I preferred Tony. Loved him from the start.
Me too! Jim? He seemed pleasant enough but there was no spark between him and Eilis. Could they have been happy together? I don't know. They certainly could have been
pleasant together but a relationship like that should remain platonic if you want more than a warm milk kind of contentment in your spousal connection.
I notice some have the opinion that Tony was desperate and pushy. I didn't think of him that way but if so, that's not a character flaw in the context of his and Eilis's situation. If you know what you want, go after it. (And no, that's not about
forcing anything.) He was sure he loved her and was sure he wanted to marry her. All he was doing was letting his feelings show. All Eilis had to do was say yes or no. The choice was hers and no one took it away from her. As far as him wanting to marry her before she went back to Ireland...honestly, I can't blame him. She initially wanted to make a promise but it's like Tony said - if she's going to promise to come back and marry him, why not just do it before she goes? The only difference is his mind is more at ease. Yes, Tony felt insecure with her going back home. He was a "regular joe" as stated elsewhere on this board but he wasn't stupid or clueless. She might have been tempted to stay in Ireland and he wanted to lessen the chance of that. Since his future happiness is at stake, why shouldn't he? If Eilis didn't want to be with Tony in America, she wouldn't have married him. The character didn't come off as being emotionally mixed up about this just because her sister died. In fact she seemed very composed and self-assured with Tony from the beginning. Being with him seemed to further her growth as a person. She missed her family and friends back home in Ireland and the land itself but simply put in the end she wanted a different kind of life and as it turned out, a different kind of man. Some of you may have preferred Jim, but ultimately the character Eilis did not and everything
I saw in the film before she finally returned led up to that choice.
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beautifulbrugmansia
7 years ago
Tony wasn't desperate and pushy, he was an Italian. I am married into a beautiful warm Italian family and know that is the way they think and love.
I did the books for my husband. When you come from a background of no affection given by parents (cultural thing in my case) you are hungry for all that warmth.
Tony for me, I think they were perfect for each other and gorgeous to watch.
The movie was wonderful, perhaps only older viewers would understand how women rarely had a say in their lives back in that era. You smothered your feelings.
Tony allowed Eilis to show her feelings and it made her feel important, perhaps for the first time in her life. Important enough in the end to make a choice of her own.
Don't forget her sister wanted her to have a better life. I believe she has at the end chosen the better life.
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