Lillian Gish Way Down East question

dunno if any of you aficianados have seen this film , but if u have

at the ending why dont we see Lillian’s character kiss her beloved man in the happily ever ending and instead see her kiss his mother???

(and no jokes please, it wasn’t that kind of film)

I love Griffith, but haven’t seen WAY DOWN EAST for a long time… and don’t remember the end, and have no clue why she’d kiss his mother rather than him.

It’s been awhile but didn’t his mother really magnanimously remove the barriers between them (impoverished fallen woman, etc) by bestowing her blessings?

There were three couples getting married. I think Gish’s MIL must have been hostess, so maybe that’s why she got the kiss. However, it’s been two years since I’ve seen it, and I only saw it the once. Gish’s FIL did ask her to forgive him for the harsh comments he’d made, so I think it was the in-laws who realized they’d been rather high and mighty. Maybe the kiss was an act of forgiveness on Gish’s part.

Where are you, Eve?

Someone has put it up on Youtube. She does in fact kiss her husband in a scene near the end.