This isn't exactly a plot hole, but why didn't Kenneth Marshall marry Daphne Castle, instead of Arlena Stuart? Daphne loved him and treated his daughter (Linda) as good as gold. The only thing Arlena had going for her, was that she was SLIGHTLY better looking than Daphne,...big deal.
shareno special reason
shareThis is entirely open to interpretation. One could be the distance. Daphne lives in the Mediterranean whereas Kenneth lives and works in England. The first time he was on the island, his first wife had just died. He may have had a tryst with her at that time, but I doubt he would have been psychologically or emotionally prepared to take on another long-term commitment. By the time he returned to the island, he had already met Arlena and remarried. I think deep down he regretted it once he got back to the island and realized what he had passed up. I guess he ultimately benefitted from Arlena's murder, so who knows what could happen between them in the future.
shareIts down to the big difference between the book and the screenplay.
Locations, positions, storylines, characters and their stories have all been changed.
Things happen in the book that aren't in the film, and vice versa.
There are a lot more characters in the book, so some characters have become merged into one in the film. Sexes of characters have changed. And the list goes on.
There are such big differences between the book and the film, which both differ to the ITV version with David Suchet as Poirot. The book is more complex with more locations on the mainland as well as the island, which when put with the extra characters with their more detailed history possibly would have been impossible to film.
I think the Kenneth Marshal history has more or less been hacked out of the film to make for simplicity. Thing is they needed the marriage to Arlena and his fondness (in the film) for Daphne to put suspicion on them as part of the whole story.
It does make for a few gaps in reasoning when you start to think about the characters properly.
Who knows, but he certainly isn't the first man to marry the wrong woman. I got the impression that Alena had that flashy, tawdry sexiness that some men find irresistable.
share
I think the main reason is that while he liked Daphne...he wasn't in love with her. He was dazzled by Arlena...and thought he was in love with her...so he married her.
This is a logic free zone:
Use of logic will be met with uncomfortable silences
In the book, this is why:
Kenneth's first wife was accused of murdering her first husband (not Kenneth, obviously). Kenneth chosed to marry her to save her reputation when she was aquitted for the murder.
She dies when Linda is two years old.
Then Arlena comes along, and she also has been tainted by a bad reputation. She had a lover who left her all his money, but never married her.
Kenneth marries Arlena becasue he is the kind of man who will take care of women.
Daphne Castle does not exist in the book. Kennets's childhood sweetheart is Rosamund Darnley, a dressmaker with her own boutique. She is very much an independent woman. She is on vacation at the hotel.
The book ends with Rosamund accepting Kenneth's proposal. But she has to quit her job, since he wants to take care of her. She does this happily.
There is a Mrs. Castle in the novel. Daphne Castle is an amalgamation of Rosamund Darnley and Mrs. Castle from the novel.
shareWell to quote (from memory) Maggie Smith's character in "Death on the Nile"
"It's been my experience that men are least attracted to women who treat them well."
LOL :)
in the book, they have known each other since they were children, and probably he never thought of her in a romantic fashion. He has also had a habit of marrying women who have been in trouble - his first wife was acquitted of murder before he married her. arlena has been jilted by someone I think - at any rate his chivalrous instincts are aroused again.
sharePlus she was a big stage star and this would have been flattering to him.
share