Turn Back

"They must think it so strange, so rude of me! To go by them, too, without saying a word!" - Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey

I thought this was a really lovely shot of Eleanor and Henry as they turn back from their walk to see Catherine driving with Mr. Thorpe. Eleanor's bonnet is quite elegant, in fact everything about Eleanor Tilney is elegant. Eleanor is one of my favorite characters in Northanger Abbey, I love her almost more than Catherine!

"Miss Tilney had a good figure, a pretty face, and a very agreeable countenance; and her air, though it had not all the decided pretension, the resolute stylishness of Miss Thorpe’s, had more real elegance. Her manners showed good sense and good breeding; they were neither shy nor affectedly open; and she seemed capable of being young, attractive, and at a ball without wanting to fix the attention of every man near her, and without exaggerated feelings of ecstatic delight or inconceivable vexation on every little trifling occurrence."

Were I write the story of Eleanor Tilney I would entitle it 'More Real Elegance'.
Elegance in an Austen character is often prized, it encompasses, as the quote above points out, quite a bit of virtue and not just pedigree or a pretty face.

Note: I've updated the side list of Old Fashioned Movies and they are all linked to their IMDb page. Please note that though I recommend all of them some may not be appropiate for families to view. A few are just "period" in costumes only.