What was the relationship (or past relationship between them? Morgan's 'girl' got quite upset when they were introduced at the tavern....
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men!--Willie Wonka
It was never determined initially. The fact that Betty didn't immediately strike Morgan when he grabbed her breasts or that Betty came back to Morgan upon Morgan's request indicates there was some kind of intimate relationship they had.
The name change Morgan made of 'Betty' from 'Miss Elisabeth' indicates he was trying to hide her identity from the other woman who he was having an affair with, as shown in the attempt by Anson to control Johnny Shellshock's psychotic reaction from the lightning bolt. Morgan claimed Betty was with the cartographers and not him. Even if it were true, Morgan caught ire anyway.
This may explain the significance of Betty's presence at Morgan's pub after their falling out.
She was the town prostitue, hence when first arriving at the tavern stating, "its the first proper job ive ever had". and thats only a cleaning maid
shareI would never have caught that and I think you're right.
Her?
Wow, that just added a whole other layer of depth I was missing when watching the film... I almost don't want to acknowledge the fact that a township like that during that time would have had a town prostitute, but I suppose it makes sense. You can't look at the past with rose colored glasses.
- paul
http://www.myspace.com/paulshawkat
Piano Compositions and other music.
Haha and when Morgan's persuading her to let him take Shellshocked Johnny as an assistant she's all "nobody's going to pay you for holding a pole...unless you're name's Betty, yes I saw you both..." "she was advising me on refurbishing my establishment!" "Ha, never heard it called that before!" :D :D
shareI don't agree that you should classify Betty/MIss Elisabeth as the town prostitute. She seems not inclined to be professional in that regard, seeing as she took another "real, honest job" far off from the story's village and seemed to be attracted romantically to Morgan on her days off and then transferred her affection through the rainy week to Anson.
Plus, she strongly resented that Morgan was "suggesting what I think you're suggesting" which a prostitute would have just fallen in with, expecting some sort of remuneration. She did not seduce Anson into a business-like sexual relationship as a prostitute would have done and she forthrightly rejected any relationship with Garrad.
It seems to me that, at least as the story was presented, she was a girl who had a nominally covert sexual relationship with Morgan that she realized was never leading to marriage, considering Morgan-the-Goat's considerable reputation as the town satyr, whom Betty called an "animal." She even threatened Morgan, however comically, with a knife when he randily suggested that she had "...you know, last night, Miss Elisabeth and the English...."
Furthermore, Morgan felt he could manipulate Betty into entertaining the two strangers while they reluctantly stayed at his establishment during the long rainy week. Morgan used the same reasoning with Betty as he had when manipulating other townsmen into helping with the mountain-building, otherwise "do you want me to tell people that it all failed because of you?" He could not have used such an argument successfully with a town prostitute, who would have had no public standing or pride to use as such leverage.
Not that Betty's moral standards were strict or virginal. Obviously she was reputed amongst other women, such as Morgan's Blod, as a woman of lower moral conduct, considering the remarks that were made about her. But, if she had been the town's pro, the remarks would have taken on a darker tone, rather than catty jealousy. Betty seems to have been a young woman of some promiscuity, but had not made a profession of it, sticking with one man in a day's or even a week's time. Unlike Morgan and his harem, as the story both insinuates and illustrates.
holmswed - now this makes perfect sense!
share[ Betty seems to have been a young woman of some promiscuity, but had not made a profession of it,]
The part I can’t get over is in the beginning when Anson and Garrad first arrive. They clearly interrupt Morgan in flagrante delicto. He comes down, rushes to settle them, and then rushes back to his assignation after grabbing some money from the till. We then see Betty being rushed out.
The implication to me is that Betty has received some “equitable remuneration” for her “services”. She was then whisked away before the new quests were the wiser.
There's one other thing (that mitigates against her being just someone who was having an affair with Morgan), and that is her comment when he calls her back to seduce Garrad. She at first resists saying that "this is the first honest job I've had." That's often an expression used in movies to signal that someone was or had been a prostitute.
they appear to be having a fairly casual relationship. Morgan has apparently been having it away with a lot of ladies in the village (hence the number of babies that look like him). It seems odd then that he would need to pay for sex, if he is. Betty working as a maid seems a bit odd, given that it is her 'first honest job'' as i think she says. usually girls went into domestic service quite young and worked their way up, she is a bit old to be going into service for the first time. but of course there was a shortage of servants during the war, because a lot left to do war work, work in munitions etc. so an employer might have to take waht they could get. but the implied prostitution thing is a bit strange. I feel this part of the story is not well thought out.
share