I would like to know whether the Alan Bates character actually commits suicide at the end of the film.The movie doesn't seem to make it clear. Any thoughts on this?
shareif alan bates is ted burgess, then yes. sorry, havent seen the film, but just read the book for higher english here in scotland. he shot himself in the head.
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Sadly, Ted Burgess did commit suicide. He couldn't stand the thought of the consequences of his illicit affair.
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In my opinion it's one of the most haunting endings on film.
share"Yes Ted shot himself he most likely couldn't bear the thought of the scandal and absue he would no doubt have to endur.Also the fact that he would have to face the possibility of being fired aswell.It's such a sad film and he is teh real victim in it I think as Marian still had her house,her name and married Hugh."
No. I think that this is a misinterpretation of what Ted was about. I don't think that Ted would have had any difficulty coping with scandal, and being fired.
1. Ted didn't work for them, so they couldn't fire him. I think he was a tenant on one of the farms owned by the Hall. He could have forced to move when the lease was up, but I don't think this was the issue.
2. What Hugh told us was the by-word. "The lady is never in the wrong". In other words, although Marion had probably seduced the handsome tenant, rather than the other way around, it was Ted who would take the entire responsibility. Whatever HE did was what counted.
3. As a gentleman (although he would never have been CALLED a gentleman, because of his low status) when it came to the crunch, Ted had to do what was right by Marion. Marion would not/could not marry him because of his status. Therefore, he needed to set her completely free of her attachment to him. When Ted suicides, it is through real grief, knowing that they are to be separated, and real decency. Once he is gone, she cannot be tempted by her feelings for him. He gives her the chance to make a completely fresh start with Hugh
4. Hugh is the perfect gentleman. He was expected to marry Marion, and he was prepared to do so, regardless of her misdemeanor. He never reproached her. He accepted as his own a child that she conceived before the marriage.
5. Marion's father would have born a burden of shame and guilt over this. It was up to him to protect his unmarried daughter, and get her married off to a worthy man like Hugh. But the family was rather lacksidaisical. They didn't watch her well enough. And when she was handed over, she was "damaged goods".
6. The actions of Maudsly, Hugh and Ted constituted a "gentlemen's agreement". Ted was expected to enlist in the army and never come back, but he took a quicker and more effective option.
"great minds think differently"
oh my god...okay...i just saw this film and i have to say that, i actually thought Ted and Marian's son had shot himself!
and believe it or not, but i found it credible...
i mean, Marian sends Leo to talk to her son, to tell him about how he is the result of a great love and such (not considering indeed that a young Leo got really damaged for it), and then old Leo gets in a car and leaves the castle.
then we get the shot of the dead guy.
And then Leo, again in the same car, arrives at the castle! (on the very last words of Marian's voiceover.) as if he was gonna tell her: "this beautiful love story of yours was rotten from the beginning, it damaged me and your son was really cursed, he shot himself."
I actually thought (during the shot) that it was Ted, since it was his farm, the same gun and everything, but i found the last shot so weird that i just couldn't understand it.
so now, can someone tell me, why does Old Leo drives away from the castle, and then back to it?
Lem! Lem, I'm sorry! But I had to, right?!
I haven't read the book so forgive me if I am totally wrong but I got the impression that Ted was deeply in love with Marion and perhaps a part of him was hoping that she would give up her status so she could be with him, obviously not living in the same area but theoretically they could have ran away together and made a new life for themselves. After her and Ted are caught in the act perhaps he gave her that choice and said that they could both leave and he would take care of her but ultimately she ends up going back home and tells him their affair is over.
You see, I don't believe that Marion loved Ted and it was when they were caught that Ted realized that his love for her was not reciprocated and now his life was in tatters with the prospect of losing his job, his home and having to move away and start all over again. That would have been fine for him IF Marion had chosen to go with him but without her he probably thought 'What the hell is the point?'.
Marion has probably been dominated and controlled by her mother and family all her life, we know her mother is desperate for her to marry Trimmingham and I can imagine she had a lot of bitterness and rage towards her mother as really she wasn't allowed to make her own decisions. The affair with Ted was probably one of the few decisions that she made without her mother's interference, Ted is ruggedly handsome and probably a very good lover but she would have had even more of a thrill knowing that her mother would HATE what was going on and the secrecy and illicitness would have added even more of a thrill for her.
I don't think it ever entered her head what the consequences would be for Ted if they ever got discovered, as another poster on here said in those days it would have been very easy for Marion to lie and say 'He seduced me, it wasn't my fault!'. She knows that Trimmingham was deeply in love with her and desperate to marry her so from her point of view even if they were found out she knew she would be okay as Trimmingham would do the honourable thing and marry her regardless to not cause a scandal for himself but mainly not to cause a scandal for Marion as he was clearly infatuated with her.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that she was happy about getting caught as I am sure she would have continued the affair with Ted even if she did marry Trimmingham as she clearly had a strong sexual attraction to him and without meaning to sound mean to Trimmingham as he is a nice guy, I don't think their physical relationship would be as intense and satisfying for her.
The novel is one of the best in English Lit. and has great character depth.
Ted Burgess shot himself.
Marian quickly married Hugh Trimingham and bore a new Viscount Trimingham.
Leo Colston, when he returns many years later, meets the Trimingham grandson of Marian. He has a distinct resemblance to Ted - Marian confirms his heredity.
Yes Dedalus! We know. If the thread, like this one, is quite short, then it's a good idea to read a few answers before replying. If you click on the display options you will find one that allows you to read a whole page of replies, rather than dropping them down one at a time.
"great minds think differently"
If there was a victim in all of this, it was young Leo, who was used shamelessly by Marian and Ted.
"Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke."
Right, but Marian is so far from recognizing this; in the last scene she believes it was an immensely positive thing in his life, to have been involved in their "great love." She doesn't seem to notice that he is sitting silently and not agreeing with her.
Yes, I agree that Leo is a victim.
But the poor grandson, who looks so like Ted, also feels as if he is under a curse, without having any idea where it came from.
"great minds think differently"
I thought it was quite clear what happened.
It was also what I expected. There were several scenes where gunshots or similar sounds foreshadowed the ending - two gunshots after Leo leaves Ted in the field for what he says will be the last time, for example, the off-screen shots when Leo and Ted go outside the cottage to shoot rooks, and the sound of the cracker when Mrs Maudsley demands that Leo take her to Ted.
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