hard to swallow

[deleted]

I think you must be young. When one is young everything is about 'fairness' and 'karma'.
Before I say more, I do agree that the first two parts should have been condensed and the third part should have been expanded, because the third part tied up all the loose ends, but far too fast.
So Cissy makes pragmatic decisions for the good of her family. True. But that was also for HER own good too, which seems quite obvious to me as someone whose own life began in the 1940s.
At the time that young lord, Clive, who raped Cissie, was a self-indulgent narcissist 'almost' incestuously involved with his sister. Four years later when Clive returned from the seas he was an adult MAN. A man who had been shaken free of his narcissism by his brutal experiences on the seas. A man who was genuinely repentant for his earlier behavior. Cissie recognized that in him and because of his consistently mature response to and concern for her and Richard, their son, she was attracted to him.
(Also, don't forget that the first time that Clive seems Cissie he is so smitten with her he paints her portrait from memory.)

There is no 'fairness' in life, there is also seldom any 'karmic payback'. Life IS only a chaotic stormy journey, a personal journey towards maturity and increasing wisdom. You seldom get 100% back for your efforts, but you are seldom 100% perfect in anything you do. You break your own rules, fail to meet your goals, and often bite off more than you can chew. Fact.

I liked this movie, I liked how Clive was portrayed when he was an unfocused foolish boy, and later as the man he became. In the beginning he looked like a 'dandy', when he returned from the seas, he looked like an adult man (at least they got rid of the silly pompadour). It was evident that his father had done the right thing by sending his son off to sea, even if he did it for the wrong reasons. Moreover, Matthew, the baker/carpenter, was shown to be much less of the authentic man we thought he was when he first showed up.

As for Clive's sister, there was nothing to like. She was just one of those characters the author (or at least the screenwriter) didn't fully flesh out, because she's only there to cause or ascerbate the problems. She died, good riddance.

In the first two episodes, I felt a little sorry for Rose, because she didn't have Matthew's love or even his body and she was deliberately made to look physically unattractive. But she was a generous-natured, kindhearted young woman, which is frankly far more important than 'looks' over a lifetime. Towards the end when Matthew is proclaiming he is going to leave, one assumes, to be with his 'love' and live his 'authentic life', Rose calls his bluff. She gambles that he is living his 'authentic life', the life he CHOSE. Rose was right. Matthew puts on his apron and goes back to work. Eventually since he only has Rose to turn to for comfort, and she is an eminently comforting, loving wife, we can confidently assume that they do fully bond as a married couple. (C'est la vie! said the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell... as the song goes.) The 1800s were not the days of 'easy divorce', remember?

Cissie takes the house Clive gave her because she has forgiven him AND herself and she has come to the realization that a cave is not a home. No doubt her son will soon be back living with her, and eventually, with both his parents. The grandfather will reluctantly acknowledge (if only to himself -- and without words -- to his butler) that the 'little people' are no worse and no better than 'the upper class'. He'll get over any embarrassment created by the 'scandal' when Clive marries Cissie. He will relax and enjoy his grandchildren in his declining years.

I have added an imaginary prologue (which anyone could assume): it is 30 years later (1860) on a warm summer day. Clive and Matthew are deceased, their children are grown (three more for Cissie and Clive, and two for Matthew and Rose), Cissie and Rose, now best friends, are sitting in lawn chairs surrounded by their grandchildren. Everyone is laughing and smiling. The birds are singing and life is good.
The end.
If you think that a happy ending isn't possible, then you ARE young.


Life is a journey not a destination. Fear nothing.