Soames: Wondering if Everyne Watched the Same Series?

I agree with your general assessment. Upon second or third viewing (I have all the DVDs), I find Soames less creepy but no less sad. Irene (in his eyes) was the prize beautiful object in his collection, but was also a living being. He was overwhelmed by his own emotions which he was unaccustomed to letting loose. He did not fully comprehend her 'warning' or stipulation about 'letting her go if the marriage was not successful' which, in his business world, would have been a big Red Flag. Even today, anyone going into marriage looking for the nearest exit should be shown the door immediately.

I enjoyed the series overall as I did the previous version presented in the 1970s. Irene was not as beautiful or sensual as Nyree Dawn Porter (original series), but she 'grew' on me over the course of the series. In fact, all the characters are very well drawn over the years. These relationships are very complex, not alike our quick-fix soap operas or reality shows. I won't give away spoilers to those who haven't seen the whole thing.

Everyone watched the same series. I've re-watched it several times, and my sympathy for Soames decreases with each viewing. Damien Lewis did a spectacular job portraying the character, and I think that in some cases, sympathy for Lewis may interfere in an accurate estimate of the repellent character he portrays.

Most sympathy for him comes about in the second half, when his daughter mistreats him and disrespects him. She's young and in love and blames her father for things he deserves no blame for. But that doesn't make her father sympathetic.

As other posters have noted, very few characters in this series are likable, but Soames is loathsome.

I agree with much of what you write, but I have to make two remarks.

1: There are some people out there, who can't see the line between unselfish love and a creepy obsession, and it seems like Soames belonged to that cathegory... I am convinced that he really loved Irene, but just like you said, he was never able to show any of that in a proper way. But his father had raised him to be just what he became: a man who had to possess what he wanted. Maybe he also had some disorder, that made it impossible for him to understand if he had crossed a line? But he also lived in a not so distant time period, when it was just natural for many people that a wife basically was a part of her husband's property. And a rape would not even legally be a rape back then if a husband did it to his wife. But it was clearly impossible for Soames to understand that Irene wanted a different kind of life, which lead to tragedy for them both.

2: If you can say that Irene was wrong to marry Soames, I believe that you haven't fully understood her situation (and only a few people at this message board seem to understand it, as it seems). When she felt that she had no other choice than to marry Soames, she was still a young naive orphan. And in her social class back then (as a professor's daughter, she would have belonged to the upper middle class), girls were taught that marriage was the best option for them. Even though a marriage often meant that the poor girl had to just plunge herself into the cold mercy of a man, whom she hardly even knew before the wedding night. I don't see how you can judge poor Irene for doing what everybody expected her to do: say yes to a (as far as people could tell) respectable gentleman, who had come to her and asked for her hand in marriage. And she also was stuck with a stepmother, who wanted to get rid of her within a year. Irene might have had time to find a job (even if only a few different occupations would have been suitable for her) or a different man to marry, if only either one of her real parents had still been alive. But she didn't have such luxury, and she was desperate to get away from her stepmother as fast as she could. And the affair with Bossiney was also understandable when you consider the circumstances. Irene had never gotten anything but grief out of her disastrous marriage to Soames, and it seems like Bossiney never loved June as much as she loved him. And then one day, Irene and Bossiney met and started falling in love with each other, so things just started happening. And you might just remember that in the end, all of this only blew up in Irene's face anyway...

Intelligence and purity.

After seeing the last episode of the second season, I respected the acting talents of Damien Lewis and Gina McKee even more. The last scene where Lewis brings the Dega for Jon is heartbreaking. After hearing his confession to Fleur about the rape, you feel for his embarrassment and sadness. The final scene where they shake hands is so powerful. It is clear that Soames is grateful that Irene has finally forgiven him for the rape during their marriage. Soames leaves the house feelling better that the most horrible moment of his life has been forgiven. Irene finally see Soames as someone different because he showed her that he was not only about possessing things. It was a powerful ending to a superb series. The characters in this series were so layered. The actors were all terrific.