[from trailer]

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: You can't ask me to battle nature in my own heart.
Duke of Devonshire: This will be the mistake of your life.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: No, I made that many years ago. I trust you can see yourself out.
[from trailer]

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I fail to comprehend how far we are fully committed to the concept of freedom.

Sir Peter Teazle: Freedom in moderation.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: The concept of freedom is an absolute.
[from trailer]

Lady Spencer: All of London is talking.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Oh, let them talk!
[from trailer]

Duke of Devonshire: I love you in the way I understand love.
[from trailer]

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: All my life, I've been fighting my way upstream.
Duke of Devonshire: Over the years I have acted in ways that you have judged... harsh. Well, I do not wish for you to undergo any further suffering.
Duke of Devonshire: How wonderful to be that free.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: [speaking about Charles Grey] We love each other.

Duke of Devonshire: I do not doubt it; he is a dreamer like yourself. You both dream of another world that does not exist, and never will.
Lady Spencer: I have heard a rumor.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Yes?

Lady Spencer: That I will soon be addressing my daughter as her Grace, the Duchess of Devonshire.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Is it true, Mama?

Lady Spencer: Yes.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: He loves me?

Lady Spencer: Yes, of course.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I have only met him twice.

Lady Spencer: When one truly loves someone, one doesn't have to know them well to be sure, Georgiana. One feels it right away.
Charles Fox: [admiring Georgiana's pregnancy] A huge belly has never been more becoming on anyone.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan: Well, Fox, here, offers an expert opinion seeing, as he does, a giant belly every time he passes a mirror.
Bess Foster: [watching children] Up and down, up and down. Why can't we recover like that?

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: It's too far to fall now.
Charles Grey: [taking in the large crowd arounf Georgina] Is it always like this?

Bess Foster: Well, as they say, the Duke of Devonshire must be the only man in England not in love with his wife.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: How's the campaign going?

Charles Grey: Terribly. Our only hope is to save Westminster for Fox.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I have many faults, as you well know. Not least among them is my ability to draw attention. Perhaps we could use that to our advantage.
Charles Grey: Good people of Westminster! The world is on the brink of disaster or salvation. From France to America, men and women are struggling to free themselves, to find meaning in their existence. Change is upon us!
Charles Grey: We shall take England into this brave new world and shake the thunder from the skies!
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Do you think of me when we're not together?

Charles Grey: You ought to know I do.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: You hesitated before you replied.

Charles Grey: No, I'm unused to being asked so directly. And by you of all people. I think of you all the time. I always have.
Charles Grey: You don't have to please others all the time.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: It's what I've been brought up to do. Difficult lesson to unlearn.
Charles Grey: Please tell me what is wrong.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I fear I've done some things in life too late and others too early.

Charles Grey: [Takes off his hat] No, you haven't.

[Kisses her]
Duke of Devonshire: I don't make deals. Why would I? I'm in charge of it all.
Charles Fox: Today we have won the vote. Tomorrow we define the future.
Duke of Devonshire: I know that you've never thought much of my manners or my itellect, G. But in fact, I never do anything that serves no purpose.
Speechmaker: When she arrives, all eyes are upon her. When absent, she is the subject of universal conversation. And what we see her wearing tonight, I look forward to seeing the rest of you wearing tomorrow!
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Of all the women in England, you had to throw yourself on her. I have never objected to any of your affairs. I have accepted whatever arrangement you have proposed. But this... I have one single thing of my own. Why couldn't you let me keep Elizabeth for myself? What kind of man are you? She is my sole comfort in our marriage. You have robbed me of my only friend. What is wrong with me?
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: What's that on your neck? Bess?

Bess Foster: It's not illegal for a man to beat his wife with a stick unless the stick is thicker than his thumb.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: There are limits to the sacrifices one makes for one's children.

Bess Foster: No, there aren't. No limits whatsoever.
Charles Fox: In which particular section of the speech did the message elude your Grace?

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Well, I have great sympathy with your sentiments in general, but fail fully to comprehend how far we - the Whig party, that is - are fully committed to the concept of freedom.
Duke of Devonshire: [Dryly to a servant after a drunken Georgina's wig has caught on fire] Please put out her grace's hair.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I am her mother. After all, she is only a girl.
Dinner guest: Excellent speech, Mr. Fox.

Charles Fox: I think it is always easier to address a congregation of friends... particularly when those friends are drunk.
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: [to a crowd of her adoring public at Bath regaled with a large plume on her hat] We come away to Bath to get away from London, and all of London has come away to Bath.

[laughter from the audience]

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: Somebody did indeed ask me what kind of feather it is I'm wearing. Well, there are only two specimins of this rare bird known to man. One of them has clearly ended up on top of my head, and the other - rumor has it he's running for office in the Tory Party.

[More laughter]
Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: [to the Duke about his realationship with Bess] Of all the women in England you had to throw yourself on her!
Duke of Devonshire: I asked for two things when we wed, loyalty, and male heir.

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: The same as your dogs!
Duke of Devonshire: [with a degree of frustration after taking off G's elaborate corseting on their wedding night] For the life of me, I could never understand why women's clothes must be so complicated.
Charles Fox: [to Georgina at the dinner table after addressing the gathering] It's always easier to address a congregation of friends... particularly when those friends are drunk.

The Duchess Quotes

Extended Reading

The Duchess short comments

Emma 2022-01-02 08:02:10

how wonderful to be that free The only man in the UK who does not love her is her husband.
Ron 2022-03-30 09:01:05

Oscar for Best Costume. All kinds of costumes, earrings, necklaces, and headgear in the film are dazzling. Personally, I think the costumes of the 18th century are the greatest creations of that era. So far, I have seen 4 Knightley's medieval court style movies. This is the worst one. Has she ever acted in a modern drama? I thought it was fresh when I first saw it, but now I'm a little tired of seeing that face