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When Susannah says 'Didn't I' about Sammuel's and Isabel Two's deaths


The scene where Susannah visits Tristan in the jail and she says that she wanted Isabelle two to die and that maybe she even wanted Sammuel to die. When Tristan tells her that she had nothing to do with their deaths and she replies "didn't I"? I was kind of thrown off by that statement what did she mean by "didn't I"?

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I took it to mean...

Susannah could have stopped Samuel from leaving - she could have tried harder - she didn't.

Susannah left (or couldn't wait for) Tristan. Because of this, Tristan ended up with Isabel Two.

Because of this, Isabel Two ended up dead.

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

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I took it as her having a guilty conscience

She would have always cared for Isabal Two... they all lived together throughout the war and she educated her... they were like family... but on the other hand i'm sure she hated her too... the excruciating pain of jealousy will do that to you

Isabel Two was married to the man Susannah loved... she had given him beautiful children and a settled life... all the things Susannah had always longed for with him throughout all the years she'd waited

We see in the film she is literally driven crazy by her love for Tristan... so i'm sure she had horrible thoughts about Isabel Two... probably even dark thoughts that something would happen to her... and when something actually ending up happening she felt guilty for those thoughts

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I started a similar thread a few years ago-

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110322/board/nest/235993615?d=235993615#235993615

It's an extremely moving scene that leaves me breathless every time I watch it because of so many emotions and loaded meanings. But I agree with your assessment. She killed herself because she felt guilty like she had cursed Samuel for desiring Tristan and then Isabel 2 because she is killed barely hours after they run into each other in town.

If you watch Susannah closely in the particular scene, she is so overcome with emotion after talking to Samuel 2 and Alfred leads her away. They were all doomed in one way or another after Samuel died. The thing is that is what death and tragedy can do to a family unit. The grief and guilt will eat away at you for decades and decades if you don't find a way to move on. Tristan was finally able to move on and survive his grief because of his kids. That's the only way he made it after losing Isabel 2. Susannah felt she had nothing to live for after losing Tristan and not being able to have children- even for Alfred.

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I think Susannah is one of the most tragic figures of modern fiction. So much loss, on many levels.

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