ABSTRACT
In the post-third-wave feminist, twenty-first-century moment, the larger-than-life stories of two women, in particular, have become fodder for contemporary women's fantasies of history. Sofia Coppola's film, while reviled by many critics for its seeming deference to style over substance, has provided ample material for feminist analysis since its release. Feminist film critics, as well as critics of fashion studies, have lauded the film for its ability to draw attention to issues of female subjectivity, identity construction, and female empowerment. Saul Dibb's 2008 film The Duchess tells the story of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. In many ways, the film echoes the narrative form of Marie Antoinette, while, like Farewell, My Queen, making a specific reference to lesbianism before swiftly rejecting it. The inability or refusal of the films to represent female interiority is one of the primary ways in which the films are also unable to represent the possibility of true female same-sex relationships.
