An Independent Heiress | Sanditon

When Georgiana Lambe, an heiress from the West Indies, is asked about her opinions on marriage, she declares that she doesn’t wish to be any man’s “property,” in this video excerpt from Sanditon | MASTERPIECE, based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel. Her opinion, considered controversial in early 19th-century England, is made all the more significant because her mother was, in fact, enslaved. Her friend, Charlotte Heywood, agrees with Georgiana, saying that it’s right that a woman “should value her independence.” After watching, explore the complicated issues of race and gender, which are as relevant today as they were in Austen’s England.

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