In one of Lord Alfred Tennyson's most famous poems, titled In Memoriam A.H.H., he states, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." This theme also runs throughout Netflix's My Oxford Year.
While Anna (Sofia Carson) studies Victorian poetry, she and the audience embark on a journey of Romanticism that I did not expect. There will be spoilers and some bookish nerd talk, so read on at your own risk.
What is My Oxford Year about?
My Oxford Year is based on the novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, and it follows Anna de la Vega as she studies for a year at Oxford University. Anna, an American and a descendant of immigrants, has her future all planned. She has already graduated as summa cum laude at her US university, and is taking a year to study poetry before she takes a financial analyst job at Goldman Sachs. She has always loved literature and poetry, but wants to make her parents proud with a financially secure job.
Part of Anna's dream is to study under a famous professor at Oxford, so it is to her great dismay that the professor has changed positions at the last minute. The new professor for the class is Jamie Davenport (Corey Mylchreest), a cocky, fresh-faced teacher whom Anna had an unfortunate encounter with on her first day at Oxford. Annoyance and banter turn to flirting and chemistry, and the two begin a casual relationship. Of course, even though they know that their time together has a deadline, the two start to catch feelings that are anything but casual.
My Oxford Year review: Seeing life through a poet's lens
As an English Lit. major, I was so jealous of Anna. I don't know if I would go as far as she does in describing her passion as a "library fetish," but being able to read first editions in the Bodleian Library is a dream of mine. The fact that Jamie takes Anna to the Bodleian and into a section that the general public is not allowed to, was the epitome of romance and courtship in my eyes. Both Anna and I relate to Belle when Beast gifts her his library. Even though much of Anna and Jamie's relationship was filled with the usual romance tropes, the film really shines in linking the study of Romantic poetry with Anna and Jamie's lives.
Jamie is consistently teaching Anna, both in and outside of class, to live life without regrets. He lives and breathes the tenets of the Romantic movement, trying to help Anna break out of her set plans and find a more fulfilling life. When Anna learns that Jamie is terminally ill, the lessons of the poets come crashing into their reality. Are love and dreams only worthy of pursuing if they never end?
While the actual romance might feel a bit cliche, the entwining of the poetry and the film's theme was brilliantly done. It made Anna and Jamie's story feel like a tale told by one of the great poets themselves. And though I usually look for happy endings in romances, this one had to end the way it did. Because this film is about more than just two people who fall in love. It is about what the poets tried to teach us through their verse: life, love, grief, and joy that make us human.
My Oxford Year is now streaming on Netflix.
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