Finally watched this miniseries this week and the thing I couldn't understand was, why didn't Madeline leave Justin earlier? (Before he killed Maum Sally and him drugging her) Especially when you see how easy it was when she finally did.
Usually I can see what's keeping a couple apart, but with this couple I couldn't.
Because Justine would hunt her down and drag Madeline back to the Resolute Plantation. Also I think she was afraid of him.
shareThis might be overlooked and seem trivial in modern days, but Honor was also a BIG issue back then. Madeline was brought up to marry and be a good Southern wife. She could not forsake her sense of honor. It was only when she realized how dishonorable Justin was- planning murder- that she had enough [In that 19th century mindset, things like rape, and the violent and fatal mistreatment of slaves was considered rather acceptable, but murdering a white man was not].
It's also that they changed things from the book a little.
In the book, Madeline never sleeps with Orry until after she's left Justin in the spring of 1861. Prior to that, she felt she had to uphold her marital vows.
Of course, in the book, she doesn't meet Orry until she's actually on the way to Resolute to marry Justin. She has the wagon accident in 1844, when Orry is home on leave from West Point. So, they don't feel like they've both been cheated by her father like on the series.
Personally, I thought Orry should just challenge Justin to a duel. As Smith Dawkins said, the code duelo was widely practiced despite being illegal in the state. As a trained soldier, Orry would easily have been able to win.
[deleted]
I always wondered why her father didn't do something once he learned what Justin was really like. He clearly knew by the end, as he told Madeline on his death bed that he did her a great cruelty by fixing it so she'd marry Justin.
My guess is that it was another holdover from the book, where Nicolas doesn't live in Charleston, but in New Orleans; so he's more detached from Madeline's life and probably didn't know how bad things were.
Madeline was also a product of growing up in the south, where women were expected to behave differently than in the north. However, I do think that most of her character's inconsistencies stemmed from the changes made from the book. It caused her to act very illogically at times.
I always got the impression that Constance had been raised to be much more independent and self-reliant. I mean, her father seemed to have brought her down to the warzone in Mexico, so he would have had to have raised her to be able to take care of herself.
As for Virgilia, her problem was how extreme her views were. She seemed to want to have a bloodbath rather than try to find a peaceful way to end slavery.
[deleted]
Greetings! I've been a student of the American Civil War for 30 years; it's a fascinating subject, isn't it? I'f you're looking for a general overview of the war, a good place to start is Bruce Catton's "The Civil War"--it covers the major military, political, and economic factors involved, as well as the causes of the war. Catton's works were well-received, despite the fact he wasn't a professional historian. From there, James McPherson, a professor at Princeton University, has written several books on the war, which are all superb.
shareHis character explains this-Justin was older and settled and already in a position to be the husband he wanted for his daughter. Thats why ORry and Madeleine's letters were all intercepted...Back then a woman couldn't divorce her husband-no matter what. But the husband could for infidelity!!
shareMadeline's father couldn't have done anything because she "belonged" to her husband.
sharemy guess is her father's health began to decline as well as their finances & he needed someone (a rich older man) to take care of his headstrong, willfull, yet surprisingly self sufficient ADULT daughter. she did always consider Justin her father's creepy friend, but with true love orry in WP for the next few years, she had no other choice but to honor the arranged marriage. but hell yes I leave to mount royal, 1st chance I get.
share"Especially when you see how easy it was when she finally did"? What the eff are you talking about? She had to slice the dude up and then a miniature army had to protect Orry's house just to keep her husband from storming in and killing him AND her. And then a few months later he comes back and kidnaps her anyway.
How is any of that easy?
"It's Minnie Pearl's murder weapon."
[deleted]