Les relations amoureuses

Corrigé

The three documents in this dossier are all English and all three address the subject of love relationships. Document A is taken from Chapter 4 of romance writer Jane Austen's last novel Persuasion, published in 1818. Document B, Blair Leighton's romantic oil on canvas seems to hark back to the same Regency period although it was painted in 1892. In contrast, Sonia Sodha's article (document C) appeared in the British broadsheet The Guardian as recently as 2017 and presents a more sociological view of love relationships. In this commentary we will analyse love relationships from three perspectives present in the documents: as a union between two people, as a family affair and as an issue for society.
Both the painting and the fictional extract portray the lovers as two young people and we can readily accept Austen's description of Captain Wentworth (a remarkable fine young man) and of Anne Elliot (an extremely pretty girl) as appropriate briefs for the artist's representation. Inevitably, the depiction of the moral character of the sweethearts is present only in the novel, where Austen deploys a succession of abstract nouns for each: "intelligence, spirit and brilliancy" for Wentworth and "gentleness, modesty, taste and feeling" for Anne. Nevertheless, the earnestness with which the young man eyes his beloved in her pink and white frilly dress in the painting makes us feel that, as in the novel, this must be a perfect match. Austen's use of superlatives reinforces the impression of an ideal union: "It would be difficult to say which had seen highest perfection in the other, or which had been the happiest." If we consider reality TV as a 21st century equivalent of Regency literature, the article suggests that nowadays the perfect match has been supplanted by the hackneyed saying "opposites attract" and the moral character of the prospective partners is defined by their professions: "a socialite charity worker … a former motorsport grid girl". However, this anecdotic note of humour belies Sonia Sodha's principal contention that forming a couple in this day and age is particularly complicated for men from the lower social classes.
According to the article, family plays a major role in the success of a love relationship: research demonstrates that the wealth of a family determines their son's professional success and his ability to find a partner. On the contrary, both the 19^th century documents portray the family as an obstacle to a couple's happiness. In Persuasion, the romance between the supposedly ideally-matched couple is short-lived on account of pressure from Anne's family. Indeed, her father "thought it a very degrading alliance" while Lady Russell, Anne's godmother, clearly hostile, calls it "a most unfortunate one". Jane Austen emphasizes the inconsistency of Lady Russell's aversion for the Captain: "He was brilliant, he was headstrong. Lady Russell had little taste for wit, and of anything approaching to imprudence a horror." Her hostility is excessive, and yet Anne complies with her godmother's wishes and ends their relationship. In contrast, the sweethearts in the painting appear to be bolder and to want to take their fate into their own hands. The girl is unlocking the gate onto the river and looking behind her at the same time as if she is afraid of being discovered. The symbol of the locked gate indicates that the family constitute a menace for the young couple. The artist has chosen the proverb "where there's a will, there's a way" which corroborates the impression that the lovers are about to meet secretly or even elope.
Beyond Lady Russell's personal disdain for Captain Wentworth, Jane Austen emphasizes the family's hostility to the union on account of his lack of social standing: "a stranger without alliance or fortune." At the time, acceptance by society counts more for a family than their child's happiness in love. The social unacceptability of the illicit union is highlighted in the painting by the iron railing symbolising the barrier between the two worlds: the girl's cosy, ordered life in the family home and the young man's disorderly life outside (connoted by the wild meadow and the flowing river). The difference in height between the two sweethearts suggests that the girl would be marrying beneath her. The notion of social mobility is central to Sodha's premise: "Our education system must do more to bring together those of different backgrounds to improve social mobility."
All three documents evoke the difficulties of successfully managing a love relationship, showing that love itself is insufficient and that external factors like the family and society cannot be ignored. The painting is undoubtedly the most optimistic and idyllic, while the novel clearly pinpoints human foibles and social flaws of the time. At the same time, it is heart-warming to know that Austen's characters actually meet again seven years later and have a chance to fulfil their dream of forming a couple – where there's a will …