Title is in reference that I never get EVERYTHING I want from a story... but ohhh so close.
I have never felt so unsatisfied. I know the ending is
supposed to be happy, and I am happy that everything ended up well for Emare.
However, her father’s desires for her kept popping into my head. About
three-fourths into the story, I decided that karma would seriously bite the
Emperor in the butt.
I guess I was wrong…
I appreciate Emare’s character, and I love how she is able
to endure hardship after hardship and still be a loving person. Her romance
with the King of Wales is one of the most pure to me out of all the stories we
have read. (He didn’t fall in love with her from a tower, sexually harass her,
or steal her from another marriage.) Minus her ship story, I feel like their
meeting and marriage is the most similar to a possible modern courtship
scenario.
(I know Can't Hardly Wait did follow this script, but I imagine wales was focused in on Emare just like that.)
1.)
Meet at a party
2.)
Ask friends and family about their opinions
3.)
Tell family, but respectfully reject their input
4.)
Pursue!
I feel like they have a mutual respect for each other. The
only reason why shit goes down the way it does is because the King has a crazy
mother. Even after being separated for so long, the King and Emare still love
each other. At the end, the King and Emare happily reunite, the King sees and
loves his son, and he exiles his crazy mother.
But then….
The Emperor, who banished his daughter because she wouldn’t
marry him, comes around because of a guilty conscience and is forgiven…
I honestly enjoyed most of the story. I felt like despite
the settings and what not… the love story is relatable. The beginning made me
angry, but the rest of the story made up for it… except for the end. There
needs to be justice. The King exiled his mother for trying to destroy his
family. Does a parent who desires his daughter and puts her in harm’s way not
deserve equal punishment? Ultimately, it is Emare’s loving nature that allows
her to forgive her father.
My perfect ending would be:
… The emperor grows old. He reaches out to his daughter, but
Emare tells him that he is dead to her. He feels so guilty for everything that
he has done… and moves on to a boat rocking on top of the crashing waves…
sobbing day and night until his death.
(Or can one of these guys do something in the name of Justice???)
However, I realize that there is a deeper message in this
story, which is perhaps why religion is referenced in the beginning and the
end. Perhaps this story is about mercy and forgiveness. The King shows mercy to
his mother by not executing her, and Emare forgives her father.
