She must have been well aware of Ellen's mental illness. Only after he married her does the mother start commenting on her strange behavior. Also, I wonder how Quinton would have handled her if they had gotten married; he wouldn't have put up with any of her garbage.
shareNow this is a quetion my wife and I had after finally seeing LHTH this last weekend.
We were trying to figure out just what was the deal with the way mother (and initally Ruth) acted in relation to Ellen. Throughout the movie, we were wondering...was it fear? Jealousy? Bitterness? WHAT???
There are a lot of unanswered questions here. I mean, the nature of Ellen's relationship with her father is certainly at the top of the list. And I think this is best left ambiguous...not knowing makes the story even that much more gripping.
Nevertheless, it was quite obvious that the family knew things.
It wouldn't have done any good.
Ellen was determined to get her claws into Richard (because of his physical resemblance to her father), and nothing, but NOTHING, would stop her!
Besides, even if Mrs. Berent did warn Richard, it's doubtful that he would have believed her.
He had to find out the truth for himself, and his reticence eventually cost the lives of his crippled brother and his unborn baby.
Ellen's mother did warn him, with several comments, that Ellen was difficult. But she didn't know Ellen was a psychopath who was capable of murder.
shareThat was strange after the memorial, the fami!y was not worried when Ellen stayed in the wooded area for 12 hours. Only Richard was worried.
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