I think it's a very nuanced story, particularly for the reasons you enumerate. Sir William isn't a bad man -- in fact, he's caring and gentle toward Hester, even after she leaves him -- but he just doesn't fulfill her, and she feels trapped and stifled.
Past productions I've seen, as well as the Terence Davies film, cast an older, more distinguished actor as Sir William and a younger hunk as Freddy. In the Davies film, it's Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston. Here, Sir William and Hester are roughly the same age, and Peter Sullivan is handsome. It's an interesting dynamic. I thought all three of the principals were terrific.
Rattigan was gay, and the play was originally going to feature a homosexual affair at the center. But he changed that due to censorship and the fact that homosexuality was illegal in Britain when the play premiered. It's also widely read that Mr. Miller is gay, which is the reason he was imprisoned and stripped of his medical license. |
