Thank you to all your kind words and thoughtful responses.
Here is the reason for my question, and what I thought. You all can decide how much we share and what parts we disagree. I think the greatness of Brokeback Mountain is in part, its ambiguity, representing to different people a different perspective of love. We don't have to see the same facet of love to see the gem that it is.
I think Ennis's love is greater, not because it can be quantified or measured, but simply because it is the one and constant love, against Ennis's own fears, and in the end, it triumphed over those fears.
Jack loved Ennis and was patient for twenty years. He couldn't quit him, not even in the end, when he wanted to have the ranch foreman over. That love is great and admirable. But then again, we are told that Jack rode more than bulls during his rodeo days, and surely did the same before their reunion. Even after the reunion, there were his trips to Mexico. Ennis was rightly angry when he found out in the final confrontation. He assumed Jack was like himself, happy with beans, and the few times a year in the middle of nowhere. He was shocked to the core when he found out Jack needed more, and looked for more elsewhere. Ennis divorced Alma, in my opinion, sabotaged it subconsciously because he loved Jack so much, yet unwilling to accept it either. After the divorce, all he did was sit and drink in the bar until Cassie seduced him. And even in that relationship, he was only in it half-heartedly, not the marrying kind. He never loved Alma nor Cassie, and admittedly neither did Jack love his Mexican rendez-vous nor the ranch foreman, but Ennis didn't seek out the women, whereas Jack sought out his men. Perhaps it speaks less of the quality of their love, and more of their character, self-discipline. I guess it depends on how you view the connection between love and character.
His love for Jack transformed Ennis as much as his fears allowed him. He smiled and talked and played like he never did, all the while staying true to his character. His love completed him, and eventually healed him.
Jack's love for Ennis transformed him, too, in some ways, but not in others. He became more of a father for Bobby, more responsible, and more confident. Yet, it did not heal the loneliness that plagued him, that fed his desire to ride more than bulls. Like Scotty said in Brothers and Sisters to Kevin about faithfulness, you cannot be faithful until you know what to be faithful for.
It is true that Jack loved Ennis despite all the difficulties, driving 14 hours each way, waiting for twenty years. But Ennis also sacrificed for Jack, dropping everything whenever Jack came calling, even asking for favors from friends like Don Wroe, to have a cabin. In that regard, they are a good match, both willing to give of themselves for the other. It reflects what they did for each other up there in Brokeback Mountain. They were a team.
But in the end, the true love is revealed in Ennis, holding a candle for Jack, for the remainder of his life, with nothing but a postcard and two shirts. Unlike Jack, Ennis did not need anything more, not the cow and calf operation, not some place warm like Mexico, not more than a few times a year. All Ennis needed, was to know that he was loved. Finding 'em two shirts tucked in the corner of the closet, hidden for twenty years, was all he needed to break free from his fears. Girls don't fall in love for fun. Apparently, neither do cowboys. Ennis loved that Jack loved him. That was all he needed. That was enough for him to stay faithful, for the rest of his life. Jack waited for twenty years, and may even wait longer if he had lived. Ennis will wait for as long as it takes, will remember for as long as he lives. Some love till death do they part. Ennis loved long after death separated him from Jack. That's the love that never ends.
I love this place because no matter how long I have been away, coming back is always like never leaving. A few posts, a few questions, and I am back in full PBS.
Time for another time out.
