 In Michell 's opinion , Austen was a " proto @-@ feminist " who possessed a " clear @-@ sighted vision of the ways the world is tilted against women " . As evidence , Michell cites a book scene in which Anne discusses how songs and proverbs about women 's fickleness were all written by men . Scholz argues that Anne 's marginal status as a woman in the film is linked to that of the servants ; the parallel between class and gender is conveyed with Anne 's trip to Uppercross in a cart containing animals . Julianne Pidduck adds that the director " pointedly foregrounds themes of class and gendered social constraint by juxtaposing the stuffy interiors of mannered society with the inviting , open horizons of the sea " . As an example , Pidduck discusses Anne 's stay in a gated residence in Bath , where she gazes out of an upper story window in search for Wentworth on the streets below . To her , Wentworth and the sea represent freedom and possibility . 
