Topic: Lureen: Did she ever really love Jack?

[welshwitch]

I think maybe Jack changed after Ennis's divorce and the Mexico trip - Lureen says he drank a lot, so I think of him as becoming more embittered and needing to escape - until that point he may have gone on at least miming to the record of being married, working for the Newsome business and keeping it all ay nbay by dreaming secretly of a future with Ennis. Once that went, I imagine him finding escape in drink and perhaps with Randall, but becoming more and more alientated from his marriage as his son grew up and his feelings for Llureen were shown as shallow and transient.

[tpe]

I think maybe Jack changed after Ennis's divorce and the Mexico trip - Lureen says he drank a lot, so I think of him as becoming more embittered and needing to escape - until that point he may have gone on at least miming to the record of being married, working for the Newsome business and keeping it all ay nbay by dreaming secretly of a future with Ennis. Once that went, I imagine him finding escape in drink and perhaps with Randall, but becoming more and more alientated from his marriage as his son grew up and his feelings for Llureen were shown as shallow and transient.

Yes, I think Ennis's divorce and Jack's rejection is a critical phase.  I am sure that before this, Jack probably did not resent married life that much.  In a sense, the marriage may have already been more a matter of indifference before this, but I am sure that internally, this marked a turning point of some sort with Jack.  He realized that union with Ennis was not going to occur any time soon --and so he hunkered down and lived out his marriage with Lurreen without much though of what the future might bring to them -- as a married couple, or as business partners. 

[welshwitch]

And by 1975 they'd been married for some time, certainly nine years or so, and the attraction may have worn off or become merely tolerance and habit - if Ennis had remained as he was and not been divorced so that he was in a position where he had to make it clear to Jack that that didn't imply he would commit to him, then things might have gone on much as they were for longer. In fact if ennis had remained married to Alma the relationship with Jack could have continued much as it was indefinitely unless there was conflict over Ennis's inability to get away. I think as long as Jack went on as he's done, Lureen would have done the same - she was used to Jack and he was useful.

[tpe]

And by 1975 they'd been married for some time, certainly nine years or so, and the attraction may have worn off or become merely tolerance and habit - if Ennis had remained as he was and not been divorced so that he was in a position where he had to make it clear to Jack that that didn't imply he would commit to him, then things might have gone on much as they were for longer. In fact if ennis had remained married to Alma the relationship with Jack could have continued much as it was indefinitely unless there was conflict over Ennis's inability to get away. I think as long as Jack went on as he's done, Lureen would have done the same - she was used to Jack and he was useful.

I think so too.  I think it was Jack's final desperation that made him at last contemplate divorce with Lureen.  So long as he had hope for himself and Ennis being together, the marriage was manageable -- if not bearable at all times...

[thunderwolf]

Years later, but...

I don't think Lureen loved Jack, but interestingly she shared many characteristics with Ennis.

It's Lureen who is the active partner in their first time of sex. It's Lureen who's quieter, seemingly happy punching away the numbers in her calculator, rather than facing up to his son's schooling problems, or her husbands mysterious trips away.

I think Lureen loves her father more than Jack. In many ways, Lureen acts like 'the son' that her father would be proud of. Running the business successfully. She even gives him the son he always wanted and the baby is presented to her father, as his! It's almost like Oedipus (or whatever the girl equivalent is) on heat!

The transformation from the vivacious red hair to the white haired porcelain doll is quite poignant too. It's almost as if the shock of discovering her sham marriage, literally turned her hair white! Lureen is such an active character in the first few scenes we see her, but towards the end, (charity dinner), and the phone call with Ennis, she looks literally fragile enough to smash into pieces!

[lancecowboy]

I am fairly certain Lureen loved Jack at first. From the moment he picked up her hat, to the scene in the car, "Fast or slow, I just like the direction you're going."

I doubt Lureen would marry Jack against her father's wishes if she was head over heel in love with him.

Even in the hospital, the way she looked at Jack, was all lovey-dovey. And at the Thanksgiving dinner.

I suspect she fell out of love shortly after that.