Happy Ending?

Patricia Highsmith writes in her afterword that she believed the appeal of her novel was because it had a happy ending, since the two characters were going to try and live together (292). It’s true that the story doesn’t end in complete tragedy, but as I read this I was trying to figure out just how happy the ending really is. The novel, on a surface level, ends on an optimistic note. Therese sees Carol across the room, who waves a “quick, eager greeting,” and Therese walks towards her and the possibility of having a life and lots of time together.
However, Carol has lost her ability to see Rindy, which was one of the major conflicts of the story. It seems almost unfair and superficial to trivialize this outcome for the sake of the love story when it was the cause of so much stress and conflict. Rindy was the reason that Carol returned from the trip in the first place, but when Carol is discussing the situation with Terry after her return she says “You know, I’d almost prefer not to see Rindy at all anymore. I’m never going to demand to see her…” (278). This overly casual response seems out of character, and I had trouble believing Carol’s declaration that “It’s all over.” I still felt some underlying, unresolved conflict that dampened the idea of a happy ending.
Also, there is definitely a change in the relationship between Carol and Terry. Although the end spins this into the bright ideas of new possibilities, there is still the fact that the blissful state we saw in Therese might be gone forever and impossible to achieve again. Therese claims to have had such an experience since leaving Carol, even saying “she had been born since she left Carol” (275). This difference is shown even in her appearance. The novel suggests that Terry’s time away was necessary to cement her identity and for her to be able to continue her relationship with Carol. Still, I read this change as a possible problem or stumble towards a happy ending. Maybe the end is more of a cliffhanger than even Highsmith herself admits.