Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘House of Guinness,’ the eponymous family finds itself in turbulent times after the death of its patriarch, Benjamin Guinness. While he bestows his sons Arthur and Edward with equal responsibility for the business, it is the latter who takes charge of maintaining and expanding the family legacy. This puts him in the line of fire of the Irish Brotherhood, who are fighting for Ireland’s freedom and see the Guinness family as the opposite of all the values they hold. Edward, however, knows that he must find a common ground with them, especially if he doesn’t want them to sabotage his and Arthur’s plans of making a political leap. So, he reaches out to Ellen Cochrane. What begins as a collaboration to serve mutual interests turns into a romantic affair. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Edward and Ellen’s Romance was Doomed from the Beginning
Edward Guinness’s efforts to settle things with the Irish Brotherhood lead him to Ellen Cochrane, a highly active member of the Ladies’ Committee of the organisation. Her brother, Patrick, believes in resorting to violence, but she is a much more tactical person. This is why Edward approaches her to make a truce. In doing so, he gets to know her and realises that, despite them being in enemy camps, there are a lot of similarities between them. He admires her passion and dedication to her cause, and in many ways, sees her as his equal and a partner that he would have liked to have by his side. Ellen, too, despite her loathing for the Guinness family, falls for Edward, but a part of her knows that she and Edward are not going to end up together.
After dodging the issue for a while, Edward eventually comes clean to her. He tells her that he is going to marry Adelaide, because that’s what’s acceptable in the eyes of society and would work favourably for his family’s name and business. Ellen is heartbroken at this revelation, but is not entirely surprised that he chose his business over her. There is rarely anything that Edward puts above the brewery, and if it weren’t to protect said business, he probably would never have paid any attention to Ellen and what she stood for. Even though he is marrying Adelaide, Edward loves Ellen, and he offers her to become his mistress. It is not a new thing for men, including the ones in his family, to have affairs outside of their marriage.
There is a thing called “official mistress,” which Christine later becomes for Ben, where the woman gets her own place and perks courtesy of the Guinness family. However, Ellen has no intention of being someone’s mistress, even if she loves the person. She will not compromise her integrity for an affair, and she doesn’t leave any shadow of doubt about it. Once Edward gets married, he tries to move on and suppress his feelings for her. However, when Patrick threatens to kill someone in the Guinness family, he goes to Ellen’s door to ask her where her brother is. Being on her doorstep again brings back whatever feelings he had been trying to push away, but his words do not stir Ellen, and she tells him to leave, marking an end to the possibility of an affair.
Patrick’s Actions Further Complicate Things Between Edward and Ellen
Edward and Ellen had been somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet kind of couple. Being on opposite sides that hate each other was already shaky ground to establish a relationship on. Patrick never approved of his sister sleeping with a Guinness, and Arthur didn’t like Edward making deals with the Brotherhood, though he didn’t personally have an aversion to his brother in love. Despite these issues, Edward and Ellen made things work until he got married. Interestingly, Adelaide is not the one keeping them apart. In addition to Ellen’s refusal to be Edward’s mistress, there is another issue that casts a pall on their love affair.
In the finale, Patrick comes through on his word and shoots a bullet during Arthur’s campaign rally. It remains to be seen whether the bullet hits Arthur or someone else in the family. However, the simple act of Patrick almost killing one of his family members is bound to make Edward angry. Ellen’s brother is bound to get arrested, and considering the attempt to murder charges, he has a long prison sentence to look forward to, that is, if the Guinnesses don’t decide to exact their own form of revenge. Ellen will try to protect her brother, which is why she shows up at the rally to stop him.
It is not because she wants to save a Guinness, but because she doesn’t want Patrick to go to prison. Thus, Edward’s revenge and Ellen’s love for her brother will throw another wrench in their relationship, and there is a chance that they may end up becoming each other’s sworn enemies. It would certainly make things more difficult for the brewery because Ellen was the only one in the Brotherhood sympathetic towards him. If she, too, turns into his enemy, it would be even more troublesome for him and would definitely kill any chance of them getting back together, not until something radical enough happens to make them join forces for the greater good.
Read More: House of Guinness: Is Olivia Pregnant? Does She Get an Abortion?
You must be logged in to post a comment.