement to Robert Fowle. Jane gathered a strong distaste for this visitor. She becomes more offended by his presence when he falls asleep during her speech, overhears him talking about women writers, and challenges her about the legitimacy of novels during an unexpected walk in the woods.
Despite his one-sided view of Jane, she likes a challenge not realizing that she is falling in love with his demeanor. Ever since the scene between Jane and LeFroy in the woods, Tom tends to pop up at the most unexpected times; first in the library, and then again at one of the community balls. However, other men were pining for Jane’s hand while Tom was teasing her for her intellectual mind. One of many men is Mr. Wisley. He is a respecting yet dull individual, polar opposite to Thomas LeFroy, with enough money and security for Jane and her family; the universally acknowledged “perfect man” to marry. After brief hesitation, Jane rejects the engagement knowing in her heart that she would only marry based on love, but also that she has put her family in financial danger. When Tom learns about Jane’s rejection to an engagement, he realizes his true feelings masked by his banter. He is in love with Jane Austen.
At Wisley’s ball, Tom makes his feelings known for Jane. Jane shares her first kiss with him and then they talk about getting permission from his Uncle to get married. So then began Tom and Jane’s elaborate plot to trick his Uncle to be their benefactor. They bring Jane’s wealthy cousin and her older brother who is in the army along for the ride to distract his Uncle with these high status citizens. When they meet, Tom’s Uncle is impressed with his new acquaintances but is skeptical when he finds out Jane is a writer. His irritation towards Jane grows when he receives an anonymous letter revealing their plan. He rejects Tom’s proposal for money and drives Jane and her family away calling her a “husband hunter." However, this love story does not end. Wanting to break away from what society believes on marriage, Tom and Jane make plans to elope.
As Jane packs her bags and begs Cassandra to keep her secret, the young couple blinded by love learn about their dirty little secrets. Jane never told Tom, but she expected to keep writing for the rest of her life. When they were in London, Tom took Jane to visit Anne Radcliffe, a famous women writer of their time. Anne encouraged Jane to keep writing. Her best piece of advice is to rely on imagination for inspiration. However, she also warned Jane of the reputation she would receive as a female author, and the reputation Tom would have for "having a wife with a mind." Jane wouldn't let go of her love for Tom and her love for writing, so she decided to combine both of her passions. Tom had a more serious secret. He gave his parents the majority of his small allowance he received from his Uncle at school. His parents married for love, eloped, and were cut off from their own family. They struggled financially, but Tom wanted to provide for them. However, if Tom and Jane followed in the footsteps of the LeFroys, he would lose all of his money. When reality hit Jane that she would be ruining this poor family's life, she left Tom and took the next carriage back to Hampshire.
Jane was welcomed home with open arms, and welcomed by another suitor, John Warren. John worked with Jane's father and wrote the anonymous letter to Tom's Uncle revealing their plans. She rejected his proposal in anger for his devilish deed.
Time went on and Jane continued to write. She began writing First Impressions (Now known as Pride and Prejudice) when she was in London for the first time with Tom, where she first began understanding her true inspiration.... love. But right when you think Jane is doing fine by herself, Thomas LeFroy comes back into the scene. He tells Jane that he is engaged, but would leave his fiancé if they ran away together. Knowing that the situation with his family had not changed, Jane rejected her last suitor.
Years later.... Jane moves to London to continue her writing. Tom makes his last appearance in Jane's life and introduces him to his daughter. Her name is Jane. She asks Jane if she can do a reading for her and Tom, and Jane makes a special exception. Finally the movie ends with Jane finishing her book, Pride and Prejudice, and Tom applauding her and looking at her with love.
***Spoiler Alert!!
The movie starts with an uninspired, young Jane Austen in Hampshire, England. She tries to find a light of inspiration in her family, friends, books, even the piano forte, but doesn't get anywhere until she finds the one thing she can't stop writing about, love. But what she didn't ask for was forbidden love. Meanwhile, Thomas LeFroy, a young man studying to be a lawyer with a known reputation from London is sent away to his relations in Hampshire where we find the dissatisfied Jane. Angered LeFroy shows up late to a community gathering honoring Cassandra's (Jane's sister) engagement to Robert Fowle. Jane gathered a strong distaste for this visitor. She becomes more offended by his presence when he falls asleep during her speech, overhears him talking about women writers, and challenges her about the legitimacy of novels during an unexpected walk in the woods.
Despite his one-sided view of Jane, she likes a challenge not realizing that she is falling in love with his demeanor. Ever since the scene between Jane and LeFroy in the woods, Tom tends to pop up at the most unexpected times; first in the library, and then again at one of the community balls. However, other men were pining for Jane’s hand while Tom was teasing her for her intellectual mind. One of many men is Mr. Wisley. He is a respecting yet dull individual, polar opposite to Thomas LeFroy, with enough money and security for Jane and her family; the universally acknowledged “perfect man” to marry. After brief hesitation, Jane rejects the engagement knowing in her heart that she would only marry based on love, but also that she has put her family in financial danger. When Tom learns about Jane’s rejection to an engagement, he realizes his true feelings masked by his banter. He is in love with Jane Austen.
At Wisley’s ball, Tom makes his feelings known for Jane. Jane shares her first kiss with him and then they talk about getting permission from his Uncle to get married. So then began Tom and Jane’s elaborate plot to trick his Uncle to be their benefactor. They bring Jane’s wealthy cousin and her older brother who is in the army along for the ride to distract his Uncle with these high status citizens. When they meet, Tom’s Uncle is impressed with his new acquaintances but is skeptical when he finds out Jane is a writer. His irritation towards Jane grows when he receives an anonymous letter revealing their plan. He rejects Tom’s proposal for money and drives Jane and her family away calling her a “husband hunter." However, this love story does not end. Wanting to break away from what society believes on marriage, Tom and Jane make plans to elope.
As Jane packs her bags and begs Cassandra to keep her secret, the young couple blinded by love learn about their dirty little secrets. Jane never told Tom, but she expected to keep writing for the rest of her life. When they were in London, Tom took Jane to visit Anne Radcliffe, a famous women writer of their time. Anne encouraged Jane to keep writing. Her best piece of advice is to rely on imagination for inspiration. However, she also warned Jane of the reputation she would receive as a female author, and the reputation Tom would have for "having a wife with a mind." Jane wouldn't let go of her love for Tom and her love for writing, so she decided to combine both of her passions. Tom had a more serious secret. He gave his parents the majority of his small allowance he received from his Uncle at school. His parents married for love, eloped, and were cut off from their own family. They struggled financially, but Tom wanted to provide for them. However, if Tom and Jane followed in the footsteps of the LeFroys, he would lose all of his money. When reality hit Jane that she would be ruining this poor family's life, she left Tom and took the next carriage back to Hampshire.
Jane was welcomed home with open arms, and welcomed by another suitor, John Warren. John worked with Jane's father and wrote the anonymous letter to Tom's Uncle revealing their plans. She rejected his proposal in anger for his devilish deed.
Time went on and Jane continued to write. She began writing First Impressions (Now known as Pride and Prejudice) when she was in London for the first time with Tom, where she first began understanding her true inspiration.... love. But right when you think Jane is doing fine by herself, Thomas LeFroy comes back into the scene. He tells Jane that he is engaged, but would leave his fiancé if they ran away together. Knowing that the situation with his family had not changed, Jane rejected her last suitor.
Years later.... Jane moves to London to continue her writing. Tom makes his last appearance in Jane's life and introduces him to his daughter. Her name is Jane. She asks Jane if she can do a reading for her and Tom, and Jane makes a special exception. Finally the movie ends with Jane finishing her book, Pride and Prejudice, and Tom applauding her and looking at her with love.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
All About Austen
Dearest reader,
In every soul lies a pinch of Jane Austen's wit, a smidge of irony, and a genuine heart for the human voice. Whether we like it or not - love her or hate her - anyone can relate to the Austinism of yesterday. So here I am, a college student writing simple responses to anything Austen all supported by historical evidence and mysteries surrounding the life of Jane. I will be discussing, anazlyizing, and of course jousting Jane Austen inspired productions.
To start things off let's dive in to the independent masterpiece, Becoming Jane, directed by Julian Arnold. What makes this movie so appealing? What do people have to say about the credibility of this film? Could this really be a true reflection on what really inspired Jane? ....and for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, here is the trailer for Becoming Jane.
Yours Truly,
joustinJAUSTEN
"To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment."
Jane Austen
In every soul lies a pinch of Jane Austen's wit, a smidge of irony, and a genuine heart for the human voice. Whether we like it or not - love her or hate her - anyone can relate to the Austinism of yesterday. So here I am, a college student writing simple responses to anything Austen all supported by historical evidence and mysteries surrounding the life of Jane. I will be discussing, anazlyizing, and of course jousting Jane Austen inspired productions.
To start things off let's dive in to the independent masterpiece, Becoming Jane, directed by Julian Arnold. What makes this movie so appealing? What do people have to say about the credibility of this film? Could this really be a true reflection on what really inspired Jane? ....and for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, here is the trailer for Becoming Jane.
Yours Truly,
joustinJAUSTEN
"To flatter and follow others, without being flattered and followed in turn, is but a state of half enjoyment."
Jane Austen
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