Circle of Friends Free Essay Example

Hot torrid sex, family feuds, and gold diggers. By today’s standards, these topics would seemingly be the story line of any other typical Hollywood film. Unfortunately, in Maeve Binchy’s critically acclaimed novel, Circle of Friends, none of the aforementioned subjects are particularly highlighted, but rather the plot follows the daily existence of a young overweight Irish girl, Benny Hogan. The film version of the book hardly keeps the bare bones of the storyline, which leads the viewer to question, was it a worthwhile novel to adapt into a mainstream movie, when for the most part, the story is completely changed, disfigured and maimed to the point that it is barely recognizable? Upon examining the sexual content of the movie versus that of the book, the omission of several key characters, and the presentation of religion across both pieces of work, it will be clear to see that the novel that has earned so much praise and accolade does not carry the heat and drama that can be appreciated by the common day audience.

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Through the course of the film, it becomes quite apparent that one of its main focuses is on the sexual awakening of the different characters.

In particular, Eve, the orphaned girl who was raised by nuns and the living embodiment of everything that is clean and chaste, becomes a harshly corrupt character who shows several lapses of sexual indulgence. This is a far cry from the man – hating young woman who won’t let a male near her, presented in the book.

One of the more outrageous scenes from the film shows Eve taking part in an intimate game of checkers, in which the loser must perform sexual favours for the winner.

The villain of the story, beautiful and conniving Nan, proves to be a sexual maven in the novel, but never to the point that is interpreted in the movie, where she is portrayed as a woman who lives for sex, and not much else. In the novel, the most suggestive line that she utters is “He wants to sleep with me. What I’m trying to work out is where and how.”i However, across the film, the viewer sees Nan as a first class whore. In Benny, the reader finds an endearing character who is confronted with her own sexual desires and impulses that she longs to act upon, but won’t because she holds dear to her Catholic faith which preaches chastity until marriage.

Aside from a little harmless necking, Binchy maintains Benny’s image as a pure and innocent girl. The same cannot be said about her movie alter ego. Like her novel counterpart, the film’s Benny holds out and hangs onto her virginity, but still gives into other sexual temptations when baited by her boyfriend, Jack. She has no hesitations about joining him in the backseat of his car when parked on a deserted country road, and doesn’t think twice before following him into an empty bedroom when they are together at a party.

Not only is the erotic content of the film over the top and unnecessary, it takes away from the integrity of what could have been a much more respectable movie. Part of the charm of the novel is the innocence and sexual naivety found not only in the characters themselves, but also in the overall plot. In overly accentuating this aspect of the story, the film robs the story of it’s original magic.

A point on which the film again loses merit is in its omission of several of the key characters from the book. Heather Westward is Eve’s young cousin, who wants nothing more than to be loved by someone. In the novel, when she realizes that Eve is a relation, she begs her to visit her at the boarding school where she lives. “I was wondering would you come and take me out some time? Just for a bit? (…). Anywhere, I’d be no trouble.” ii Although she is hesitant, in the end, Eve goes to her, and finds that she is strangely attached to the girl, much in the manner of an affectionate older sister. When Heather runs away from her school, sick from being ignored by everyone, it is Eve who goes through the emotional turmoil of trying to find her.

It is arguable that Heather is critical in Eve’s evolution from being a cold and guarded woman, to becoming a more open, loving and caring person, but for an unbeknownst reason, her character never materializes on the screen. Another character jilted by the movie is Mother Francis, Eve’s surrogate mother. According to the novel, it is Mother Francis who takes Eve in as an orphaned infant, and sees to it that she has the most normal childhood possible. She does everything in her power to provide the girl with all the love and attention that she would receive from her biological parents and to make her feel equal to all other children.

“She was brought up in our convent. I love her every bit as much as if she were my natural daughter.”iii It is also the nun who is responsible for putting Eve in contact with Kit Hegarty, the owner of a Dublin boarding house, where she eventually finds work to help pay for her tuition. Mother Francis is a pivotal character and without her, the story is not complete. Her absence from the screen adaptation leaves a large gaping hole in the overall atmosphere of the story.

Not to be forgotten, there are countless minor characters that only add to the humour of the book, who did not make the final cut into the movie, simply for the sake of time and preserving viewer interest. By cutting out so many major and minor characters, the film lacks the shape, the dynamics and the plot twists found in the book, and thus consolidates the notion that this novel is at its best as a piece of literature and not as a movie.

No story set against the background of Ireland would be complete without mention of the feuding churches of the nation, the Catholics and the Protestants. The country’s history is rich with battles of the two churches, and Binchy does a wonderful job of presenting this concept throughout the novel. Characters are constantly butting heads over their respective religions, criticizing the enemy and defending their personal system of beliefs and values. The Catholic girls have difficulty walking away from their beaux, although the church mandates that any behaviour of an intimate nature be reserved strictly for the marriage bed.

This is well portrayed by the hesitations of Benny and Eve, as their individual boyfriends begin requesting more physical involvement. Of the major obstacles standing between Eve and her biological family, the Westwards, one of the most prominent is the fact that she is a Catholic girl who was raised by nuns. The Westwards are vigorously loyal to their Protestant faith, and for that reason, among others, they disassociate themselves with Eve, a first cousin. When Eve goes to ask Simon to pay her university fees, and he questions her about how much it costs for a year at Trinity, the city’s Protestant college, sparks fly.