Josephine Decker will be directing the drama Shirley in 2020. The author Shirley Jackson during the time she was writing her book Hangsaman is the inspiration for the film. Elisabeth Moss simply steals the show in this one by fully embodying her persona. Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Logan Lerman are just a few of the actors in the supporting cast. It is a languid movie with top-notch production values. Here is the Shirley movie ending described; spoilers ahead because this essay will only discuss the conclusion and not the complete narrative.
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Does Shirley have a basis in reality?
No and yes. The horror/mystery author Shirley Jackson, her husband Stanley, and their relationship are all based on actual people in the story. The events in the movie are fictional and did not occur when Shirley Jackson wrote her novel, thus this isn’t exactly a biography.
Did Rose Die in the Shirley Movie?
According to the Shirley movie’s conclusion, Rose served as the inspiration for Paula, the main character of Shirley’s book Hangsaman. In the book, Paula lives, but Rose perishes by falling over a cliff.
How can we be certain that Rose really did jump off? Since there is no clear conclusion, we can only make assumptions. Here’s how…
If you read the original Shirley Jackson novel Hangsaman, you’ll discover that the character referred to as Paula is actually Natalie. In the closing scene of the book, Natalie muses over killing herself but decides against it and returns to society a stronger person.
In the final scene of the film Shirley, Rose looks to be reuniting with Fred, but this time she is a more powerful woman. I’m not going back to it, she exclaims. That was insane, tiny wifey, little Rosie. In Shirley’s novel, this is Paula, not Rose.
Shirley imagines an ending for her book where the main heroine Paula (Natalie in the actual book) saves herself as she stands next to Rose at the edge of the cliff.
Rose, regrettably, jumps to her death. Although it is not on television, Shirley and her husband Stanley have a conversation after he commends her on the masterpiece that is her novel Hangsaman. It hurts, says Shirley. namely this. The pain is worse than the
The reason this novel upsets Shirley more than the others is that, despite the fact that the character in her book grows stronger, the person it was based on perishes on the rocks.
What did you think of Shirley’s storyline and climax? What do you think ultimately transpired? Please share your opinions in the section below.
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