The Duchess

Release Date: 10.17.08


How wonderful would it be to be that free?


Keira Knightley was no less than queenly in this larger-than-life true story of Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire. Not yet at the age of 18 in 1774 England, “G” is picked from her garden and is soon swept into a cold and loveless marriage to William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes), the 5th Duke of Devonshire in order to secure a male heir for his family and a continuous fortune for hers. As she says goodbye to her childhood friends and crush Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), she enters the marriage hoping for love and passion, only to be disappointed countless times and left worthless.


After their first night together, Fiennes’ perfectly calculating and icy demeanor as the Duke leaves “G” unsatisfied with married life and she soon finds pleasures among political circles and at the gambling tables, much to her husband’s chagrin. Her first taste of celebrity comes with her own dress designs and outrageous wigs and hats, with revolutionary paparazzi feverishly scrawling depictions of her party attire. All seems well on the surface for the “Empress of Fashion”, but after the Duke’s bastard child Charlotte (from a seedy affair with a maid) is thrown into their midst, Georgiana is forced to care for her. Then after the birth of her own two daughters and numerous miscarriages of sons, the frosty Duke feels just with his impending infidelity. It is G’s only friend, Lady Elizabeth Foster (Hayley Atwell), who becomes the live-in lover of her husband and Georgiana is obliged to witness their relationship as “Bess” suppers with them at the table.


G is reunited with her adolescent love, Charles Grey, as a desperate attempt to feel real passion and the joys of physical love. When asked for permission to love Grey freely she is subsequently raped by her husband and imprisoned in her own home. The atrocity produces a son, and Georgiana is accordingly paid for her “duty” as a wife. Assuming she is free to love whom she pleases she escapes to Bath to rendezvous with Grey but is threatened to lose her children if she does not leave him. She succumbs to her husband’s intimidation, but only to confess she carries the child of Grey in her womb. She is whisked away to the country and is forced to leave the infant with Grey’s family and is under the orders to never see her again.


How wonderful would it be to be that free? That one question posed by the Duke as he watches his children play in the well-manicured garden sums up the entire theme of the film. None of the characters are happy with the role they must play in society, and with all the power and money at their disposal the one thing they cannot buy is freedom from their entitled shackles. Director Saul Dibb dares the audience to care for all the tragic characters, even the harsh Duke, with his morals and complacency.


As a young woman of 23, Knightley is stupendous in this emotional exhibition of hope and desire and disappointment and heartache. Her emotional depth and range for her young age is displayed plainly on her face and subconscious body language in her reactions to Fiennes’ even-tempered and coolly crass Duke. Even though I am a woman who has not felt similar heartbreak, I could sympathize with her torture.


The Duchess excels from remarkable performances from the entire cast, especially Ralph Fiennes as the Duke of Devonshire and an Oscar-worthy performance from Keira Knightley, as Georgiana Spencer who falls from grace and dutifully reclaims her place in society.


Rating: A