MovieChat Forums > The Buccaneers (1995) Discussion > Happy Ending???

Happy Ending???

posted 20 years ago by kia67
22 replies | jump to latest

First off, I love how Annabelle and Guy run off together, leaving their stifling background and opressive society behind to blaze a new trail.

However..... I think if Edith Whaton had lived long enough to finish the book, Nan would have had an altogether different fate. Ms. Wharton, who loathed the confines of society, always had her characters "do the right thing" by staying within its realms.

I think, had the book been finished, Nan's fate would have been along the lines of forlornly watching Guy leave, from the window of her husbands manor, and turning to face her destiny and her duty which is by her husbands side.

Anyone else have an opinion of this?

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] sheilagoldman912 20 years ago

I agree that if Edith Wharton had lived the ending would have been different, but I was so glad that it ended this way. Nan as did the other "Buccaneers" deserved some happiness!

[–] dsklodginski 20 years ago

Those are both good points. The ending was somewhat not typical for Wharton. House of Mirth followed a similar vein in that Gillian Anderson's character never consumated her desire for Eric Stoltz's. Excellent show & wonderful cast, however.

[–] randommovies2002 19 years ago

You might be interested in reading Wharton's short story titled "Souls Belated." Let's just say that it, too, does not have a typical "Wharton ending." ;-)

[–] loverlylady 19 years ago

That was how Edith Wharton intended it to end. Ms. Wharton knew she was ailing and wouldn't finish the book before she died, so she left notes on how she wished it the book to end.

[–] kimberly8787 17 years ago

That's true. Marion Mainwaring, who finished the book, referred to Edith Wharton's notes. So even though it's not the typical ending, it's the way she wanted it. It doesn't always have to be typical of the author.

[–] sped_doc 19 years ago

As the previous poster indicates, Edith Wharton left an outline of the book. She never intended Nan to be the tragic figure, but rather Miss Testvalley. It was she who was to end alone and in poverty, the price of her decision to help Nan.

There are two or three versions of the book in print, one of which was completed under the supervision of her estate and has just such an ending. The PBS version uses another as the basis for the teleplay, but it, too, follows the Wharton outline fairly closely.

[–] randommovies2002 19 years ago

Here is a link to more information about the ending of the book (and the film) and Wharton's intentions. The text of Wharton's outline of the ending is also included.

http://www.current.org/prog/prog516b.html

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mbateman52 19 years ago

I read the book after watching the mini series. I agree, the ending seems wrong. I have read other Edith Warton novels and I don't think she would have gone with the happy ending. More likely Annabel would have ended up alone and heartbroken. I thought the mini series was very well done but I would have preferred a more Edith Wharton ending.

OK, I've now read the Current online about how Edith Wharton wanted to end the novel. Still the movie's ending feels wrong. If the movie had shown Miss Testvalley in her declining years, poor and alone yes that would have made sense. But it didn't. The movie ended with a happy ending. The emphasis was on Annabel's happy ending not Miss Testvalley's sad ending.

[–] VLeung 19 years ago

This is a really interesting thread. I had also thought that it wasn't a very Whartonian ending - she does rather like her characters to suffer - or rather, she does tend to see how life can be unfair and cruel. If you compare Glimpses of the Moon with The House of Mirth, they're almost the same characters, but Glimpses of the Moon shows how the Mirth characters would have lived if they'd given in to their love. The end is not entirely pessimistic, but not entirely happy. And the Buccaneers by the BBC ended the same way - they've done a mad thing, and it will be difficult, but often their love will be enough. I thought perhaps the most dubious thing was Greg Wise's father forgiving and embracing him. But I like a happy ending, and Wharton's least enjoyable stories are, for me, the hardest, like the unending misery of Ethan Frome in particular, and Summer. (Actually, having said that, I LOVE Mirth). But yeah, I'm happy to take a happy ending, and am very happy to learn from you superior Wharton-fans that Wharton had left an outline that was not very different from this.

[–] sandy506 18 years ago

Wharton's writing and plotting are good, but her depressing endings are a downer. I'm glad that she occasionally plans a mostly-happy ending, like she did with this book.

Miss Testvalley's unhappiness at the end is not shown here, and I am glad for it. Life is hard enough without depressing endings all the time.

I'm against completely changing a book to get a happy ending in a movie, but in this case, I agree with the decision, because Wharton planned it.

I watch movies to be entertained, not depressed, so I would not choose to watch a movie with a very sad ending.

[–] estancia44 18 years ago

I'm another who thinks Edith Wharton would've loathed the ending, but I don't care. This new ending appeals to my modern romantic sensiblities.
Anyone else thrilled that the producers renamed Guy Thwarte to Guy Thwaite?

[–] randommovies2002 18 years ago

Yes! Thwarte is such an icky name. What was Wharton thinking? (Perhaps she was in a charles Dickens mood, or Roald Dahl. Both authors had a real gift for coming up with unusual names!)

[–] Virginiana 18 years ago

"Thwarte" isn't half as bad as Julius' name in the book ... "Ushant".

Ugh.

[–] TheDuchessofM 17 years ago

Ushant wasn't his name, it was his childhood title! It was customary for the family to call the heir to the dukedom(marquessate,etc) by their childhood title even after they'd ascended to their father's title(e.g. "Sunny" Marlborough, Consuelo's husband, who was the Earl of Sunderland until his grandfather died when he was a teen)--so changing "Ushant" to "Julius" irked me because Ushant _wasn't his first name_. (Just for the matter, the other name changes annoyed me as well!)

[–] Virginiana 17 years ago

I was aware that "Ushant" was his title, not his Christian name, and that his family continued to call him that out of habit and custom. Doesn't change my point; "Ushant" is what everybody called him.

I still think it's a hideous name. Sounds like a sneeze.

[–] harveythepooka 18 years ago

I haven't read the book, just seen the movie, I am sure she left an outline before she died with the ending written out so it wouldn't that hard to find out whan she actually wanted to happen, but I agree that the ending is a little to happy to come from her.

[–] Virginiana 17 years ago

Well, it's happy and it's sad. Nan's and Guy's story ends happily -- sort of; both are outcasts from good society and he will probably lose Honourslove, the home he loves so much, so that's not exactly cheery. And they'll spend years, if not the rest of their lives, in exile. But they do have each other.

The real tragedy is Miss Testvalley, who has lost her chance at love and security with Sir Helmsley because she helped the young couple. I think it's safe to say that Wharton identified with her more than with young Nan.

[–] tsegal-1 13 years ago

Yes, exactly right. I think in the end Wharton felt it was Miss Testvalley's story.
The movie puts a happy spin on it, but I don't feel life was going to be so great for many of the girls. Lizzy has a happy marriage, but I doubt that Conchita and Virginia's reconciliations with their spouses would've lasted. And as you say, Guy & Nan have lost Honourslove, and he'll probably never see his dad again.

[–] ChitoRaffferty 12 years ago

turning to face her destiny"
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Like Lily Bart, Newland Archer, Ethan Frome...maybe for once a--relatively-- HE.
" See dat scenery floatin by, you're now approaching NewportRI." Cole Porter

[–] 12 years ago

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