Becoming Jane

The year is 1795 and young Jane Austen (ANNE HATHAWAY) is a feisty 20 year-old and emerging writer who already sees a world beyond class and commerce, beyond pride and prejudice, and dreams of doing what was then nearly unthinkable -- marrying for love marrying for love, without any regard for financial well-being at all; in other words, their romance was based not on sense, but on sensibility or feeling, as the word meant in her day and in her book title, Sense and Sensibility. Naturally, her parents (JULIE WALTERS and JAMES CROMWELL) are searching for a wealthy, well-appointed husband to assure their daughter's future social standing. They are eyeing Mr. Wisley (LAURENCE FOX), nephew to the very formidable, not to mention very rich, local aristocrat Lady Gresham (MAGGIE SMITH), as a prospective match. But when Jane meets the roguish and decidely non-aristocratic Tom Lefroy (JAMES MCAVOY), sparks soon fly along with the sharp repartee. His intellect and arrogance raise her ire -- then knock her head over heels.