Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) is from an English village in Surrey and is on holiday in Italy with her much older cousin and Chaperone (social), Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith). Charlotte is conventionally English, with an extremely restrictive personality, and she tends to get her way by expressing her emotions to manipulate others. Lucy has been brought up in an upper-middle class but loving and easygoing household, and has fewer inhibitions, which creates strong tension between herself and Charlotte. They are contrasted with the more free-thinking and free-spirited backdrop of Italy.