NPR 08-13:'Jane' Isn't Quite Austen, But It Is 'Becoming'电影“

The writing in this fanciful "biography" isn't up to the novelist's standards, but the performances sparkle and the look is lush.

This is All Things Considered from NPR News, I'm Michelle Norris. Jane Austen's romantic novel, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice are among the most celebrated¹ works in English literature. Relatively², little is known about Austen's own romances. She never married. But letters to her sister contained hints of her flirtation³. Well, a new movie is based on those hints. And Bob Mondello says that for readers of Austen, the film Becoming Jane will feel very familiar.

The English countryside's marital⁴ pickings may be slim in 1795, but when 20-year-old Jane Austen catches the eye of a gentleman of wealth and position, she does just what a Jane Austen heroine would do: She turns him down because she finds him dull, much to the distress⁵ of her mother.

There is no money for you.
Surely something could be done.
What we can put by must go to your brothers. You will have nothing unless you marry.
Well, then I will have nothing. For I will not marry without affection like my mother.
And now I have to dig my own damn potatoes.

I could live by my....
Your what?
I could live by my...
Pen? Let's knock that notion on the head once and for all.

This, I believe, is called ironic⁶ foreshadowing. In any event, the reason Jane is hesitating about her rich, dull suitor is that she also has a dashing, penniless suitor, a Mr. Lefroy, with whom she enjoys arguing.

Allow me to think for myself.
Give me the opportunity to do the same, sir. I've come to a different conclusion. Will you give so much to a woman?
It must depend upon the woman, and what she thinks of me.

Two potential husbands, disapproving⁷ parents, a yawning class divide. What's a would-be author to do? Well, write about them presumably. But in a movie she must also do something a little more active like argue about rile writing.

If you wish to practise the art of fiction, to be the equal of a masculine author, experience is vital.
And, er, what qualifies you to offer this advice?
I know more of the world.
hehehe..A great deal more, I gather?
Enough to know that your horizons must be widened.

Shouldn't that be broadened? Well, never mind. Austen didn't write the screenplay after all, though her characters and plot twists are all over it. A suitor from one, an elopement from another, a country dance from a third. I won't pretend I know which ones attach to which books. All of Austen sort of blends together in my head. Sense and Prejudice, Pride and Sensibility, and which one has that guy Darcy again? Which makes this film's mix-and-match approach just fine with me. You can quibble about the occasional modernism creeping into dialogue that is definitely not in a class with Austen's. And biographical purists will doubtless complain that a flirtation with the real Mr. Lefroy who later became Lord High Justice of Ireland is referred to exactly twice in all of Jane's hundreds of letters. The filmmakers have, shall we say, embroidered⁸ here.

But there's still plenty of pleasure to be had from the film's Merchant Ivory-style lushness, and from performances that almost ache to be called sparkling. Anne Hathaway's spunky Jane, James MacAvoy's briefly⁹ gallant¹⁰ Lefroy, Maggie Smith's imperious Lady Gresham, everyone well aware that they're making not art in Becoming Jane, but a frothy romp¹¹, the cinematic equivalent of a good-read for the beach. I'm Bob Mondello.

And you can find more of Bob's reviews as well as features and interviews at NPR.org/movies.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

5 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

7 disapproving   

adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mother gave me a disapproving look. 母亲的眼神告诉我她是不赞成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her father threw a disapproving glance at her. 她父亲不满地瞥了她一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

11 romp   

n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑

参考例句：

• The child went for a romp in the forest.那个孩子去森林快活一把。
• Dogs and little children romped happily in the garden.狗和小孩子们在花园里嬉戏。