The Best Parts of Period Dramas Are the Sheep

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If you grew up loving British culture – maybe through classic literature in school and websites like The Toast – you probably became fascinated with Emma Thompson, especially after seeing Sense and Sensibility. Some fans even delved into her diaries from the film’s production, where she won an Oscar for screenwriting. These diaries are funny and insightful, detailing a turbulent time in Thompson’s life – she was dealing with her ex-husband’s infidelity and also met her future husband, Greg Wise, on set. But what always struck me was director Ang Lee’s surprising focus on animals. Sense and Sensibility was Lee’s first period drama set in Britain, and Thompson recalls he became determined to include shots of all the animals on the estates featured in Jane Austen’s novel. He even proposed starting the film with a long scene of a hunt, intending it as a metaphor for courtship! Thankfully, Thompson thought that idea was too obvious and it was dropped. However, the film still features a lot of animals, particularly sheep – almost every outdoor scene includes a large flock, and there are even two herds visible in the trailer.

Even while watching a movie like Sense and Sensibility to see if characters will fall in love or change their ways, you’re always reminded of the financial pressures of life in 19th-century England. Jane Austen’s stories are fundamentally about love and money – the sheep we see on screen often represent wealth itself. Everyone from minor nobles to the very rich depends on their land for income, even if they don’t work it themselves. In fact, if characters are actively managing things like farms or livestock, as seen in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, it usually means they’re facing financial difficulties. A larger estate always means more sheep, visually representing the importance of money in these characters’ lives and relationships. Austen cleverly shows us this through a simple, effective image.

Okay, so I’ve fallen down a weird rabbit hole, and I’m realizing just how many period dramas love to feature sheep. Seriously, once you start noticing them, they’re everywhere! It seems like adaptations of Jane Austen are the biggest offenders – they’re an easy visual shorthand for that idyllic, rural English countryside, and maybe even a subtle nod to the economics of the time. Plus, let’s be honest, sheep are just cute. But it goes deeper than that. Take the 2015 film Far From the Madding Crowd, for example. You’ve got Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene – what a fantastic name! – falling for a kind shepherd, then ditching him for someone a little more…calculating. And the sheep? They represent a lot. They’re a symbol of innocence – almost a Christian allegory – but also a longing for a simpler, pre-industrial England that’s fading away.

The film God’s Own Country also uses sheep symbolically, particularly during scenes where the main characters, played by Josh O’Connor and Alec Secăreanu, are working with them. While not a traditional period romance, the film draws heavily from the visual style of those movies. This is especially noticeable considering one character is an immigrant, and the story both embodies and challenges typical British, heterosexual depictions of passionate love.

British genre films often feature sheep, and Guillermo del Toro recently highlighted a connection between them and Frankenstein’s monster in his latest film. The monster, while on the run, finds shelter with a shepherd family and secretly helps them with their work. However, when wolves attack and kill the family, the monster hides, prompting the question: is this a metaphor for how humanity treats misunderstood creatures?

Sheep farming often thrives in England’s harsher landscapes, where other types of agriculture aren’t profitable. This is why you frequently see sheep in adaptations of novels by the Brontë sisters, which are typically set in bleak, wet, and cold environments. For example, in the 2011 film trailer for Jane Eyre, Mia Wasikowska’s character is shown among sheep – representing themes of freedom, self-discovery, and the idea of civilization and order in a challenging world.

I still remember the 1939 film of Wuthering Heights with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier – it’s a classic! There’s this scene where they’re riding horses through a field full of sheep, even as their love is all stormy and intense. But this new take? It feels so much wilder. Instead of just passionate, Catherine and Heathcliff feel like wolves – dangerous, untamed, and capable of destroying everything around them, even the innocent sheep caught in their path. It’s a much more visceral image!

This leads us to an interesting observation about the trailers for Emerald Fennell’s new take on Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Warner Bros. has released two trailers, and surprisingly, neither one features any sheep! The story is famously set on a farm, and we see Heathcliff (played by Elordi) working with hay and looking out over the fields where sheep should be. Considering his character starts out as a farmhand in the novel, you’d expect to see at least a few sheep, but so far, they’re missing.

Okay, look, Emerald Fennell, I’m a huge period drama fan, and honestly, a movie without some shots of sheep just feels wrong. I heard Charli XCX is doing the soundtrack, which is awesome, but please don’t let this film be completely devoid of fluffy livestock! I’m begging you – can we at least get a scene with Robbie, Elordi, or even Hong Chau sharing the frame with a sheep, and maybe make it mean something? You’re a visual storyteller, I know you love a strong image! Just promise me sheep, Emerald, and I’m buying a ticket right now.

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2026-01-22 18:55