MovieChat Forums > The Forsyte Saga (1969) Discussion > Why did June....

Why did June....

posted 17 years ago by tiderolls
16 replies | jump to latest

Why did June feel the need to tell Michael about "her little brother, Jon" and Fleur? She could've simply asked him about Fleur and dropped it.

[–] fletcher rabbit 17 years ago

june is a perpetual busybody, and never knows when to leave something alone. in this she is remarkably similar to her aunt juley.

[–] tiderolls 17 years ago

You know, I'd never caught the similiarities between those two characters before! But I do find Aunt Juley's nosiness kind of cute and funny, especially when she exasperates Soames; perhaps it's b/c she's old. With June, I just want to slap her--I didn't like her as a child (good grief, even Jo nicknamed her "pest") or as an older adult. The character doesn't ring true for me--especially with her forgiveness of Irene's taking Philip away from her. One might forgive someone who'd wronged you, but one would be hesitant to befriend someone as Fleur put it, "who ruined your life."
Thanks for the reply fletcher rabbit!

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[–] octoberbest 17 years ago

My take on it...

She doesn't like these secrets because they only hurt people. She also might realize that in THAT family, no one was going to tell Michael. She must have thought he needed to be told. People like Soames ask questions and that's about it. They just help themselves with the problem, not the one they're asking. If you want something done and done correctly, you should do it yourself, and that's what she did.

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[–] Liza-19 17 years ago

Yes. Remember even though her father adored her, when he found out she was in company with Soames, he asked Irene if she'd "Put her foot in it." She was a sweet person, but unfortunately spoke her mind too often. As she got older she learned more tact.

I think June is really one of the best people in the Forsytes. She and Michael are really the only two characters who think of others before themselves.

I don't care about money. I just want to be wonderful. - Marilyn Monroe

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[–] ameilius 17 years ago

I've never thought of June as a busybody. She was blunt and often tactless, but she always meant well. She simply spoke without thinking. She would blurt out her honest opinion, whatever that might be, for better or for worse. But she had a very good heart, as Galsworthy reminds us time and again in the books.

In the scene that you're referring to, she never intended to hurt or upset Michael. But two years earlier, she'd sympathized so deeply with Fleur and Jon---- young lovers torn apart by the family feud---and all that was still fresh in her mind. So upon meeting the young man that Fleur had subsequently married on the rebound, June expressed a very real concern over Fleur's happiness. And she did this without stopping to consider what effect her words might have on Fleur's husband. Poor Michael! He was left in shock...and ironically, June didn't even realize the damage she had done.

In today's lingo June didn't have the best social skills. She could be obtuse in her dealings with others...but she was kind, generous and good-hearted nonetheless. I'm known people very much like her in "real life"!

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[–] wilson-42 12 years ago

Is this thread still open? I just want to say a word in support of June. Her contempt for her father was a little exaggerated, but once we got past that I think the way she utilised the funds that were at her disposal was very admirable. She'd broken out of the Forsyte mould and resembled her father in the way she patronised (matronised?) the arts.
Moreover I think June Barry was the prettiest of all the actresses involved in the series, prettier than both Nyree Dawn Porter and Susan Hampshire.

[–] CakesAndAle 12 years ago

The cast of this version is truly excellent. My goodness, I was watching Maggie Tyzack as Winifred last night and I couldn't stop thinking to myself what an amazing performance she gave in this series! As good as she is in the early episodes, she amazes me even more in the later ones, when Winifred is much older (and has a smaller role in the series).

I happen to really like Amanda Root as an actress, but her portrayal of Winifred PALES in comparison to Tyzack's. (The part is also written much better in the 1967 version.) The 2002 Winifred is just such a victim. Tyzack's Winifred is stronger than that. I like the sparkle in Root's portrayal, but then Tyzack's has sparkle too.

[–] ShannonTriumphant 11 years ago

@CakesAndAle - I forgot to comment on your analysis of "the two Winifreds"! I agree with you. Amanda Root was spunky in her own way, she seemed too frail, especially when Prosper Profond came along (her "romantic" infation with him never occurred in the novel--he was just "amusing", as she liked to say).

But Margaret Tyzak had a commanding presence, or "sang-froid" as Galsworthy often wrote...a kind of staunch realism that helped her prevail in the face of a constantly fumbling, ill-starred husband. I don't think that old Monty was quite the "bounder" that Val labeled him; he was drunk much of the time so we can chalk it up to that...but no less painful for poor Winifred! It's to her credit that she could absorb the shock of that and still face the world, without rancor toward him.

I love her line (in the novel) when Monty returns from Argentina: "Now he's back, I'll keep him...but I mean to make him behave". That's gumption, so much more admirable from HER than the same statements uttered by her odious brother, Soames...and what HE meant by it! Even he was impressed...and possibly envious, that Monty could treat "Freddie" with tenderness and understanding, things he was never able to give Irene.

She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.

[–] ShannonTriumphant 11 years ago

Good analysis! Many people are like June, myself included. I've often run afoul of people by blurting things out, trying to help or especially, forgetting secrets! I can't keep them because I don't keep them, generally. If someone says, "Can you keep a secret?" I bluntly say no, and tell them why.

June is like this. She knows that honesty is the best way and unfortunately, doesn't have the best way of doling it out, rather like a nice "Dr. House", for whom honesty is everything.

Also, later on, Micheal seeks out JUNE for more information, since he's wracked with doubt and worry about his and Fleur's relationship. June just thinks that Michael should have the whole story. It really wasn't June who did the "damage", but Fleur, by marrying someone she didn't love, and Jon, by dumping Fleur to please his mother. Irene had suffered, yes, but it's not fair for her to let this ruin Jon's life.

She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.

[–] CakesAndAle 10 years ago

From Swan Song:

[June says] 'Irene ought to have put up with it. Only – only—' and she stared at Michael, 'they wouldn't have been happy. Fleur's too selfish. I expect she saw that.'
Michael raised an indignant voice.
'Yes,' said June; 'you're a good sort, I know – too good for her.'
'I'm not,' said Michael, sharply.
'Oh yes, you are. She isn't bad, but she's a selfish little creature.'

[–] ShannonTriumphant 10 years ago

This is just one point of view among the many sides taken by June during this whole issue. Here's the OPPOSITE point of view, during an argument with Jolyon, while Irene has whisked Jon off to Spain to make him forget Fleur:

According to June, it was foolish and even cowardly to hide the past
from Jon. Sheer opportunism, she called it.

"Which," Jolyon put in mildly, "is the working principle of real life,
my dear."

"Oh!" cried June, "you don't really defend her for not telling Jon, Dad.
If it were left to you, you would."

"I might, but simply because I know he must find out, which will be
worse than if we told him."

"Then why don't you tell him? It's just sleeping dogs again."

"My dear," said Jolyon, "I wouldn't for the world go against Irene's
instinct. He's her boy."

"Yours too," cried June.

"What is a man's instinct compared with a mother's?"

"Well, I think it's very weak of you."

"I dare say," said Jolyon, "I dare say."

June also seeks out Fleur at Mapledurham to let her know that she knows the true story about the family feud and that Fleur deserves to know. She then says it is not her secret to tell, but will work on her father to get him to be honest.

June's views change like the wind, so it's good to take anything she says with a pound or two of salt!

Nothing is what it seems. Everything is a test. Rule #1: Don't...get...caught.