History Film / Belle

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imageedit_1_9351393420_4971.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family who would carry me as their shame."'']]
->''"Society has a habit of disregarding even one of its own when opportunity provides."''

''Belle'' is a 2013 film [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory very loosely based]] on the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (Creator/GuguMbathaRaw), a mixed-race woman who was raised by her white father's family as neither a servant nor a full member of polite society. This carefully constructed system of rules begins to collapse when her guardian, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, deliberates a case that could either weaken the institution of slavery or codify it in law permanently.

Unrelated to the anime film ''{{Anime/Belle|2021}}''.
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!!This film provides examples of:

* AlmostKiss: Happens several times between Dido and Mr. Davinier, particularly when they meet at Vauxhall Gardens.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:John blurts out that he loves Dido during an argument with Lord Mansfield.]]
* TheBigDamnKiss: After Lord Mansfield [[spoiler: finally allows a match between Dido and Mr. Davinier.]]
* BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama: {{Played straight}} with Dido's parents. Fear of this trope is what leads Dido's guardians to TakeAThirdOption and simply not put her on the marriage market at all.
* ButNotTooBlack: {{Invoked}}. How "black" a character sees Dido as is directly proportionate to how well she's treated by them.
* CoolOldLady: Lady Mary, the girls' MaidenAunt.
* DeadpanSnarker: Dido.
--> '''Elizabeth:''' Visitors? Whoever bothers to visit us here?\\
'''Dido:''' Or leave, except the dead?
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Words like "negro" and "mulatto" are thrown about quite freely, Dido isn't allowed to dine with guests on account of her skin color, and slavery is still very much a reality (Dido's own mother was an African slave). Additionally, love is barely factored into marriage, and Dido finds Elizabeth's fixation on it silly.
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: When Dido and Elizabeth are arguing at one scene in the movie Dido's not being allowed to dine with her family comes up and Elizabeth blurts out that it's because Dido is illegitimate. This may overlap with DeliberateValuesDissonance as this would've been a huge deal back then.
* FirstGirlWins: A male version: Technically Dido meets Mr. Davinier before she meets Mr. Oliver Ashford, even though the circumstances are not exactly ideal.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: {{Played with}}. Dido is portrayed as smarter while Elizabeth is (at least to Georgian society) more beautiful, but they truly care for each other and are more like sisters than the cousins they actually are. One man even calls them "sister-cousin[s]".
* GoldDigger: The Ashfords. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the time period: Oliver Ashford would have been essentially penniless (aside from his naval commission, which might well not suffice) without Dido's inheritance.
%%* GorgeousPeriodDress: And how.
* HalfBreedDiscrimination: Dido has an African mother and English father. It's {{played for drama}} as she's not only legally a slave due to her mother being one, but faces frequent racism as a "mulatto" even when her father's family treats her fairly well.
* HappilyAdopted: Dido and Elizabeth, who call their aunt and uncle "Mama" and "Papa" and are treated more like daughters than nieces.
* HaveAGayOldTime: "Coming out" in Georgian society meant "looking for a husband," not "revealing one's sexuality" as it does today.
* HeldGaze: Between Dido and Mr. Davinier at Vauxhall Gardens. This is used to establish that she has a deeper connection with ''him'' than with Oliver, the man her family is trying to make a match of her with.
* HeroicBastard: Dido. Her father's acknowledgement of her and later willing her his fortune is what prevents her from living in the slums.
* KarmaHoudini: PoliticallyIncorrectVillain James Ashford suffers no punishment beyond a brief YouMonster speech that bounces off him and goes on to marry a wealthy heiress.
* LastSecondWordSwap: Whatever word you (or Dido, apparently) expected Elizabeth to insult Dido with, [[spoiler: "illegitimate"]] certainly wasn't it.
* ParasolOfPrettiness: Many are seen throughout the movie.
* ParentalAbandonment: Dido's mother dies of unknown causes in her childhood. Then her father, who she'd never seen before, delivers Dido to his family in England. He never appears again; she is raised solely by them.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Mr. James Ashford. He's racist, sexist, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil implied to be a rapist]], and a snob [[spoiler: who drops his courtship of Elizabeth the second he finds out she has no dowry]]. His behavior is unacceptable even by the standards of the time.
* RaceFetish: Mr. Oliver Ashford. His attraction to Dido is solely because she's "exotic" and therefore more interesting.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dido's guardians.
* RedOniBlueOni: Elizabeth is the red oni, being more emotional and romantic. Dido is the blue oni: less given to sentiment and more intellectual. {{Inverted}} in their outfits: Dido wears pink, Bette wears blue.
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: A variation. Dido wants to marry, but her only options are to marry Mr. Oliver Ashford (who is of her rank but doesn't respect her) or Mr. John Davinier (who respects her but is not of her rank). Technically they are ''both'' poor, as Mr. Ashford is a second son and unlikely to inherit, but because his family has a title, he is ranked over Mr. Davinier, the son of a vicar. Important in that Lord and Lady Mansfield try to prevent this scenario from happening by simply forbidding Dido from "coming out" at all, knowing that Dido's race prevents her from marrying someone of equal rank. [[spoiler:Lord Mansfield sees to the part about Davinier's rank.]]
* ShelteredAristocrat: Elizabeth, which is arguably her FatalFlaw. While obliviousness to evils like prejudice makes her SpoiledSweet and a devoted friend of Dido, it also makes her an overly trusting HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.
* SweetAndSourGrapes: Dido finally makes the decision to break off her engagement with Mr. Ashford, knowing this will likely leave her an old maid... [[spoiler: and ends up married to Mr. Davinier, as Lord Mansfield sees to it that he is raised to a rank worthy of Belle.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: Happens three times, all to circumvent the MortonsFork of Dido's essential issue with marriage; marriage to a person of rank is almost impossible due to her race and marriage below her station would reduce her.
** The first attempt is by Belle's guardians idea to simply not have her come out at all, instead granting her the running of the estate but keeping her from getting married.
** The second is to form an alliance with an eligible bachelor: he would raise her socially and she would support him financially.
** The third is for Dido to marry the man she loves, [[spoiler: and for her guardians to provide her husband the financial and social means to rise in rank to be worthy of her]].
* TriangRelations: Type 7. Dido is publicly in a relationship with Mr. Ashford even though her true feelings lie with Mr. Davinier.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Dido was not so great an heiress, nor was Elizabeth penniless, nor was Mr. Davinier a law student, or even English. However, the larger social themes of the story are true to history.
* WickedStepmother: Elizabeth's. Her father remarries and her new stepmother's child inherits, leaving her penniless and without a dowry to attract suitors.
* WrongGuyFirst: Mr. Oliver Ashford.
* YoureJustJealous: Elizabeth plays this trope to textbook perfection when Dido tries to tell her about [[spoiler:James assaulting her]].
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Unrelated to the anime film ''{{Anime/Belle|2021}}''

* GorgeousPeriodDress: And how.

* MixedAncestry: Dido has an African mother and English father. It's {{played for drama}} as she's not only legally a slave due to her mother being one, but faces frequent racism as a "mulatto" even when her father's family treats her fairly well.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: John blurts out that he loves Dido during an argument with Lord Mansfield.]]

* BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama: {{Played straight}} with Dido's parents. Fear of this trope is what leads Dido's guardians to TakeAThirdOption and simply not have her on the marriage market at all.

--> '''Elizabeth:''' Visitors? Whoever bothers to visit us here?
--> '''Dido:''' Or leave, except the dead?

* GoldDigger: The Ashfords. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for the time period: Oliver Ashford would have been essentially penniless (short of his naval commission) without Dido's inheritance.

* HeldGaze: Between Dido and Mr. Davinier at Vauxhall Gardens. This is used to establish that she has a deeper connection with ''him'' instead of Oliver, the man her family is trying to make a match of her with.

* MixedAncestry: Dido has an African mother and English father. It's {{played for drama}} as she's not only legally a slave due to her mother being one, but faces frequent racism as a "mulatto" even when her father's family treats her fairly well in contrast.

* ParentalAbandonment: Dido's mother dies of unknown causes in her childhood. Then her father, who she'd never seen before, delivers Dido to his family in England. He never appears again-she is raised solely by them.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Mr. James Ashford. He's racist, sexist, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil an implied rapist]], and a snob [[spoiler: who drops his courtship of Elizabeth the second he finds out she has no dowry]]. His behavior is unacceptable even for the time.

* ShelteredAristocrat: Elizabeth, which is arguably her FatalFlaw. While obliviousness to Evils like prejudices makes her SpoiledSweet and a devoted friend of Dido, it also makes her an overly trusting HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.

** The first attempt is by Belle's guardians to simply not have her come out at all, instead granting her the running of the estate but keeping her from getting married.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Dido was not so great an heiress, nor was Elizabeth penniless, nor was Mr. Davinier a law student, or even English.

* YoureJustJealous: Elizabeth plays this trope to textbook perfection when Dido tries to tell her about [[spoiler: James assaulting her]].

* BigDamnKiss: After Lord Mansfield [[spoiler: finally allows a match between Dido and Mr. Davinier.]]

* [[FirstGirlWins First Guy Wins]]: Technically Dido meets Mr. Davinier before she meets Mr. Oliver Ashford, even though the circumstances are not exactly ideal.

* DiscriminateAndSwitch : When Dido and Elizabeth are arguing at one scene in the movie Dido's not being allowed to dine with her family comes up and Elizabeth blurts out that it's because Dido is illegitimate. This may overlap with DeliberateValuesDissonance as this would've been a huge deal back then.

[[caption-width-right:350:My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family who would carry me as their shame.]]
->''Society has a habit of disregarding even one of its own when opportunity provides.''

* HeldGaze: Between Belle and Mr. Davinier at Vauxhall Gardens. This is used to establish that she has a deeper connection with ''him'' instead of Oliver, the man her family is trying to make a match of her with.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: {{Played with}}. Dido is portrayed as smarter while Elizabeth is (at least to Georgian society) more beautiful, but they truly care for each other and are more like sisters than the cousins they actually are.

* LastSecondWordSwap: Whatever word you expected Elizabeth to insult Dido with, [[spoiler: "illegitimate"]] certainly wasn't it.

* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: A variation. Dido wants to marry, but her only options are to marry Mr. Oliver Ashford (who is of her rank but doesn't respect her) or Mr. John Davinier (who respects her but is not of her rank). Technically they are ''both'' poor, as Mr. Ashford is a second son and unlikely to inherit, but because his family has a title, he is ranked over Mr. Davinier, the son of a vicar. Important in that Lord and Lady Mansfield try to prevent this scenario from happening by simply forbidding Dido from "coming out" at all, knowing that Dido's race prevents her from marrying someone of equal rank.

''Belle'' is a 2013 film [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory very loosely based]] on the story of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay, a mixed-race woman who was raised by her white father's family as neither a servant nor a full member of polite society. This carefully constructed system of rules begins to collapse when her guardian, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, deliberates a case that could either weaken the institution of slavery or codify it in law permanently.

* DiscriminateandSwitch : When Dido and Elizabeth are arguing at one scene in the movie Dido's not being allowed to dine with her family comes up and Elizabeth blurts out that it's because Dido is illegitimate. This may overlap with DeliberateValuesDissonance as this would've been a huge deal back then.