Love vs. Commitment

"'Listen. I'm thinkin, tell you what, if you and me had a little ranch together, little cow and calf operation, your horses, it'd be some sweet life'...'Whoa, whoa, whoa. It ain't goin be that way. We can't. I'm stuck with what I got, caught in my own loop. Can't get out of it" (pg. 270) "Jack, I got a work. Them earlier days I used a quit the jobs. You got a wife with money, a good job. You forget how it is bein broke all the time...I can't quit this one...You got a better idea?' 'I did once.'" (pg. 277)

That Jack and Ennis were never able to live with each other, or to be together for an extended period of time is one of the biggest conflicts in the story. Both characters were profoundly scared of their attraction to each other and their homosexuality was clearly not on par with their lifestyles and upbringings. However, though they never said it, they loved each other enough to go out of their ways to spend time with one another, and even to quit jobs. Jack and Ennis show far more compassion for one another than they show for any woman throughout the story. And, though their fear is understandable considering their cultural climate, it's clear that the two would have been more happy together than they were apart. Had they lived together, it seems that Jack and Ennis would have had a more fulfilling life.

To keep one's promises and honor one's commitments is admirable, but there are prevailing idea in love stories that 'love conquers all' and that one should 'gamble everything for love.' At what point is abandoning one's commitments(family, career, etc.) for a relationship an acceptable thing to do? Were Jack and Ennis past that point?