The Feminist Politics of a Keira Knightley Period Drama
In an interview with Variety, Keira Knightley stated, “I don’t really do films set in the modern day because the female characters nearly always get raped. I always find something distasteful in the way women are portrayed, whereas I’ve always found very inspiring characters offered to me in historical pieces.” Although it is true that in The Duchess, Knightley’s character is sexually assaulted, this event does not define her character arc in the film. The defining trait that ties her historical women together is the fact that they put on a superficial performance of idealized femininity. It is also worth noting that in all of her period dramas, Knightley is at the center of the narrative. She isn’t relegated to a glorified prop, portraying someone’s underdeveloped love interest.
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet is defined by her quick wit and her defiant love for her sisters. Nearly every female character in the film exists to secure a husband, but Elizabeth is a rare exception. When Mr. Darcy proposes to her the first time, she states, “From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” Beyond her own bruised pride, Elizabeth’s other reason for rejecting Mr. Darcy’s marriage proposal is because of his role in the failed engagement between Jane, her elder sister, and Mr. Bingley. She is very justified in her decision. In her speech, she stands up for both herself and her sister. According to historian Philippa Levine, “for the woman who did not marry, whether by choice or by chance, spinsterhood marked her as one of society’s unfortunate, cast aside from the common lot of the sex.” Consequently, Elizabeth performed an incredibly brave act by rejecting a man during an era where marriage was her one duty. She stood up for herself and her family.
In Colette, Knightley fights for ownership of her works and writing. Her character begins to write books under her husband’s name and therefore receives none of the credit. The titular character eventually cuts her hair, begins dressing as a man, and has an affair with a woman during a time when this was illegal. Colette managed to break from her husband to become one of the most famous writers in France. Just like Elizabeth, her choices are brave. She rejects the norms of her current society, deciding to embrace gender nonconformity, and reclaims her works as her own. She is very much a radical woman, carving out a path for both LGBT+ women and female creatives.
Atonement is not as overtly feminist as Pride and Prejudice or Colette, but it does place its male and female characters on equal footing which Knightley feels is rare in films set in the modern day. This film features both Knightley and Saoirse Ronan as sisters during World War II. The film speaks from both of their perspectives. The way it's written, by repeating scenes from both sisters’ viewpoints, shows us how people perceive the same events differently. Knightley’s character, Cecelia, is fighting for a life away from her family and for the ability to live with Robbie, played by James McAvoy, in peace. Briony, portrayed by Saorise Ronan, struggles with guilt as she ruined their chance at love based on her lie. Even though Knightley’s character is fighting for a marriage that isn’t allowed to occur, it’s not reduced to her simply being a love interest. When looking at the bigger picture, she is actually trying to get freedom and autonomy. This is what makes the romance in Atonement different from what we might see in films set in the modern day.
Although critics deride Knightley for constantly starring in period dramas, after examining the agency and autonomy her characters are given within their respective narratives, it is easy to see why she does. Her characters tell the stories of women fighting for themselves in a time when women had significantly less rights than today. Her films, whether they are soft like Atonement and Pride and Prejudice or brash like Colette, speak to an overarching feminist ideology. There is something inherently powerful about a woman rejecting the misogynistic norms of her culture and choosing to carve out her own path.
Sources
Lang, Brett. “Keira Knightley on ‘Colette,’ Pushing for Social Change, and if She’ll Ever Direct.” Variety, 16 January 2018, https://variety.com/2018/film/features/keira-knightley-colette-metoo-directing-1202663863/.
Levine, Philippa. “‘So Few Prizes and So Many Blanks’: Marriage and Feminism in Later Nineteenth-Century England.” Journal of British Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, 1989, pp. 150–174. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/175593.