Can a Hollywood-made dramatic biopic made in the current century actually show polyamory?  That might depend on how we define "polyamory".  Joreth reviews the narrative version of Lady Georgiana Cavendish's life as portrayed by Natalie Portman to see if polyamory happened during the Georgian era and if polyamory can be shown in a movie made in the modern era.

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The Duchess is based on a true story about Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, who married William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire. Biopics can be challenging to review because, on the one hand, I don't like to give out spoilers and I only do so when it's absolutely necessary to explain why a movie is classified as "poly" or not. But on the other hand, these are true stories that happened years, sometimes centuries ago, and the conclusion is already well-known (or ought to be). I think I said in another review that we don't watch biopics to be surprised at the ending, we watch them to see how this particular storyteller tells this particular story.

The short answer here, because I like to give it right up front so that you don't have to sit through an entire review unless you actually want to hear all my ramblings, is that I really enjoyed the movie, and I'm going to say that it's poly-ISH. I thought it was well acted, well directed, the costuming was georgeous (as it should be, given the main character's importance in the fashion world), and it was surprisingly accurate, according, at least, to what Wikipedia has to say about these historical characters. Normally I try to keep my reviews to the poly (or not) content within the film, regardless of historical accuracy, but this time I think its accuracy is relevant to my categorization.

Georgiana Spencer is the oldest child of John and Georgiana Spencer, and much loved. In fact, "love" is rather prevalent in her childhood home, in contrast to many noble and upper class homes of her time. Her parents doted on her and, apparently on each other. According to Wikipedia, there is no record anywhere that indicates anything other than loving monogamy for life from her parents, quite apart from the custom of the time. This, unfortunately, sets up our young G with some unrealistic expectations of adulthood and marriage in the peerage.

On her 17th birthday, Lady Georgiana was married to the most eligible bachelor in English society, William Cavendish, according to the arrangements of her mother. G (as she is sometimes called) had only met her husband-to-be twice prior to the deal being made, but she believed it to be a love match. Her mother had hoped to not marry her off so young, but could not pass up the opportunity to raise her daughter's station to one of the most powerful men in the realm. Also, a true fact. So, off she went, the new Duchess of Devonshire.

Unfortunately for G, William did not consider "love" to be a relevant factor in marriage. He had entered into a business contract for a male heir, not a soulmate. And so begins a long, volatile relationship between the Duchess and Duke of Devonshire. William seems to have no interests in anything other than cards and his dogs. G, meanwhile, develops quite a few passions, including drinking, gambling of all sorts, politics, and fashion.

Over the course of their marriage, she becomes the quintessential fashion/style icon of the day, with all of English society hanging on her every design and fashion trend. And, as many of my very male partners have been surprised to discover after numerous rants from me, fashion very strongly influences politics and vice versa, so our young fashionista is also quite politically influential.

William does maintain one other interest - sex. G discovers numerous affairs and unhappily looks the other way, as is the custom. Several years into her marriage, G is introduced to Charlotte, the daughter of one of his dalliances from before their marriage, whose mother is now dead and William decides that G should raise her. In the movie, we see G as resistent to and hurt by this revelation at first, but growing to love Charlotte as if one of her own children. The surviving correspondence between G and her mother indicate that the love, at least, was true - she did indeed adore Charlotte as her own daughter.

G goes on to have 2 more daughters before finally producing a male heir for William, thereby finally fulfilling her half of the marriage contract that William arranged for. And this is where the poly - or not - content comes in. Until this point, we only see William as having indiscriminate sexual affairs with various staff, and G not having any affairs of her own. At this time in real history, a woman of G's status was allowed to have affairs, the same as her husband, but only after producing a son to secure inheritance. In the movie, this little fact is never mentioned. It is just assumed that her husband is a common philanderer and she is the dutiful wife, pained by his cheating and his withholding of affection, but faithful.

8 years into marriage, after the birth of their two daughters but before the birth of their first son, William and G take a holiday in the city of Bath, where they meet Lady Elizabeth Foster, known as Bess. G and Bess develop a very close, intimate friendship. Surviving correspondence confirms that they had a strong, adoring bond, but no indication of it being anything other than platonic. The movie implies otherwise, at least once.

Bess has become destitute after separating from her husband, as one might expect in a society where women had no rights and no property of their own. So G suggests that Bess move in with her and her husband. Some time after moving in, G discovers her husband having an affair with Bess. In the movie, this devastates G, who declares that her husband "took" the one thing in the world that was her own - her friendship with Bess.

[inserted movie clip of G's confrontation with William over Bess and her demand that Bess leave and William's denial of that demand] G is now forced to live in the same home with her husband and her husband's mistress, her former best friend, facing them both at the breakfast table every morning.

At this point in the film, I would have said that this is not poly, but it could have been a scenario that not-really-poly couples find themselves in when they attempt an open marriage that they're not ready for. Imagine, if you will, a stereotypical unicorn hunter couple, where they agree to "open up" because the wife is bisexual and the husband "allows" her to explore her bisexuality as long as it's only the same-sex part she explores.

This hypothetical couple finds a hot bi babe who agrees to be with the wife (but don't worry, he won't participate, because the wife is the only one who is allowed to have sex with him!), except one day the wife comes home to find her hot bi babe is in bed with her husband, contrary to all the rules they have about no sex with the husband, no sex alone with the hot bi babe, etc. So the wife pulls a veto because this was supposed to be HER girlfriend, and the husband just refuses to break up with her. Now the happy little pseudo-FFM triad is a hostile FMF-V with the wife calling the hot bi babe "homewrecker" and the husband totally lost in NRE with the new shiny.

So I might have put this movie in a poly analogues category because, other than the sex between the two women (which was only implied once in the film, and not explicitly an ongoing part of their friendship), that's pretty much what happened - hubby stole the side chick from wifey and refused a veto. But we're only at the 1/3rd mark in the film.

Apparently, in real history, the talk of the town was that Bess took advantage of her friendship with G and "engineered her way" into a sexual relationship with William. Bess also engaged in several affairs of her own outside of her relationship with William, which were well documented. The whole arrangement of a married man having his mistress actually live in his marital home along with the wife was quite the scandal. But there's more to the story, both in the film and in real life - we'll get to that.

So, back to the film, G is being tortured by being face to face with her husband's mistress, her former best friend, every day. Bess keeps trying to be friends with G, but G keeps rebuffing her, and William remains irritatingly aloof and uncaring. Frankly, if it weren't for the implication in the film that Bess was using her connection with William to get custody of her children, I wouldn't understand why she wants to be in a relationship with him at all. He is an uninteresting man with no personality whatsoever. G, at least, was stuck with him because she was married to him and it wasn't her doing. The movie does show tenderness between William and Bess, I'm just not sure what *else* there is to a relationship with him other than using his power.

In real life, Bess separated from her husband after 5 years of marriage and he somehow managed to refuse to allow her to see her *two* sons for 14 years. In the movie, William gets her *three* sons back after a few weeks of their little "arrangement". So, while William and Bess are playing house in G's home, making this not really poly because G and William don't love each other and it's basically a cheating story at this point, G starts having affairs of her own.

In the film, G knew a young man as a teen, named Charles Grey. They lost touch when G got married and Charles finished school and got into politics. As Charles entered Parliament as a young adult, their paths crossed again. This is the point in real history where G and Charles *actually* met. After her estrangement from William over Bess, G begins a love affair with Charles, not a sexual affair. Remember, in real history, a woman in G's position was allowed to have affairs but only after birthing a son, and in this point in the movie, G has not yet had a son. Of course, in the movie, we do not know that she is allowed to have dalliances of her own at any point.

G proposes to her husband and Bess that she will give them her blessing as long as William gives his own blessing to her affair with Charles. William outright refuses and threatens to kill Charles if she doesn't call off her relationship with him. Bess tries to stand up for G (still trying to rekindle their friendship), but William reminds everyone just who is in charge around here. So G cools things with Charles.

Eventually G conceives a male heir. In real life, it is unknown when her affair with Charles Grey began, but the movie indicates that they finally consummate their relationship almost immediately after the birth of G's son as the result of some matchmaking by Bess in another move to prove her love and friendship to G. Given that, in real life, G has Charles' illegitimate daughter less than 2 years later, that is probably accurate.

Once again, this is not exactly a poly relationship. This is two people trapped in a marriage of convenience having extramarital affairs with the people they would rather be married to if they could be. Except it appears that G is warming to Bess again. In a breakfast table conversation, G announces that she is going to the city of Bath ostensibly for her health but probably to arrange more time with her lover, Charles.

At William's look of surprise, she announces [inserted clip of G saying Bess can stay here and look after "our" husband"]. She may have said that sarcastically, but it's a pretty poly thing to say. I get the impression that, William's lack of permission notwithstanding, G has mellowed over his ongoing relationship with Bess because of her own relationship with Charles, and Bess's attempts at reconnecting.

One particular scene that I liked, which has nothing to do with polyamory or lack thereof, is when G is lying in bed with Charles and they're going over the equivalent of the tabloid gossip columns that love to profile the fashionista Her Grace, Lady Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and the camera shows us a little political drawing of G, implying that she uses her sex appeal and promises of inappropriate favors to get votes for the political party that she supports. I liked this scene because that was a real drawing of the real Duchess and a real accusation made against her. It appears that the sentiment "celebrities should stay out of politics" is not a new one.

Anyway, G's not so discreet indiscretion raises her husband's ire and he storms her holiday house to demand that she give up her lover or else he will pull all his rank and do to her what Bess's husband did to Bess as well as ruining Charles' political future. So G calls things off with Charles in exchange for her children and goes back to William. At this point, she discovers that she's pregnant with Charles' child. Wiki history does not indicate when their affair actually ended. G has their daughter and is forced to give her to Charles' parents to raise.

This is the turning point in the movie of her relationship with Bess. William makes Bess inform G of William's decision to have G disappear for the pregnancy and give up the child. William intends for this confrontation to be a two-against-one scenario, disempowering G even further, but Bess turns on William for his lack of empathy. While she understands the position that women have in society and is willing to play within her role, she is angered by William's lack of compassion for the difficulty that these roles place on them. So Bess refuses to take William's side, even though she goes along with the decision.

[inserted audio clip of Bess's declarations to G and William] William will not be allowed to play house with his mistress while he banishes his wife for daring to get pregnant from her own affair.

Still not terribly poly. Regardless of who Bess is in favor with at any given moment, G and William are forever at odds. G's only two loving relationships were ripped away from her by her husband, as well as a child. And William is just a jerk. But the final scene with text explaining what happens to everyone from here shows G walking up to Bess and William and chatting pleasantly with the both of them. The text states that Georgiana, Bess, and the Duke lived together until Georgiana's death. The next shot is of G and Bess in the garden holding hands, and the text says "With Georgiana's blessing, Bess went on to marry the Duke and become the next Duchess of Devonshire."

Because of this final scene, I would put the movie in the "poly-ish" category, but it would be there on shaky ground. While it's not exactly ambiguous, I mean, it flat out says that the 3 of them live together until death and that G gives her blessing for the other two to marry, and Kiera Knightly is directed to express affection towards Bess in this final shot and a softening towards William in the previous shot, it's still ... not quite right.

So in a move that I don't like to do, I'm turning to the real history. Bess was found to be wearing a lock of G's hair in a necklace upon her death and had a lock G's hair in a bracelet on the bedside table. Bess died many years after G and yet still kept those momentos on her until the day she also died. While Bess was living with the Cavendishes and sleeping with William, and after G knew about it, G wrote many letters to Bess professing her very strong love for her. One such oft-quoted passage includes:

"My dear Bess, Do you hear the voice of my heart crying to you? Do you feel what it is for me to be separated from you? … Oh Bess, every sensation I feel but heightens my adoration of you."

The movie portrayed their friendship as having been destroyed upon the discovery of the affair, and a slow transition back to something like a friendship, but it never showed the strength of the passion that G had for Bess even after the discovery. In real life, G, apparently, loved Bess very much and Bess seemed to have returned that love. Bess also was not with William the entire time. She left on several occasions and had long-standing affairs with other influential men, sometimes only returning after both the Duke and Duchess implored her to return.

Because the movie was about G, and because she was married to William, I think most people would be inclined to keep putting G in the middle of either a V with her as the hinge and William and Bess as the arms, or in a triad with all three of them together. But because Bess married William after G died, I think of it as more like a V with *Bess* in the middle and the two spouses as the arms.

I think a triad can also be defended because, in that second-to-final scene, William asked for some semblance of "calm normality" and Kiera Knightly played G as reaching some understanding about William's choices and being open to building a mutually affectionate connection. But G and William never had anything in common, so I lean more towards seeing it as once hostile metamours beginning to build a bridge. Whatever understanding they came to in that moment, I feel that their connection to each other was never going to be as strong as the connection that Bess had with either of them.

So that, plus the real life facts that everyone, including Bess, continued to have affairs outside of their "ménage à trois" allows me to interpret this movie as poly-ish, not just a cheating movie, and not a primary couple with side partners. I think Bess was the hinge that kept their contract marriage together. The three of them lived together in this, whatever you want to call it, for 25 years.

Some interesting notes about how Bess was received in the family. She had 2 children of her own with William, in addition to her two sons from her previous marriage. They were born abroad and it took several years before Bess was able to bring them home to be raised along with the Cavendish children. Bess had other affairs with other influential men and actually expected to marry another duke at one time. But after several months of waiting for a marriage proposal that never came, Bess returned home to the Cavendishes. The Cavendish children were none too pleased at their father's remarriage to Bess after G's death. The son, Hart, referred to Bess as "the crocodile".

Just in case anyone was wondering, Charles got married shortly after his "niece" was born and he and his wife had 16 children of their own. He moved up through parliament and eventually inherited an earldom from his father, making him Earl Grey. Yes, *that* Earl Grey. He used this particular blend of black tea from China flavored with bergamot oil in his household and served to guests. It became so popular with the guests that Lady Grey was asked if it could be sold. There are two different tea companies who make their claim on the original Earl Grey tea - Twinnings, which claims that they replicated the recipe from Earl Grey, and Jacksons of Picadelly, which says they created the recipe that Earl Grey used.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, G's daughter with Charles, Eliza, was eventually told who her real parents were, sometime after G died in 1806. About a decade later, Eliza had her first daughter, whom she named Georgiana. One final trivia fact - One of Georgiana's siblings became the direct ancestor of Princess Diana.

 

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