Belle (2013) quotes

Director
Amma Asante.

Cast
Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Matthew Goode.
Emily Watson.

The mixed-race daughter, Dido Elizabeth Belle of Royal Navy Captain Sir John Lindsay is raised by aristocratic Great-uncle Lord William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield in eighteenth century England.

My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family who would carry me as their shame.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

You never broke the rules. You simply became powerful enough to make new ones.
– Lady Mansfield

Do you love her?
– Lady Mansfield
As though she were created by you and me.
– Lord Mansfield

Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.
– Lord Mansfield

I have been blessed with freedom twice over, as a negro and as a woman.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

Can it be true?
– John Davinier
Of course, he sees what I see. His words are as clear as…
– Dido Elizabeth Belle
No. No, that your feelings for me are so? That you would be my wife? Because – because I cannot conceive of a life without you.
– John Davinier
I love you. For all that you are, and with all, all that I am.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

Mr. Davinier, what is the purpose of the law in your eyes?
– Lord Mansfield
To provide certainty where otherwise there might be none.
– John Davinier

I had no idea she’d be so black.
– Lady Ashford

Must not a lady marry, even if she is financially secure? For who is she without a husband of consequence? It seems silly – like a free negro who begs for a master.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

Society has a habit of disregarding one of its own even when opportunity provides.
– Lord Mansfield

Well, unless she marries her equal. Her true equal. A man who respects her.
– John Davinier

With due respect, I should question whether human life should be insurable as cargo at all.
– John Davinier

I remember my father’s eyes. They were kind, gentle, a little like yours.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle
Mine?
– John Davinier
I mean in colour.
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

If I were in your place, I would choose the man I love. I only hope he’s worth it.
– Elizabeth Murray

It is not in my repertoire to keep company with beasts!
– Dido Elizabeth Belle

Papa, how may I be too high in rank to dine with the servants and too low to dine with my family?
– Dido Elizabeth Belle