Too Much Happiness question

Hallo Sara, yes you actually missed something: the last scene of the story is not the last scene of the chronology (I hope that is the right word, sorry for my english, I am no native speaker) The narratress is mailing Ernis adress to Mr. Purvis after she brought Nina her things. So this last scene in the text is revealing what really happened: Nina never left Ernie. Mr. Purvis came to take her and left town with her and nobody knows what he did to her. And the narratress did a very bad thing. And she she is thinking about the other students how they don't know about the (bad) deeds they had in them- while she knows, because she just did it. (There are two hints to make it clesr that the last scene is going back in time. One: it starts with"that day in the library" - and that can not be the day of the dinner with Ernie, because that is on sunday. And than she says "I had been unable to go on with Sir Gawain". This is the essay she started after she had visited Mr.Purvis. And she says "had been" and not "was". But it is not very obvious. I think Alice Munro wanted the reader to get it only after a while of reading the last scene- and than beeing stunned- it is a punchline.
Hope I could help you. I find it very nice to have a place here where such details of a text are discussed. best regards from Berlin, Gabi

I've read Munro's own comments about Wenlock Edge. I posted this comment on a general topic about the book, but I really wanted to post it here as a continuation of the other comments. I hope it helps others struggling to understand it. So here it is again:


Like others, I was left lost but intrigued by this story, and I went immediately to Google to search for other comments. Obviously, there is something in this story that both intrigues and bothers us. I'm new to Alice Munro, having only read 3 short stories, so I don't know what to expect. Here are her own comments as part of a longer interview:

"AM: The student has all kinds of smarts to keep her afloat in the world. But Nina is totally a victim because she has nothing. And Nina finds an implausible sort of romance that she is nevertheless willing to invest in and our heroine doesn’t even allow her to keep that. So in a way, it’s a bleak story. But I don’t think it’s bleak in terms of being not what people would do. “Dimensions,” the first story in the book is fairly unusual—it’s an extreme story—and I don’t think “Wenlock Edge” is extreme."

I *strongly* take issue with the cited reviewer (John T. Mahron says, "Nina convinces the narrator to participate in the old man’s sexual ritual; in an act of sweet revenge for having seduced her cousin, the central character mails the cousin’s address to the old man to whom Nina returns on her odyssey of going through as many men as she can.").

Only a man could have such an uncomprehending view of what someone as hapless as Nina had gone through and was going through. Uneducated, not-overly-bright, small-town girl in the late 1940s from a profoundly dysfunctional and largely absent family. No one to advise her, and no options. She's pretty, so men started coming on to her early, and in their attention she found some of the affection she craved and the caretaking she couldn't survive without.

She MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT some opportunist who is intent on "going through as many men as she can." The proof of how damaged she is lies in her sick relationship with Mr. Purvis and her utter inability to devise a feasible plan to free herself from him and become an independent person. She's like a sickly, weak, stray kitten -- she needs help, help that she can't provide for herself.

What an APPALLING, wrong-headed and woman-hating interpretation.

Both Nina and the student are pawns in the game of Mr.Purvis. After they both escape from the bookstore under the radar, he is inclined to break their alliance up, by arranging the humiliating dinner. Whatever loyalty existed between the student and Nina, is no more, hence the unraveling of the subsequent events.

I love this discussion- I too read the story and was stumped at the end so I re read it carefully and was thrilled when I figured out the chronology, like when you finally discover the answer to a long worked math problem. But I think there is definitely much to ponder here - is Nina the victim or is the student? How does Mr Purvis get her back - is Ernie gone to work when he arrives? And what kind of hold over her does he have that she must leave with him for surely he is too old and weak to actually abduct her. Maybe has something to do with her children? And the student's situation hit close to home for me - why does she go along with Mr Purvis' humiliation? She is sheltered, she sees in Nina someone worldly and more knowledgable about things and Nina tells her to go - it is no more than peer pressure - who hasn't been in circumstances of this type (maybe not so dramatic) in high school or college? And usually if we had thought deeper that "wordly" more experienced friend is that way be of some deeper scar such as Nina who has nothing and does what she does to survive. And of course Ernie is a victim too - one can imagine his whole world, his whole psyche ripped apart by this. Great story - I love short stories and especially Alice Munro

I love Alice Munro. Stupidly, I read most of this story before falling asleep, then read the last part this morning -- and thought, "Huh?" So glad to find this site! I realize I missed something and, as I have often done before, will re-read the story carefully.

There is another -almost hidden - hint as to the sequence of events.

At the end of the paragraph describing Nina's disappearance, it reads: 'All gone with no explanation, not a word on paper. Not a word.'

The student has written '363 Carlisle' on the note, so arguably a name and a number, but no word.

Just read this story and was also very confused thinking what difference did it make now for her to send Mr. Purvis the address if Nina already left Ernie’s house but now makes sense understanding the chronology and reading ending again! Thank you!!

The chronology made all the difference! I had to read the ending twice to make sense of it.