I've got my own little theory already but I wanted to ask what theories you guys have on why Clare left.
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There are about two dozen speculations in andrewthezeppo's post.
shareWell, in the book, she leaves when her daughter is about two years old. In the book, Jonathan hooks up with a guy who contracts AIDS. The lover, disowned by his family, and having lost his own friends to AIDS, comes to Woodstock to live with the four of them. As the daughter learns to talk, she becomes aware that the lover is sick. Clare didn't want her daughter in that environment of sadness and death at such a young age so she high-tailed it outta there, leaving the three men together--at least that's how it read.
In the movie, it's different. She sees Jonathan and Bobby dancing on the porch and decides to leave--perhaps she felt like she and the baby were coming between them. Plus, there is no lover for Jonathan and the "bruise" he had of course turns out to be Kaposi's sarcoma, which in those days, usually meant you had AIDS.
What REALLY gets me about her departure in the movie is that she asks Bobby if he wants to come; I don't recall her asking Bobby to leave with her in the book. If she knew she wasn't coming back, why would she ask Bobby to come with her and leave Jonathan by himself? HARSH!!!!!!!!
Exactly Dat. I don't think she knew about the AIDs. and she just wanted to give Bobby the ultimatum. remember, Jonathan left them and went home to Arizona (i think it was Arizona), so she had no qualms about doing the same thing. I also don't think that she quite knew how deep boys love for one another really was until that night she saw them dancing that they were perfeclty in synch with another while dancing.
a woman can compete well with another woman for a man, but not another man for a man.
Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...share
Wh
at REALLY gets me about her departure in the movie is that she asks Bobby if he wants to come; I don't recall her asking Bobby to leave with her in the book. If she knew she wasn't coming back, why would she ask Bobby to come with her and leave Jonathan by himself? HARSH!!!!!!!!