| I can’t believe I missed the opportunity last Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, to feature John Ford’s The Quiet Man, a classic Irish tale and my favorite John Wayne film. Oh well, like the train to Castletown, better late than never.
This is a delightful and beautifully photographed movie with great performances by Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Ward Bond and the quirky Irish cast. The depiction of the Irish as colorful but short-tempered folk much given to drinking and fighting is perhaps a bit politically incorrect in this day and age, but very entertaining and as it is Ford’s tribute to his homeland, though I’m not Irish, it gets a pass from me (not unlike Tim Story’s effort with Barbershop – stereotypes can be effective). Definitely not politically correct is the bit where a woman hands Wayne a stick “to beat the lovely lady” but it’s played for humor and within the context of the story. |
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The interesting contrast for me between this film and others in the series is that in other movies the main character doesn’t quite know what he is capable of and is unsure of what may happen when pushed to the brink. In this movie, Wayne (as Sean Thornton) is fully aware of what he is capable of and fears that it might happen again. He plays an American prizefighter who has killed an opponent in the ring and since retired and immigrated back to Ireland to buy the cottage where seven generations of his family lived. He is resolved to control himself and live quietly — even to the point of allowing people to think he’s a coward — but his pursuit of the cottage and the lovely and fiery-tempered Mary Kate Danaher (O’Hara) sets him on an inevitable collision course with Mary Kate’s brother, Will Danaher, the biggest, roughest and richest man in the county.
Sean’s patience and self-control in the face of the offenses and goads of the Danahers is admirable, but hardly to be seen in his courting of Mary Kate where he is more than a little forward. No doubt the script was written this way to accentuate the cultural differences between America and Ireland, but it does open the door for discussion with young viewers on proper behavior. The story also reminded me of some of the things my wife and I learned recently about why the Bible emphasizes that a husband love his wife but that a wife respect her husband. In this story Sean loves Mary Kate despite her temper and faults but fails to understand how important her things and dowery are to her. Mary Kate on the other hand loves her husband but struggles to respect him, at one point even leaving Sean, telling Michaleen Oge Flynn, “I love him too much to go on living with a man I’m ashamed of,” as he drives her to Castletown to catch the Dublin train. Both, however, come to understand each other and make a formidable team.
Despite the personal tensions and strife in the movie it is mainly a comedy and when the inevitable fight comes at the end of the movie the release is thoroughly enjoyable. All in all it is a very fun movie with some excellent performances and more than a few good points to make.
Questions to answer:
- Why were Mary Kate’s possessions and dowry so important to her? Was it a matter of greed or something else? What was the significance of these things, given the place of women in that culture?
- Why was Sean afraid to fight? What did he value more than his reputation?
- Describe the differences between Sean’s American ways of courting and the Irish customs. What purpose do you think the Irish ways served, and do they have value today?
Great Quotes:
Michaleen: “What do they feed Irishmen in Pittsburgh to make them so big?”
Sean: “Steel, Micheleen, and pig iron in furnaces so hot a man forgets his fear of hell. And when you’re hard enough, and strong enough, other things.”
Mary Kate: “What manner of man have I married?”
Friend: “A better one than I think you know, Mary Kate.”
About Fundamentals in Film: this series began as a class I taught to junior high and high school boys as a way to use the entertainment media to explore concepts of honor, honesty, duty and accountability. The movies were selected to demonstrate these themes and as a contrast to television that typically either portrays men as Homer Simpsons or professional wrestlers, with little in between those extremes. I wrote questions and points to ponder for each movie to stimulate discussion and to get the boys to articulate their thoughts and reactions to each movie. I offer this series here on this blog for the benefit of parents or others looking for a fun but challenging way to reinforce these concepts in their own families or groups. As the list of films grows each week, feel free to use these guides and to mix and match movies according to your interests or those of your group. I’m also always open to suggestions for other movies that can be added to the series. You can browse the entire series by clicking on the “Fundamentals in Film” category in the right sidebar of this blog.
OK I tried this last night but it said my comment was too long. Doesn’t it know how hard it is to type by the 2 finger Hunt ‘n Peck method?
I’ll split my comment into sections. Maybe 2, maybe 3 comments.
Here goes.
Answers to questions:
Answer 1.
A 3 parter where the 1st and 3rd sentence are the same question.
The answer to the 2nd question in question 1 is, “No”.
The answer to the 1st and 3rd question in question 1 is,
They are important to her because of the heritage they represent and the histories they hold. At that time women had no real “place” in Irish culture other than being considered slightly more than property. Hence the “stick to beat the lovely lady” comment would have been neither politically incorrect or out of place, but rater completely appropriate under the circumstances.
Her dowery was what defined her as an individual, a singular person in her own right.
The dowery represented her Virtue in society and they were culturally inseperable.
To frivolously throw it away would be as shameful as becoming a harlot, and as socially unacceptable.
To get one means you get the other and any man that wants it must prove himself to her and EARN it.
In other words, part 3 of question 1 is her Proverbs 31:10.
Answer 2.
A 2 parter. The answer for both is the same. Simply put, life, is what Sean valued more than his reputation and why he refused to fight.
There are wheels within wheels in this movie (one reason I like it) but despite the theme of strong silent type persues strong not-so silent type and gets her, the whole foundation is based on Moral Principles and that is the messege that overides everything else.
Answer 3.
2 parter. Part 1, Night and day. New and reckless civilization meets old, established and COMFORTABLE civilization.
Many analogies will do but I think reckless Vs. comfortable is closer to correct.
Next comment
Part 2.
If nothing else could be said about the Irish ways based soley on this movie then “Mannerly” would fit the bill.
They always, ALWAYS had perfect manners no matter the situation. I personally think THAT is what endears people to the movie more than anything else.
It’s so subtle as to seem subliminal.
It’s not even noticed until you think about it for a bit.
When you do you realize that manners is something you have been missing in society.
Sure, they have been slowly, imperceptably, eroding away and we (society) have been too busy to notice.
But when you put some serious thought into it you begin to realize that manners are more important to you than you thought…and you miss them.
(Wish I could express it more gooder than that but I am NOT a writer…or speller…or punctuator for that matter)
P.S.
The “more gooder” was on purpose 😉
Welcome back to the Comments section, Joatmoaf, and good answers.
You’re absolutely right on #1; these weren’t just “things” to Mary Kate but her self respect and the “dreams” she had for herself and even for future generations.
You’re also correct on number 2, though if I were showing this to young men I would also point out that what Sean thought of himself was more important to him than what others thought of him, and I think he felt shame over (accidentally) killing another man because of his anger and knew how important it was for him to keep his temper reined in. (He has a very interesting conversation with the Rev. Playfair about what is worth fighting for and not being able to fight unless he was mad enough to kill someone).
Your take on manners is also good, but interesting when you consider the behavior of the Irish as a whole in the movie. They were quick to observe the rules as a way of controlling their more boisterous impulses – in a way, having a form of manners was their equivalent of Sean refraining from fighting. They understood that things go better if everyone follows the “rules.”
(More – see my own Part 2).
Part 2
Where this is especially interesting to me is the rules of courting. The Irish customs seem so quaint today, but they are similar to the model we want for our girls. In the Irish custom (very similar to Latin cultures, btw) courtship isn’t “dating”, it is a process designed to lead to marriage and not entered into lightly and without some formality. It was meant to be a long, drawn-out process so that the prospective partners could learn enough about each other to be sure they wanted to go through with a wedding, especially since divorce was not a possibility. If Sean and Mary Kate had taken the proper time the rituals called for they would have had a better understanding of what was important to the other, and of the other’s character as well. Of course, you wouldn’t have had much of a movie, either. Doing things that way can be even more incomprehensible to us today than they were for Sean, but I believe this way leads to happier outcomes than the “serial monogamy” of broken relationships based on feelings and physical attraction that is common today. There is great value in “observing the proprieties.”
Anyway, I’m glad that you seem to like this movie as much as I do.
I agree with everything you said. The thing is, I can’t type. I suppose that’s the reason almost everything I post dissociated and at time non-sensical, but to me it makes perfect sense.
Since I CANT type and I DO have a lot to say I have to basically “edit for effect”.
Put the pertainant, meaty parts in and leave the dressing out, while trying to tie it all together into coherent messege.
Plus, I really don’t know anything about the English language other than how to speak and read it.
Nouns, verbs, dangling participles? All meaningless to me.
Never learnd it in school, but that’s another topic altogether.