2. Napoleon, as cited in Dicey, A.V., Lectures on the Relation Between Law and Public Opinion in England During the Nineteenth Century (London: MacMillan, 1914) at 1Google Scholar.

3. The New Yorker (21 March 1994) at 50Google Scholar.

4. I should note at the outset that the screenplay of this movie has been reduced to book form: Campion, J., The Piano (London: Bloomsbury, 1992)Google Scholar. I have restricted my usage of this book to the dialogue and have tried to ignore the statements about the direction of the film by Campion.

5. Sweetie was a film about an abuse survivor, and An Angel at My Table explores the life of Janet Frame, a New Zealand author who was treated as a mentally ill person for many years of her life.

6. The other recipient was Chen Kaige for Farewell My Concubine.

7. It should be noted that issues of colonialism and its effects upon indigineous peoples also present a very strong influence in this film. In particular, the themes of gender and colonialization are closely intertwined, particularly in terms of the very different positions of Ada and the Maori women in this film. There are numerous scenes where this theme is explored. While this subject warrants more than mention in a footnote, I am unable to do justice to this theme in this short article. In this regard, it is especially interesting to note that in the published screenplay (Campion, supra note 4), the lines of the Maori are translated and give the scenes in the film where Maori is spoken an entirely different feel.

8. Dicey, supra note 2 at 1. C. B. McPherson makes these points very well in a passage from an essay entitled “The Meaning of Property” in McPherson, C. B., Property: Mainstream and Critical Positions (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978) at 11Google Scholar: “The most general point is that the institution—any institution—of property is always thought to need justification by some more basic human or social purpose … Property is not thought to be a right because it is an enforceable claim: it is an enforceable claim because it is thought to be a human right. This is simply another way of saying that any institution of property requires a justificatory theory. The legal right must be grounded in a public belief that it is morally right. Property has always to be justified by something more basic; if it is not so justified, it does not for long remain an enforceable claim. If it is not justified, it does not remain property.”

9. See, for example, Bell, D., “Slavery and the Judges of Loyalist New Brunswick” (1982) 31 University of New Brunswick Law Journal 9Google Scholar; Genovese, E., “The Hegemonic Function of Law” in Genovese, E., ed.: Roll, Jordan, Roll (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974)Google Scholar.

10. See, generally, Spender, D., Women of Ideas (London: Pandora Press, 1982) at 160–497Google Scholar; Rhode, D., Justice and Gender (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991) at c. 1Google Scholar; Sachs, A. & Wilson, J., Sexism and the Law (Cambridge, Mass.: Martin Robertson, 1978)Google Scholar.

11. Ibid. For example, at law, married women were considered to be subject to the husband's jurisdiction: William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, I, [reprint of the 1783 ed.] (London: Garland Publishing, 1978) at 442. This doctrine was supported by biblical notions that marriage results in “one flesh” and that a wife must obey her husband: Johnston, J. D. Jr., “Sex and Property” (1972) 47 New York University Law Review 1033 at 1046Google Scholar. See also infra notes 18 and 35.

12. Rhode, supra note 10 at 9. See also O'Donovan, K., Sexual Divisions in Law (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1985)Google Scholar.

13. See, generally, Holcombe, L., Wives and Property: Reform of the Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth-Century England (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983)Google Scholar; Basch, N., In the Eyes of the Law: Women, Marriage and Property in Nineteenth-Century New York (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1982)Google Scholar; J. D. Johnston Jr., supra note 11; Dicey, supra note 2 at 371–98.

14. Blackstone, supra note 11 at 442.

15. Johnston Jr., supra note 11 at 1045; Dicey, supra note 2 at 371–98.

16. Ibid. Contracts between husbands and wives involving support of the family were not enforced, being based as they were on “natural love and affection”: Balfour v. Balfour [1919] 2 K.B. 571, per Atkin L.J.

17. Supra note 15.

18. Bridges, C., “Reallocation of Property After Marriage Breakdown” in Henaghan, M. & Atkins, B., eds., Family Law Policy in New Zealand (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992) at 232Google Scholar.

19. Examples include the Suffragette Movement in the United States and in particular, the work of such persons as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton and Sojourner Truth: Spender, supra note 10. In Great Britain, reference can be made to Caroline Norton and Sophia Jex-Blake who attempted to enter the Edinburgh Medical School in the 1860s: Sachs & Wilson, supra note 10. On 14 March 1856, a Petition for Reform of the Married Women's Property Law was presented to Parliament in the United Kingdom: Holcombe, supra note 13. Equity had come much earlier to the assistance of wealthy fathers who wanted to ensure their daughters control over property: Dicey, supra note 2, at 383. However, marriage settlements in equity constituted only ten percent of the marriages in England: Holcombe, supra note 13 at 46. Further, equity made exceptions rather than changing the common law: Basch, supra note 13 at 230.

20. One can in this regard refer to Wollenscroft, M., Vindication of the Rights of Women (New York: Norton, 1988)Google Scholar and Mill's, J. S.The Subjection of Women (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1971)Google Scholar. See, generally, Spender, supra note 10, especially at 246–497; Rhode, supra note 10 at 12. See also McElroy, W., “The Roots of Individualism and Feminism in 19th Century America” in McElroy, W., ed., Freedom, Feminism, and the State (Washington: Cato Institute, 1982)Google Scholar.

21. Holcombe, supra note 13 at c. 1.

22. Acts were passed in England between 1870 and 1893: Dicey, supra note 2 at 376. In New Zealand, legislation was enacted in 1884: Bridges, supra note 18. The above discussion should not be taken as suggesting that the reform of the late 1800s was uniformly positive. Based as it was upon equitable doctrine applicable to the wealthy, this legislation was fairly conservative in nature and often operated to the disadvantage of poor women: Basch, supra note 13 at 236. See also Backhouse, C., “Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth Century Canada” (1988) 6 Law & History Review 211CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23. Literature figures largely in The Piano as well. Campion herself in interviews has referred to Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, as an inspiration for the film. The entry for Emily Brontë in the Encyclopœdia Britannica is interesting in that it describes the record of Emily Brontë's life as being meagre because she was silent and reserved: Encyclopœdia Britannica, 15th ed. at 546–47Google Scholar.

24. Boroff & Irvin, supra note 1 at 203.

25. See the definition of pianoforte in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973)Google Scholar. Piano means soft and forte loud: Hindley, G., ed. The Larousse Encyclopedia of Music (Toronto: Hamlyn, 1976) at 538, 542Google Scholar [hereinafter Larousse].

26. In 1850, there were more pianos than bathtubs in the United States: Boroff & Irvin, supra note 1 at 205. Caricatures of the time period picture women in Victorian dress comically playing the piano: Larousse, supra note 25 at 259.

27. Playing a large role in terms of the direct movement of the film's plot is the fairy tale Bluebeard. It was published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 but was omitted in 1819 due to its French origins, and in particular, Perrault's, Charles “Barbe Bleue” (1697)Google Scholar: Zipes, J., The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, vol. 2 (New York: Bantam, 1988) at 324–27, 394Google Scholar. The Grimm Brothers' version has a young woman married off to Bluebeard by her father. Bluebeard leaves her in his castle which has all the riches in the world but tells her not to use the key to a particular room. She of course enters the room and finds it full of dead women hanging on the walls. Bluebeard returns and discovers that she has been in the room because she has been unable to wash the blood of the dead women off the key and decides to chop her up with an axe. She is rescued by her brothers and retains the treasures that had belonged to Bluebeard. The parallels between this tale and The Piano are obvious. Apart from the scenes where a play that would seem to be Bluebeard is being prepared and put on by the mission, three of the most important scenes in the film take place at the woodchop; the scene where Stewart exchanges the piano for land (Scene 35); the scene where Stewart asks Ada how the lessons are going after the bargain between herself and Baines has been made (Scene 61); and the scene where her finger is severed (Scene 119). It is interesting to note in terms of the theme of colonization that when the play is put on by the mission, it is the Maoris in the audience, believing the play real, who rescue the “bride”. Fittingly, in an interview about the film, Jane Campion states as follows: “It does feel archetypal. It's like a Grimm's fairy tale—I don't even feel that it's quite mine”: Maclean's, infra note 29.

28. Vogue (March 1994) 242Google Scholar.

29. In researching this paper, reference was made generally to reviews in the popular press rather than to more academic or critical reviews. It is worth remarking that the reviews noting an author are all written by men. The reviews are cited here for convenience and, hereinafter, reference is made only to the name of each review: Rechtsheffen, M., The Financial Post (11-13 September 1993) S7Google Scholar; Groen, R., [Toronto] Globe and Mail (19 Novembeer 1993) C1Google Scholar; Halifax Chronicle Herald (18 May 1993) B8Google Scholar; Johnson, B., (Maclean's (22 November 1993) 72Google Scholar; Griffen, J., The Montreal Gazette (20 November 1993) D1Google Scholar; Klawans, S., The Nation (6 December 1993) 704Google Scholar; New Internationalist (December 1993) 32Google Scholar; Cadby, V., New York Times (16 October 1993) 1–13Google Scholar; Lane, A., The New Yorker (29 November 1993) 148Google Scholar; Ansen, D., Newsweek (31 May 1993) 52Google Scholar; Kroll, J., Newsweek (15 November 1993) 76Google Scholar; Gliatto, T., People Weekly (22 November 1993) 16Google Scholar; Williamson, B., Playboy (December 1993) 30Google Scholar; Travers, P., Rolling Stone (9 December 1993) 76Google Scholar.

30. This particular title was suggested by my colleague Audrey Macklin. While somewhat flippant, I think it makes the point rather well.

31. 1 Corinthians 34.

32. 1. Ada (Voice Over, scenes 2–7), Campion, supra note 4 at 9.

33. In a later scene, the point is made again when Stewart's Aunt Morag states: “Certainly, there is nothing so easy as a pet, and they are quite silent.” 34 Int. Mission House, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 40.

34. 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 130 (1873).

35. Ibid. See also Re Agar-Ellis v. Lascelles (1883), 24 Ch.D. 317 where the husband's duties are characterized as “sacred”: Bridges, supra note 18. See also In the Matter of Goodell, 39 Wis. 232 (1875)Google Scholar and Sachs & Wilson, supra note 10 at 6ff. In the Canadian context, see In re Mabel French (1905), 37 N.B.R. 359Google Scholar which relies upon the Bradwell decision. Canada's first woman lawyer was Clara Brett Martin who became a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada on 2 February 1897: See Backhouse, C., Petticoats and Prejudice (Toronto: Women's Press for the Osgoode Society, 1991) at 293Google Scholar. It is perhaps worth noting in this context that this article contains a cartoon from Punch magazine which focuses on the absurdity of a barrister's robe when worn over “the full, classically feminine silhouette” dress of the time period: supra note 28.

36. W. Thompson (who named Anne Wheeler as co-author), An Appeal of One Half the Human Race: Women, against the Pretensions of the other Half, Men, to Retain them in Political, and thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery: see Spender, supra note 10 at 393.

37. 117–119. Ext. Stewart's Hut and Woodchop, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 96–97.

38. 150. Int. Ada's Nelson Drawing Room, Night. Ibid. at 122.

39. T. Hood (1799-1845), Sonnet: Silence, in Campion, supra note 4 at 123. This is read by Ada in the final scene of the film.

40. 45. Int. Baine's Hut. Night. Ibid. at 49. In the scene immediately preceding this one, the tuner states: “Well my dear Miss Broadbent [the trademark name of the piano]—tuned but silent.” The connection between the piano and Ada becomes clear in the scene following, where Baines is shown caressing the piano with his shirt.

41. 48. Ext./Int. Baines Hut, Day. Ibid. at 50.

42. 87 Ext./Int. Stewart's Hut, Day. Ibid. at 78. Stewart: “Why won't she play it? We have it back, and she just walks off.”

43. Queen Victoria (1819-1901) commenting on marriage in a letter dated 3 May 1858 to her daughter Crown Princess William, Frederick of Prussia (published in Hibbert, C., ed., Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (London: J. Murray, 1984)Google Scholar.

44. Divorce was in general obtained through an Act of Parliament: see Holcombe, supra note 13.

45. Connolly v. Woolrich (1867), 11 L.C. Jur. 197 at 227.

46. Johnston, supra note 11, at 1045. See, also, Dicey, supra note 2 at 372. If the wife died first, her realty passed to the husband for the rest of his life before passing to her children; she had no testamentary capacity.

47. While the child Flora makes up stories about her mother and real father at one stage in the movie, there are two scenes that suggest that Flora was the product of an affair. 49. Int. Stewart's Hut/ Ada's Bedroom, Night. Campion, supra note 4 at 51: Flora: “Tell me about my real father, tell me that story … Was he your teacher? Ada nods … Flora: What happened? Why didn't you get married?” A later scene show the inside of a piano key carved with “A loves D”: 88. Int. Stewart's Kitchen, Day. Ibid. at 80.

48. Kierkegaarde, S., “The Rotation Method” Either/Or, vol. 1 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987)Google Scholar.

49. 16. Ext. Beach, Early Morning. Campion, supra note 4 at 23.

50. Supra note 11 at 1044–52. The statement with respect to single women is not entirely accurate. Johnston is, however, only making it in a sense comparative to married women. The reality of course is that being single in a society of this kind was difficult except for those of independent wealth.

51. In contrast, every review but one describes Baines in precisely the same manner: as “illiterate”, “half-native”, and “tattooed”, supra note 29. It is suggested that this characterization is insulting to aboriginal people, supra note 7.

52. See, also, New York Times, supra note 29.

53. See, also, Kroll, Newsweek, supra note 29; New Yorker, supra note 29.

54. 35. Ext. Stewart's Woodchop, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 40.

55. Johnston, supra note 11 at 1045. See, also, Dicey, supra note 2 at 372.

56. 29. Ext. Beach, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 35.

57. Infra note 67.

58. 36. Int. Stewart's Kitchen, Day. Supra note 4 at 41.

59. For example, the New York Times' review, supra note 29, remarks precisely that the piano is exchanged for 80 acres of land.

60. Rolling Stone, supra note 29.

61. McLean's, supra note 29.

62. The [Montreal] Gazette, supra note 29.

63. The Chronicle Herald, supra note 29.

64. 1 Timothy, c. 2, verse 11.

65. 39. Int./Ext. Baine's Hut, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 46.

66. 48. Ext./Int. Baine's Hut, Day. Ibid. at 49.

67. 51. Int. Baine's Hut, Day. Ibid. at 52.

68. Ibid.

69. See Johnston Jr., supra note 11 at 1045. In addition, such a contract would likely be unenforceable on grounds of public policy: Guest, A. G., Anson's Law of Contracts, 25th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975) at. 346Google Scholar.

70. Ibid. This is apparent when Baines later returns the piano to Ada and Stewart says: “Hah, you're very cunning, Ada, but I've seen through you, I'm not going to lose the land this way.” 84. Ext. Path To Baine's Hut With Steep Hill, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 77.

71. New Yorker, supra note 29.

72. In Maclean's, supra note 29, Campion is quoted as saying as much: “She's an object of curiosity to him,” says Campion. “But what he really wants is a sort of reciprocity. He wants her to feel for him the way she feels about her piano.”

73. 82. Int. Baine's Hut, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 76.

74. New York Times, supra note 29.

75. Financial Post, supra note 29.

76. The [Montreal] Gazette, supra note 29.

77. Rolling Stone, supra note 29.

78. In the late 17th century, courts held that chastisement did not extend to physical punishment but meant only admonition of the wife and confinement to the house. It was generally believed, however, that a man could beat his wife with a stick not bigger than his thumb: Holcombe, supra, note 13 at 29-30.

79. Kroll, Newsweek, supra note 29.

80. 119. Ext. Stewart's Hut and Woodchop, Day. Campion, supra note 4 at 97. Again, the clear relationship between Ada and the piano is brought out in this scene.

81. Ibid. Visually, you see Ada lying on the ground, her hand held trapped under Stewart's boot on the woodchop, the swing of the axe, and the spurting of blood onto Flora's white pinafore.

82. Blackstone, supra note 11 at 444.

83. Rhode, supra note 10 at 238, citing English v. English (1876), 27 N.J. E.R. 71. In the more recent decision G.v. G., [1924] A.C. 349 at 357, the court had this to say about a dispute involving a wife's refusal to consummate the marriage: “It is indeed permissible to wish that some gentle violence had been employed.”

84. See, supra notes 82, 83.

85. Ibid.

86. Even here, the final scene demonstrating Ada with the appliance made by Baines on her finger left me with a feeling of ambiguity; what Stewart took away, Baines had the ability to replace with something man-made.

87. New York Times, supra note 29.

88. Rolling Stone, supra note 29.

89. The Nation, supra note 29.

90. Ansen, Newsweek, supra note 29.

91. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, supra note 25.

92. Isaiah, c. 53, verse 5.

93. In reading these reviews, I was reminded of the way in which the media initially focused upon Marc Lépine as “mad” and refused to accept the acts of the Montréal Massacre as part of the slippery slope of violence against women: Mallette, L. & Chalouh, M., eds., The Montreal Massacre (Charlottetown: Gynergy Books, 1991)Google Scholar.

94. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Family Violence in Canada, cat. 85-002 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1994)Google Scholar.

95. Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia, From Rhetoric to Reality: Ending Domestic Violence in Nova Scotia (February 1995) at 3Google Scholar.

96. Ibid. at 50.

97. Ibid.

98. Ibid. at 7.