spoiler
cassandra wont marry the man she loves because she doesnt want to end up like her mom, in a marriage where she is not loved.
well she had the option of a marriage where she would have been adored.
she had NO reason not to marry super hottie stephen
The fact that she did NOT love Stephen is a perfectly good reason to NOT marry him.
The point of the movie is to find someone who will love you as much as you love him/her. Mutual love. Not unrequited love.
the point of this movie is that people who wait for people who reciprocate in equal measure their love will end up alone and unhappy.
"true love" is fleeting and make believe.
she would have been more than happy, and happier than 99% of marriages, with either stephen or simon
can you even tell me, based on either the book or the movie, why she loved simon?
She never romantically loved Stephen, whether in the book or in the movie. She only had platonic feelings for him. It was Simon whom Cassandra was in love with. Sucks, but life ain't fair. you can't choose who you love and who will love you, that's another point of the film.
And no way would she have been happy with Stephen (whom she does not love) or with Simon (who at that point was obviously still in love with her sister, not her). She would just be settling for second best with Stephen. And SImon would just be settling for second best with her had she accepted his proposal when he obviously is still hurting and has not moved on. Neither is a recipe for happiness.
Remember the message of her sister Rose to her at the end? Rose tells Cassandra that she only hopes that she can be as happy as she is. Meaning, that she hopes Cassandra will also find someone she'll fall in love with and love her back. It's the only way she can be truly happy. Rose nearly married Simon who WORSHIPPED and ADORED HER (similar to how Stephen ADORED Cassandra), but Rose had ZERO love or romantic feelings for SImon. Hence, she was miserable with him even if he was kind. In the end, she could not marry a man she did not love even for money. Had she gone through with the marriage, she would have been settling for second best. And eventually, SImon would just be as miserable with her.
Cassandra, or ANYONE, does not deserve second best. Yes, you should not wait for someone to love you. If they don't love you, then you move on and be happy ON YOUR OWN. For as long as you are alive, there is that hope that you will find that SOMEONE who will return your love.
Hence, Cassandra's final words in the movie: "I loved. I love. I will love."
Turning the last phrase into "future" form is a sign that Cassandra WILL MOVE ON and who knows what adventure life and love has in store for her. Like Simon, she may be hurting now, but she will eventually move on.
I actually like Simon for Cassandra. But the timing for them was off. He needed time to get over Rose first before he can actually claim to develop any sincere feelings for Cassandra. Smart kid that Cassandra is, knew right away that at that point she was gonna be REBOUND GIRL for Simon. She knew she deserved better than that, so she turned down his proposal. But I think both of them realized maybe, somewhere down the road, there will be a better time for them.
In the meantime, Cassandra would not be hanging around just waiting for him. She has her own life to live. Yes she'll grieve for a bit, but eventually she'll move on and be happy again on her own. Whether or not she and Simon will meet again and finally fall in love at the right time is not really the point. The point is that she moves on and only looks for the right kind of love that she deserves.
stephen was fine being second best. he had no problem with that. he knew friendship is the only lasting basis for marriage. his love for her was real and lasting. her love for simon was nothing but a fleeting school girl crush on the first boy she had ever met who wasnt stephen.
cassandra ends up alone and unhappy. that is the moral of the story. her mind has been polluted with the make believe love found in the jane austen novel she reads. the movie and book are saying if you are looking for austen fairy tales you'll end up alone and unhappy.
and you never answered my question: what reason is given for cassandra's attration to simon? it's never given. the only reason we can deduce is that, having been raised in the castle, secluded from society, simon is the first boy she's ever met who isn't stephen. simon himself has no merit. he neither does nor says anything to give us as readers plausible explanation for cassandra's affection.
you dont fall in love with the first person you've ever had a crush on. and you dont go around calling someone you're soul mate because you think he's cute.
this is the irony of the movie (and book) - idealism is for naive little girls (simon was right to call her naive at the beginning). cassandra needed to be more like her sister and be willing to settle for second best. second best is better than nothing. people who complain about second best are spoiled and quixotic.
You should have corrected your previous post. Your question was why Cassandra loved STEPHEN. Hence, I answered she was never in love with her childhood friend.
Stephen was fine with being Second Best. But Cassandra was not. Right there, you have two people who have very DIFFERENT views on how life should pan out. MAJOR RED FLAG in any relationship. Stephen would have never satisfied Cassandra for her other needs. No matter how hard he tried. Cassandra was merciful and honest by being upfront that she could never love him the way he loved her. Not like her sister Rose who wanted to fake her way through riches. Thank goodness she relented in the end and faced the truth that Neil, and not Simon (the heir), was her real love.
Why was Cassandra attracted to Simon? They were kindred spirits. They were both intellectuals. Although she was younger, she obviously had intellectual curiosity which her sister didn't have. That's why Simon eventually sought her out, having nothing in common with Rose. And Stephen obviously didn't have it either. He was too simple for her. Plus, Cassandra found Simon to be a kind and decent guy. Cassandra and Simon have more in common than Cassandra/Stephen or Rose/Simon. Had they met at different circumstances, they would have easily formed a relationship. The physical attraction was eventually revealed to be there when they shared the kiss.
And I agree, your first crush doesn't mean he's your soulmate. In the book, Cassandra agrees that Stephen is "godlike" in terms of looks and actually responds to his attractiveness. I could even say that it's a "crush." She also develops an initial crush on Neil. But eventually, she develops strong feelings for Simon.
Like any girl growing up, she goes from one crush to another until she finally falls for someone for real, but tragically, that someone doesn't love her back. Too bad. But such is life. She'll eventually learn that heartbreak doesn't last either.
If I'm not mistaken, in the book, I think Stephen also had an avid admirer apart from the artist Leda. There was a young local girl who adored him. Just because she adores him does that mean Stephen should have settled with her? I don't think so. After being jilted by Cassandra, Dodie Smith had Stephen pursuing an exciting career in film instead of settling with some local girl. I'm sure Stephen had his share of local girls who would gladly become his adoring wife had he wanted to.
And I don't agree that the book is telling everyone to settle for SEcond Best to find happiness. It's the total opposite. It teaches that yes, life can be cruel in that you will experience UNREQUITED LOVE at some point, it's part of growing up. Life is never fair. It's like a crazy game of "musical chairs" as Cassandra put it, people never getting the partner they want. It's not something you can control or demand. People get hurt, but it's never an excuse to give in and succumb for settling. That's why the scene where she walks away from Simon is so important. That's the point that Cassandra TRULY GROWS UP.
If I remember right, the director of the movie had a different final scene for the movie. It was suppose to be scene where Cassandra is walking down the city street and she meets the eye of a random handsome guy who is obviously showing interest in her. I think the director decided not to use the scene because it would have been a heavy-handed approach to imparting the message that Cassandra has moved on from her heartbreak. The last three lines are more poignant anyway.
The book's ending was slightly different. It just ends with Cassandra despairing with "I Love You, I love You, I love you." But this is a book written from the POV of a girl who just had her first heartbreak so I found it consistent. First Heartbreak tends to be the most melodramatic. She walked away from Simon's proposal, so understandably, she would grieve about the whole experience. Still think it was very mature of her to not just grab on to Simon's pitiful offer.
The film, I guess, just wanted to be more obvious about Cassandra's eventual healing from the experience.