Dorothea - grew up in a small town by tupelo, was born beautiful & would do anything to be famous. Had a highschool love with william
William - grew up in small town by tupelo, normal guy. Highschool love with dorothea
Este - grew up in a small poor southern town, tough upbringing but still wanted to be loved. Her parents died when she was a teen but she befriended an older, wise woman in town who acts as a mother and friend most of her life
Theodore - grew up in small poor southern town, tough upbringing turned him to be a bad guyĀ
Marjorie - Esteās older, wiser friend who is full of wisdom
A young & beautiful dorothea is Tupeloās most prized citizen. She has a lot of pressure to ābe somethingā and because sheās a teenager, has a desire to rebel. She does, however, enjoy the spotlight and attention. William is a nice, normal boy who is desperately in love with dorothea [gold rush]. William and dorothea eventually date - in fact, they are together throughout highschool until dorothea leaves senior year to āmake it bigā in hollywood. William graduates without her and goes to a college nearby. Dorothea has some traction out there, but faces the struggle of hollywood: nasty agents, inappropriate big-wigs, and fake friends [dorothea]. She comes home on the holidays to visit her parents and always reunites with William for the weekend, before going back to LA [ātis the damn season]. Two years later, she decides to stay with William and moves into his dorm... becomes friends with his friendsā¦ she isnāt happy she gave up her hollywood dream but is tired of not getting anywhere. And everyone can tell. A few years later, William is ready to propose and sets up everything. Dorothea canāt say yes. She leaves him and goes back to hollywood for another try [champagne problems]. Out there, she doesnāt make it big. Instead, she uses rich men to find love and wealth. After years of that, she is at yet another fancy party. Waiting for her next prey. A man asks her to dance. Her next victim. After a marvelous night of dancing and drinking with this man named Theodore, she realizes they were both there to con the rich [cowboy like me].Ā
Este grew up poor. Her parents both died when she was a teen. Her best friend, Marjorie, is an older, wiser woman who acts as a mother to her - imparting life lessons to her for most of her adult life. Este married the townās notorious bachelor, Theodore, who has a shady history. They had a few good years; Este always looked past the red flags and truly believed him to be a good guy. Theodore was always gone for business - a business no one asked too many questions about, but recently, had been gone more often. After months of trying to be the perfect wife to turn things around in their marriage [tolerate it], she accepts that he might be having an affair.
Theodore and dorothea fell in love that night & begin an affair of many months of meeting in hollywood only, since Theodoreās wife is still in the picture. When theo is back home, dorothea reflects on all her past relationships, fully convincing herself theo is the right guy for her [long story short]. When theo is back in town, their time spent together is full of lust & passion [willow].
Este confides in Marjorie of her suspicion. She comes home one night and listens to Theodore on the phone with said affair-ee. A confirmation of her worst fear, she leaves town without telling anyone. She had planned to come back. Eventually.Ā
Theodore reports Este as missing, but after weeks of waiting, is secretly enthused at the opportunity for dorothea to visit him at home. Marjorie takes this the wrong way and suspects that theodore killed Este and is now moving in his mistress. A rough past herself, she is equipped to murder him and hide the body [no body, no crime].Ā
Este is still hopping from town-to-town, unsure where she is going, reflecting on her life. And enjoying the freedom and possibilities [happiness].
Dorothea is not sad at theodoreās disappearance. She is angry.Ā She knows who did it and out of anger confronts Marjorie. They get into a scuffle and dorothea ends up killing marjorie in a blacked out rage. Dorothea skips town and is surprised when reflecting on the wrongdoings in her life, that william is on the top of her mind. She knows she must leave the country, but attempts to meet william in coney island, where she knows he started a new life. He does not respond but she leaves him a message and goes there anyway in hopes heāll change his mind, before heading to Europe.
A melancholy Este arrives in coney island, another stop on her trip. She reflects on the past while sitting on a bench. She notices another woman doing the same, but doesnāt make much of it. The other woman is dorothea, waiting to see if william will meet her at the spot she said sheād be [coney island]. She waits hours for him but he never comes. She leaves. William did come, but too late. Insead, he runs into Este. Who is still sitting on a bench. They get to talking & realize theyāre have more in common they just their pain. A romance starts to grow. Este does not know whatās happened to theodore and marjorie back at home. She is nervous for theodore to find out about her affair [ivy]. Even though he had one first, she is still scared of her husband who is a protective man. She calls home & finds out the news of theo and marjorie. She mourns the loss of marjorie [marjorie]. All the while, william and esteās love grows deeper. William receives a letter from dorothea in the mail. By now, he is completely over her [closure]. Because of Este. Meanwhile, somewhere in Europe, dorothea thinks of all the mistakes sheās made in her life - william being the biggest. She believes the pain will last forever, so she commits suicide [evermore]. William and Este live happily ever after.
William falling in love with dorothea, the highschoolās most beautiful & popular girl
William is thinking about dorothea prior to the holidays
Dorothea comes home from hollywood for the holidays & reunites with william
After reconnecting & dating through college, william proposes to dorothea. Everyone knew dorothea still was chasing the hollywood dream & wouldnāt settle down with him.
Theodore and dorothea meet at a hollywood party where theyāre both trying to find people to con. Instead, they fall in love.
Este feels theodoreās love for her fade away
Dorothea, after finding love in theo, reflects on all the past loverās sheās had & used.Ā
Dorothea & theodore falling in love
Este tells a friend that sheās been noticing that Theodoreās been gone a lot & finds out heās having an affair. One she confirms, she is so upset she leaves town. Theodore is having an affair with dorothea & they con people together. The friend thinks Este was killed by theo, so she goes out and kills theo. Dorothea is left in the aftermath.
Este, after she runs away is reflecting on theoās betrayal. She doesnāt know where sheās going yet. She truly thought he was a great guy & always gave him the benefit of the doubt. She eventually comes to term with the fact that she will be happy again, eventually.Ā
This is dorothea to william, but also este to theo. Este, after weeks of stopping in different cities after leaving when she found out about theoās cheating, ended up in coney island. Dorothea knew theoās & marjorieās death looked bad on her so she escaped to coney island, before heading off to europe to start a new life. She knew william moved there & wanted to make amends. He wouldnāt meet her but she went anyway.Ā
Este and william run into each other in coney island and begin to fall in love, their pain in common. In esteās eyes, she still has a mean, protective husband at home and is worried about him finding out about william.
Este finds out about both theodore & marjorieās death. Dorothea had an inkling that marjorie was the one who killed theodore, so she killed marjorie. She thought sheād feel vindicated but instead finds herself thinking about william. She tries to meet him in coney island and apologize for all sheās done before moving to europe to start a new life.
Dorothea reaches out to william via a letter, as to keep a low profile. She feels guilty for the things sheās done in her life and is trying to repent. William doesnāt need to hear from her - he is living a happily-ever-after life with este.Ā
Dorothea, reflecting on her mistakes in lifeā¦ at the end of the song, dorothea commits suicide
