Romantic Realists

“Women are the only realists,” says G.K. Chesterton when describing the nature of Jane Austen’s books. A surprising novel (no pun intended) in light of the new romantic movie women must drag their husbands and boyfriends to see. The Miramax film, Becoming Jane, tells the love story of Jane Austen herself – the author made famous for her countless love stories, which highlight romantic love in the midst of ordinary life.

Starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy, the movie is set in 19th century England where balls and tea-parties, gowns trimmed in lace and satin gloves are part of everyday jargon. It depicts the courtship she had with the only man she truly loved. The story unfolds to reveal that the devoted author of books like Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, once had a love of her own -- an experience from which she was likely to have drawn her delicate and sensitive approach towards the relationship between man and woman. The perplexing climax is certainly a shock to her readers, in so far as the author never married. In short, the man she loved was an idealist, Jane a realist.

Maybe men consider love stories to be a waste of time and of little practical value when dealing with the real world, whether on the screen or in a book. However, I would place the flying car or the space alien in that precise category, defending the romantic quality of any film (or novel) that portrays a love story based on truth and value. I say this not because I am a woman, but only because it is more likely to happen than the average action-packed film where men with masks fly around the world saving desperate people.

It’s possible the sexes will never agree when it comes to the debate on romantic love stories and action packed thrillers. Women will drag their husbands to the first, while men (whether they known it or not) will drag their date to the second. Unbearable as it may seem though, Chesterton in conclusion to his discourse on women authors found that, “Any masculine reader is really an intruder among this pile of books.” Perhaps the same holds true for both types of film in the present day. Movie-goers are accompanied to the cinema by “intruders”, bound willing and solely by that one thread lasting throughout all of man’s history: the divine existence of romantic love…