Do you think Soames ever felt guilty about his rape of Irene, even when he was old? In the scene where the poet tries to kiss Fleur, and she rejects him, he backs off, but I always wonder, what if he hadn't taken her "no" for an answer? How would Soames have felt then? Do you think Soames had any regrets?
shareI think that he did. And as early as the actual rape scene itself. Just minutes later we see Irene crying, and the expression on Soames's face tells us how he really feels at that point. He looks shocked and remorseful.
shareDo you think his regret over his actions is one of the reasons Soames tells Young Jo at the end of the trial that he (Soames) won't be too hard on Bosinney, as far as the money is concerned?
shareI do recall in the book that Soames suffered massive guilt about his rape of Irene. Her sobbing kept on playing in his mind's memory and it made him feel horrible. It's really emphasized well in the novel, not so well in the series, and in the most recent version it's not even touched upon!
It's only hubris if I fail
"In the scene where the poet tries to kiss Fleur, and she rejects him, he backs off, but I always wonder, what if he hadn't taken her "no" for an answer?"
OK, I realize this is coming 5 years later, but I only recently watched the entire series and figured I'd chime in.
If the poet hadn't taken "no" for an answer, I think THAT would have been a criminal offense. However, Soames act, horrific though it was, apparently wasn't considered criminal and I'm told that rape of one's wife wasn't criminalized in the UK until 1991 (no, that's not a typo--nineteen hundred and ninety-one).
If Soames did feel guilty over the long term, it didn't come across very well, at least not to me. He kept asking for a reconciliation but only because he wanted to keep his "property"; her feelings (or lack thereof) didn't matter to him.
I agree that after Soames' initial shock at what he had done, he covers it up with the law (which Galsworthy mentions), his sense of being "cheated" out of a loving wife (though he gives Irene NO real reason to love hime; even Fleur and Winifred notice this about him!).
He justifies what he did and even seems to block it from memory, harping instead on Irene's "failure to be a proper wife". Galsworthy explains this as Soames having "no ability so see himself as others do", no self-awareness. He is hidebound and chalks up his stiffness and unlovability to the faults of others, never himself.
If he does soften as he gets older, I think it's because Galsworthy probably got tired of writing about such a jerk! He wanted to "redeem" Soames, but it only happens with Fleur, not even with his wife, Annette, or anyone else but his clerk, Gradman.
She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.
In the later episodes, after Fleur marries Michael, Soames says something very telling (about himself). It's in his conversation with Winifred, after he discovers that Fleur has secretly been meeting Jon during the period when they were sitting for their portraits for June's artist/protege.
Soames tells Winifred that Jon and Ann should leave England. Winifred says she imagines that Jon would want to be near his mother. Then Soames says he remembers when Irene had less than 50 pounds a year to live on, and that was too much.
Seriously, Soames? Fifty pounds a year was too much? Talk about being bitter, and petty, and small.