Angel s1e10

Buffy and Angel's tragic love would not be nearly so tragic if it wasn't for the screwball logic of a gypsy matriarch over a hundred years ago.

 

What is the Happiness Clause

You know that bit at the end of Surprise? You know the one; Angel, shirtless, in agony "Buffeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Well, that's the happiness clause... a misnomer? Perhaps.

The Happiness clause is that particularly vindictive addendum that was built into his curse that restored his soul by the gypsies. If Angel ever experiences a perfect moment of happiness his soul (that wages constant war inside his mind against the demon) is cast out into the ether and he reverts to his original vampiric state, known as Angelus.

 

What do we know about the Happiness Clause

The only definition we have been given of the specifics of the Happiness Clause comes courtesy of Jenny's uncle, Enyos.

"The curse. Angel is meant to suffer, not to live as human. One moment of true happiness, of contentment, one moment where the soul that we restored no longer plagues his thoughts, and that soul is taken from him."

One moment of true happiness... as a lawyer I have problems with that definition. It begs the question:

 

What is meant by a moment of true happiness?

What exactly caused Angel to lose his soul? What provoked the one moment of true happiness? Well, the obvious explanation is that he had just slept with Buffy. It could be true that 'happiness' is just a family euphemism for sexual intercourse, certainly the only time that Angel has lost his soul has been after a sexual encounter and he has had no other sexual encounters (to our knowledge) to disprove such an assertion. But let's look at what actually happened.

He and Buffy, post-coital, were lying in bed together. Angel sits up in pain and then runs out of the apartment to have his soul extracted. The most obvious moment for the 'happiness' would of course be the point of orgasm but the sexual act had been completed for long enough for them both to fall asleep before Angel even began to feel the twinges of loss, so why was there such a delay?

It's possible that there is an inherent delay within the happiness clause but there has been no mention of such a thing and there is some circumstantial evidence in the other soul spells that would indicate that the effect would be immediate. The, albeit fake, stripping of Angel's soul in Enemies was instantaneous, the restoration of his soul in Becoming, while of course we have no idea of the actual time scale, the two scenes were portrayed as occurring concurrently. Weak evidence indeed, but better than the no evidence we have to support a time-delay theory.

But the idea of 'happiness' merely being a euphemism for orgasm or sex does not do the concept justice. Yes, sex can be happy, but it needn't be so. The clause does specifically state happiness and contentment and, given no further interpretation, I think we must accept those terms at face value especially given the intention of the curse which was the make Angel live a life of misery, rather than one without sex specifically.

More tenuous evidence can be derived from Enemies. Faith's plan to turn Angel was almost certainly to do it by sleeping with him. She and the Mayor believed that any sort of sex would be enough to grant Angel his 'happiness'. Where did they get their knowledge from however? We know that cursing vampires with souls is not a common event. Angel is the only example we have ever heard of. The most likely source of their information is Faith's digging around in the Buffy and Angel relationship. She might have learnt Enyos' words above, but the one thing she certainly would have discovered is that Angel lost his soul immediately after having sleeping with Buffy. Despite the Mayor's knowledge of the black arts it is unlikely that he would have any better information on the subject, during his conversation with the Mage he appears quite ignorant on the subject. Given what they knew at the time, their course of action is rational. It does not add weight to the argument that sex is all that is required.

What caused Angel to lose his soul in Surprise while he was asleep rather than during intercourse? That's a question that could only be answered by him, Buffy or the sheets. But I think this comment from a Bronzer puts it perfectly:

Malista
My reading was that sex had nothing to do it with it except as happenstance -- that what happened was Angel felt entirely loved and accepted and worthy of that love and acceptance for a moment, and ZAP!

The future

If we are correct in our assertion that 'happiness' is more than just sex then we have to consider whether sex is a prerequisite or not. Of course, there's no evidence for this, but my instinctive reaction follows that of Malista, that the sex was merely circumstantial rather than integral. If this is so, then Angel runs the risk of losing his soul accidentally, without the obvious signpost of sex to warn him just before he gets a 'happiness' attack.

Now he's in his own series, he's getting out in the day more, he's been known to let the occasional smile flash across his dark features, he's come close to the point of wearing pastels... these are not the actions of a soul whose entire existence is suffering, as the curse intended. Isn't he getting a bit too happy in this new life to really be out of danger from the happiness clause?

Ironically, every single piece of evidence that can be raised to show he is happy and content at the moment, is also evidence to show that he's not in danger. He saw the sun for the first time in centuries in In the Dark, he got annoyingly saccharine in Sense and Sensitivity, Cordelia kissed him in Parting Gifts (which should be enough to any 'real' man, or even Wesley, one of Xander's 'happy's) and by the end of that episode he, Cordelia and Wesley were looking disturbingly familial around the breakfast table. No doubt there will be further examples in the future. The fact that he has managed to emerge from these situations soul-intact demonstrates that he is not in danger from losing it in ordinary, or even extra-ordinary (i.e. feeling the warmth of the sun on his cold skin), situations. Which begs the question, what does it take? Exactly how much slack does the happiness clause give him? Because it seems that if he could live his entire existence as content as he appears in those situations then he's certainly not living the eternal torment that the curse was supposed to ensure.


Opinions

Lydia 25/3/00
I imagine that even if he can lose his soul from simple happiness (re: no sex necessary) it's still going to take a lot of happiness to make Angel completely forget about his past misdeeds.

Songbird21 13/4/00
I think it's basically that he has to have sex with someone he is truely in love with. When two people in love have sex they are connected...mind, body, and soul.

Shallow Thought 13/4/00
With respect to the risk of Angel triggering the clause, I think it's probable that is doesn't apply to Angel any more. He just thinks it does. Consider that he was re-souled by Willow, using research that Jenny dug up. Which is more likely, that Jenny recovered a general purpose (if obscure) ritual for pulling a soul back out of the ether, or the one-off, custom made variant with the extra sting in the tail? The former, I feel. Hence Angel's "happy" moments since. Of course, this means that a great chunk of his (and Buffy's) suffering has been for nothing (manipulation by the PTBs to spread the number of warriors around?)

Sebrina 10/4/00
Angel will never be truely happy without Buffy - without her he will always be tormented.

Dayglo 24/4/00
I agree that the happiness clause in Angel's curse definitely falls into the screwball logic category. The phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind. Just because Angel has one moment of happiness doesn't mean he'll be happy from there on in. It's a bit like considering that a recently bereaved person who laughs out loud over something is over their bereavement - rubbish. One tiny window of happiness doesn't mean they won't continue to grieve and feel the pain (if anything survivor guilt will make them feel even worse about it). Similarly with Angel.

Re: Angel coming out of himself more in his new series.

Leaving aside for a moment the arguments that (a) the original purpose of the curse could be said to have been nullified when it was lifted the first time round and (b) that Willow's motivation in restoring Angel's soul was not to have him suffer but to restore Buffy's love and to prevent the world being sucked into hell by Acathla.

I don't think this means he's in imminent danger of losing his guilt and therefore his soul. When we first see Angel, he's paralysed by his guilt. It owns him completely. That, and the fact he hasn't interacted with humans for some 80 years means his emotions are almost frozen. He has a hard time expressing and feeling emotion to such an extent, you could argue he was actually handicapped (witness the totally not convincing "Do you think I want anything to happen to you. Do you think I could stand it?" he says to Buffy in Prophecy Girl - the words are there but he says it almost as if he's reading it off a card). He starts to come out of himself a bit more through his love for Buffy and through the normal human interaction he has with the Scooby Gang before he loses his soul and becomes Angelus again. It's a setback but he makes steady progress throughout Season 3 and I think his behaviour in Angel is just the logical extension of this process. He's still not particularly open or emotive as he says himself to Cordelia after her housewarming party "I've got two modes with people, bite or avoid". He's not quite that bad anymore but the contrast is quite marked when compared with the way he was back in Season 1. However he is starting to own his guilt rather than it owning him. Working for his redemption is part of that but he still feels his guilt at his previous actions - otherwise he wouldn't take the risks he does (like rushing out in broad daylight and bursting into flames to get the gem of Amara back from Marcus). He knows he has a lot to make up for, it's just that now he's taking positive steps towards doing so rather than being paralysed into inaction. Okay, so that may reduce the burden of the guilt he feels *slightly* but that's an inevitable consequence of taking postive steps to make amends. There's no way his guilt is in danger of disappearing altogether.

(no name entered) 3/4/00

Those gypsies and their wacky curses--the "happiness clause" is certainly poetic, but not very utilitarian. Yes, the sound of eternal guilt and soul-plagued misery has a nice ring to it, but how were the gypsies to know that Angel with a soul would be any more moral than Angelus without a soul? He very well could have taken the view of Veruca that the killing was part of his vamp nature, part of who he was at the time. I'm okay, you're okay. And therefore, the killing would not be something that he would necessarily feel guilty about.

Secondly, how are the gypsies to know that Angel isn't going to rush right out and have himself a moment of true happiness, say within six months? Doesn't seem as if they would get their money's worth, and then they would have to deal with mean old Angelus preying on their tribe again.

Some fairly innovative tortures have come out of southeastern Europe where many gypsies originated, courtesy of say, Vlad the Impaler. It seems like the gypsies might have been able to capture Angelus and inflict some really serious pain before killing him. Although it is not as pretty of a story.

And really, how is Angel supposed to keep flagellating himself and continue being mournful and conscience stricken if he doesn't know what sort of behaviors he has to avoid? For all we know, with all of this do-gooding, he's going to find peace, redemption, edification, only to lose his soul because he's done something heroic. And the justice in that would be...where? I'm drawing a blank.

But it's been done, for better or worse. Certainly the worse, for Jenny and her Uncle Enyos. Didn't the gypsies foresee that Angelus would be a mite upset with them or their descendants after he snapped out of his soulful period?

I think Malista is on track when she says that Angel lost his soul when he felt not only love, but worthy of that love for a moment. But there's evidence in the show that...


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Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of the WB Network or perhaps Fox, maybe both. I'll leave them to work it out and contact me with the result. This web site, its operators and any content on this site relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement intended. This site is for entertainment purposes only and does not profit in any way.

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The Above the Law banner is an altered form of a screen-cap taken from the The Slayer Show, the original screen-cap is © the WB. urdered them...these things will rest on his conscious for the rest of his unlife. No amount of chat with Cordy or bonding with Wes is ever going to fully relieve that burden.

serenlamin 26/6/00
Well, imho, I think Angel & Buffy would have been alright staying together. The clause was for a moment of contentment, pure happiness. I would say that pure happiness would mean that it is happiness undiminished by nagging doubts, guilt & fears.

Now that he knows that he can lose his soul, he will never truly be perfectly happy. There will always be at least a little doubt and fear. He will never be perfectly content.

Not to mention that the acts that he originally suffered for were about 100 years old. The heinous acts he committed between the beginning of Innocence and the end of Becoming II are fresh in his mind, as are the experiences he had while he was in hell. It would take quite a bit of happiness to overcome the recent damage to his psyche.

I agree that the contentment that messed him up in Surprise was not directly related to the sex. The way the scene was portrayed showed Angel asleep holding the woman he loves, after having finally told her he loves her and having it returned (in word and deed). I don't like the later implications that it was more about the sex. It just cheapens the whole thing.

Katra 14/5/00
I think that, the key to breaking the curse isn't feeling happiness or contentment or pleasure or even love. The key is forgetting, forgetting who he is and what has made him.

In Amends, the First temps him into "taking" Buffy. So, it would seem that this all knowing entity believes that the sex alone would cause him to lose his soul. But maybe the answer is more mundane. People, as we have seen, can be evil, but they have souls and keep them. So what happens, they don't listen to them, they shut down that part of themselves and only hear the pain and hate. Faith being the best example. So, I think that Angel's decision to hurt Buffy to risk losing his soul again and hurting others would have done it. To do that he would have had to shut out the memories of the people he hurt and killed, ignor his feelings for the slayer that he loves, not think about his calling by Whistler to become someone, in short "forget" who and what he has become.

In that post-coital moment in Surprise, he felt like a normal man in the arms of his normal girlfriend. They had both nearly died, and were taking advantage of a moment, not knowing if there would be any others. They shut out the world, at that moment Angel had no thought of the people had killed, the pain he had inflicted, even the longings of his demon nature became submerged and silenced. He was wrapped up completly in the woman that he loved. The gypsies didn't want him to forget, or be able for even a moment to live in a world in which he had caused so much pain. If his soul is not suffering from the memories of what he was and what he had done, it is taken from him.

And while sex is not itself necessary, there are few activities that can elicit such a reaction and capture so much of our attention. Which is why so many people use it as an escape away from the normal everydays fears and worries, Liam being an example of this. So whether or not casual sex would be enough is an open question.

Feeling the sun, kissage, cooking breakfast for his 'family', saving the souls of those he is called to protect, while pleasureable and happy are because of who he is or possible because of what he is. Therefore, probabaly there is no risk in him experiencing that kind of normal everday happiness. He is still constantly remined of who and what he is and while he is not tormented as such, it is only because he is working to even up the balance sheet. And while this isn't the gypsies' plan, "it'll do."

Leoric 19/6/00
I don't think that Angel, in his current state of contentment, is in danger of losing his soul, because his interaction and close companionship with Cordelia and Wesley must surely cause him to feel needed, accepted and loved by them, hence he should be happy. However, his bonds of friendship do not bring the kind of happiness that the curse referred to in the curse - that is very much Buffy's domain.

Angel has repeatedly made the point that he cannot possibly risk getting too close to a woman for fear that any sexual encounter would render him soulless (Note: Angel remarks to Buffy after their escapade in LA with the rehabilitated Faith that he is unable to 'move on' into a new relationship as Buffy has done because of the curse).

However, I am certain that, contrary to Angel's belief, sex itself is not the act which would break his curse, but love. This is because true love is (supposedly) a state of perfect happiness, and involves the whole-hearted and unreserved giving of oneself to another. Whilst Angel continues in his undying love for Buffy and cannot by his own reasoning be with her, he is in torment because his love cannot be requited nor his need sated. I think the heart of the matter is that the 'happiness' referred to in the curse is derived from the union of Buffy and Angel, though not necessarily in the flesh, as the demon's soul is lifted by the realization that he can remain with his one true love.


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Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of the WB Network or perhaps Fox, maybe both. I'll leave them to work it out and contact me with the result. This web site, its operators and any content on this site relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement intended. This site is for entertainment purposes only and does not profit in any way.

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The Above the Law banner is an altered form of a screen-cap taken from the The Slayer Show, the original screen-cap is © the WB. rikes me that the lad-about-time that Liam was in Becoming and The Prodigal he was probably not a virgin when he met Darla.


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Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of the WB Network or perhaps Fox, maybe both. I'll leave them to work it out and contact me with the result. This web site, its operators and any content on this site relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement intended. This site is for entertainment purposes only and does not profit in any way.

The picture was taken from UC Sunnydale and is © the WB.

The Above the Law banner is an altered form of a screen-cap taken from the The Slayer Show, the original screen-cap is © the WB.