Chapter three: Suffragette

"Never surrender. Never give up the fight!"

- Emmeline Pankhurst

To officially kick off my venture of Meryl movies, I began on January first, via Netflix, with a film called Suffragette. The title is fitting as the movie is about Britain during the early 20th century when women were fed up. They had spent years peacefully protesting for their right to vote and to be independent from their husbands, and brothers, and fathers, but after so many years with no desired results, women made their voices heard. Their voices became the Suffragette Movement.

Maud Watts, the film's main character, is a wife, mother, and she works in a laundry factory with all the rest of the working women who wash clothes for a living- a dreadful career if you ask me. Through her work, Maud meets a woman named Violet Miller who becomes actively involved in the Suffragette Movement. Violet is so active in the movement that she is chosen by one of the head leaders of the Suffragettes to share her story with the lawmakers in parliament in the hopes that a bill will be passed that gives women the right to vote.

Violet has been asking Maud to join the Suffragette Movement, and Maud has been relenting for fear of losing her job, until Violet speaks at parliament; Maud asks to accompany Violet. When Violet shows up to parliament the next morning, she looks horrible. Her face is covered in bruises, and it is obvious that she has been beaten. Maud is asked to speak on her behalf, but when she takes the floor, the lawmakers ask for her story. So, Maud gives her story instead of reading from Violet's.

Sometime later a decision is made by parliament that women still shall not have the right to vote. Outside parliament, where the verdict has been announced, women are outraged. They riot. Because the riot, many of them are brutally beaten by the policemen, and the women are sent to prison; among them is Maud and Violet. While in prison, Violet introduces Maud to the other women acting in the movement.

After one week in prison, Maud returns home where her husband is not happy with her, and worried about where she has been. She tells him it will never happen again. Her promise is short-lived however, because it isn't long before Maud goes back into town with the other Suffragette woman to see Mrs. Pankhurst speak. This is a big moment in the film because Mrs. Pankhurst is not only the overall leader of the Suffragette Movement, but she has also been in hiding during the recent months due to what she stands for. The police are anxious to arrest her, so she cannot speak for very long, but what she does say is powerful. Her words register with Maud in particular, because as Mrs. Pankhurst speak, the camera emphasize her facial expressions compared to all others in the crowd. To all the women in the crowd who cheering for Mrs. Pankhurst and holding up signs that read Votes For Women she states,

"My friends, in spite of His Majesty's government, I am here tonight. I know the sacrifice you have made to be here. Many of you, I know, are estranged from the lives you once had, yet I feel your spirit tonight! For fifty years, we have labored peacefully to secure the vote for women. We have been ridiculed, battered, and ignored. Now we have realized that deeds and sacrifice must be the order of the day. We are fighting for a time in which every little girl born into the world will have an equal chance with her brothers. Never underestimate the power we women have to define our own destinies. We do not want to be law breakers. We want to be law makers."

As the police cars approach the area where her speech is being held with the intent to drag her off her terrace, continues her speech,

Be militant, each of you in your own way.Those of you who can break windows, break them. Those of you who can further attack the sacred idol of property, do so. When have been left with no alternative, but to defy this government.If we must go to prison to obtain the vote, let it be the windows of government, not the bodies of women, which shall be broken."

Now with the police in close distance of Mrs. Pankhurst, the crowd begins to disassemble around the back as she finishes her speech,

"I incite this meeting, and all the women in Britain to rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave."

She drapes a black veil over her face as she exits her terrace and is protected by security men. All the while, the crowd of women around her is cheering thunderously. Ingeniously, someone in her circle had the idea to dress up another woman to look like her and fool the policeman.This plan works. The decoy Mrs. Pankhurst is descending from the front steps of the location at which 'she' spoke, about to be rescued by the confined safety of her vehicle, when policemen lunge for her and throw her to the ground. Around the scene, women are shouting,

"Don't let Mrs. Pankhurst be arrested!"

The policemen turn her body over as 'she' raises her hands and exclaims,

"No surrender!"

The policemen proclaim in an angry tone,

"It's not her!"

They're right. That's because the real Mrs. Pankhurst is getting into her vehicle around back in the company of Violet, Maud, and two other women, Edith, and Emily. Since is Maud is new to the movement, Violet introduces her. Mrs. Pankhurst looks at Maud as she climbs to the steps of her vehicle and says,

"Thank you, Maud. Never surrender. Never give up the fight."

As Mrs. Pankhurst drives away, the police realize she has escaped and they go after Maud. She is dropped at her front door, and her husband is leftt to deal with her. Maud's husband is outraged He kicks her out of the house with a handful of her belongings and forbids her to ever see their toddler son, George, again. Heartbroken, Maud reaches out to Violet who offers her a bed to sleep in. As she sits on the bed, Maud begins to sob. Violet is stunned.

"No, no, no, no, don't cry."

She says.

"It aggravates them more if they see it hasn't touched you."

The rest of the movie is really beautiful within itself. As the Suffragettes gain momentum Maud begins to realize that despite what everyone around her is telling her, she truly does have power in the world as a woman. With this newfound power, Maud sticks it to her boss who treats women inappropriately, she throws herself into becoming a Suffragette. and she even finds secret little ways to spend time with her son, George. For a moment, Maud seems to be alright.

That is, until her son's birthday when she drops by to give Gorge his present, a soft, tiny, hand-stitched elephant made of shabby fabric, only to find out that her husband, Sonny, has put George up for adoption, because he can no longer care for the child. To make matters worse, his adoptive parents are at the home, ready and prepared to take Gorge to his new one. Maud cannot believe what she is hearing. She keeps herself steady, sniffling repeatedly.

"Georgie,"

she kneels, keeping constant eye contact with her son's green eyes.

"Your mother's name is Maud Watts. Don't forget that name. Cause I'll be waiting for you to find me. Will you find me George? "

He nods, teary-eyed.

"Don't forget it."

She squeezes out as many hugs and kisses as she can, and sniffs the back of his neck as she starts to sob, before George's new mother carries him out of the house. He reaches for her.

"Mama."

He calls.

This is when Maud begins to wholly cry. When George has left, Sonny tells her,

"It's for the best Maud... We're not a family anymore... I can't take care of him."

But all Maud can do is kick, scream, and cry. The only sentence she can say is,

"Sonny, what have you done?"

It's difficult to watch, and it makes me beyond irate that she had no say in the matter. After this scene however, Maud is a dedicated suffragette through and through. When the women go on a hunger strike in prison, Maud goes with them. She believes in the cause now more than ever.

The movie ends with a funeral for Emily Wilding Davison. The Suffragettes are looking for a way to get their message out and their voices heard, because the town's policemen are cracking down on them, and thus, making it harder and harder for the women to win the fight.The suffragettes have a plan in place to get the attention of the king during his televised derby. They know that the king's horse will be third in the parade ring, and so they are going to raise a flag that reads, Votes For Women in front of all the cameras at the event as his horse passes.

The plan falls through because Edith is not in attendance. Edith is the woman in Maud's group who is the closest with Mrs. Pankhurst and many cases, is the leader because she takes control in Mrs. Pankhurst absence. On the morning of the derby, Edith's husband Hugh has tricked her. He asks her,

"I just need two milligrams of the cold salt tincture if you please."

Edith walks into the medicine cabinet to grab it saying,

"Could you not have finished the orders that night?"

Hugh follows behind her and bolts the door shot with her inside of the cabinet. He fears that if his wife is sent to prison again, the harsh treatment she will face while there will inevitably kill her. He cannot bear to let her go to the derby and orchestrate her plan. Edith hears the door bolt and she is unbeknownst to what is going on.

"Hugh? Hugh?"

She questions. She tries to open the door but it won't budge.

"Hugh. Let me out,"

she says.

"I can't,

he says weakly.

"What do you mean? What do you mean?"

Edith is baffled.

"I'm sorry. You've given enough."

Hugh insists.

"We're going to be late. Let me out. Please let me out!"

Edith begs.

"Your heart won't take it, Edith. I can't let you out. I'm sorry."

Edith presses her back against the door, and sighs in defeat.

In the pursuing scene, Maud and Emily are making through the derby crowd with their heads modestly low. They notice the king, and they notice the cameras. The two women then try to approach the king, but are stopped short.

"We will find another way."

Emily assures as they turn back around. She straightens her neck and pops her head up from the crowd. Her eyes spot an opening in the white fence.

"Follow me."

She says to Maud.

The derby has just started and horses are galloping madly as Maud and Emily make their way to the front of the the other side of the crowd. Emily walks faster, Maud trails behind her, calling her name. When Emily finally reaches her desired spot she turns to Maud and says with certainty,

"Never surrender. Never give up the fight."

Maud cannot stop her. Emily climbs underneath the fence and walks out onto the track with a small flag in her hand that reads, Votes For Women. She died seconds later after a horrific clash with a horse left her with a skull fracture. Her death was reported across the world, and her courage brought global attention to the Suffragette Movement, and thousands of women lined the streets for her funeral. As sad as it is, it definitely is something to be admired. Emily believed so wholeheartedly in the cause that she gave her life for it.

Emily Wilding Davison died in 1913. Five years later women in Britain aged over thirty were given the right to vote. In 1920, women in the United States were given the right to vote courtesy of Susan B, Anthony. In 1925, mothers in Britain were given rights over their children. In 1928, women in Britain achieved the same voting rights as men. Emmeline Pankhurst died in 1928. Meryl played the role of Emmeline Pankhurst.

I find it sort of odd to say this, considering that the movie was about women suffrage, and it wasn't very Merrily (meaning Meryl was only in one scene.) But, I liked it. I think the movie helped me realize how lucky I am. A century ago women were not valued in society, and if they wanted opportunities, they had to fight to get them. I am lucky enough to be given chances and I don't have to fight nearly as hard as the women who came before me did, because they already fought for me. After watching this movie I sort of had a revelation in a sense. I comprehended that it would be a shame for me to waste what my great grandmothers and grandmothers fought for and to waste all that my mother gave to me. I perceive that this movie, especially Mrs. Pankhurst's speech, helped me realize the extent to my power. Women started with nothing, and now we have a lot. I have a lot. I have a louder voice than past generations. All I have to do is use it. Once I realized this, I became a little happier, because I knew I had a purpose. My next task was figuring out what it was.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.