- This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I didn’t start thinking about this until today but maybe ‘Desperate Souls’ is the first act of Rumple’s ‘Greek Tragedy.’
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error of misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pit and fear on the part of the audience.
Taking that even farther, we know Emma is the hero of the story but Rumple/Mr. Gold be the tragic hero? The one who turns good at the last minute, with some great sacrifice to save everyone else?
I get that Rumple didn’t start out noble. He was a lonely, cowardly man with only his son as his company but his desire to save his son from the horrors of the Orgre war, forced him to take desperate measures and foolishly put him on a quest to control the Dark One, without even realizing that by killing the Dark One, he took on his curse. That is very similar to the beginning journey of a tragic hero.
In a true tragedy, the hero’s demise must come as a result of personal error or decision.
There is no such thing as a victim of tragedy, nor a a genuinely tragic downfall ever be purely a matter of blind luck or accident. The hero must always bear at least some responsibility for his own doom.
If Mr. Gold does have some memory of his life as Rumple and maybe even knowledge of the curse, I think he would be the first to see (probably even before Regina) that being in Storybrooke, with all his wealth and power, doesn’t necessarily make him happy. He is empty.
As a result, he may side with our hero, Emma to help her break the curse. While Emma may want to break the curse, the ‘right’ way, Mr. Gold may have other “morally gray’ ideas about how to break the Queen’s curse which could cause conflict between them. But for Mr. Gold, breaking the Evil Queen’s curse will be about redemption since he was the originator of the curse.
Finally, the end battle. In a Greek tragedy, the hero will make some grand sacrifice to save everyone. Could Mr. Gold make some sacrifice to save the people of Storybrooke, and by sacrificing himself, earn his redemption in the eyes of those he wronged.
[adrotate group="5"]LOVED THE POST
Love the fact that a person can think about a story and delve into the details. I am so tired of a lot of the claptrap junk they put on TV …. the so called reality shows that are staged and promotes what is the lowest common denominator in our society. So over them; rarely like watching TV except for HOW TO SHOWs / PBS any more….
I agree with you that RUMPLE might be a TRAGIC HERO… I have not seen the first stories so it is hard for me to judge how evil he has been. I see/ agree with some the points you have made….
I do disagree with the statement that RUMPLE was cowardly when fighting in the OGRE WARS… I do not feel we know enough about the wars to say the was cowardly. ( Not all wars are just.)
My questions about the war are: Who started it was it the greedy landowners who were fighting the OGRES for glory / land/ stolen riches….Or are they defending the home land? from invading FTL?
RUMPLE was a simple SERF ( much akin to slavery) under the servitude of a GREEDY LAND OWNER who took advantage of Rumple/ his family. RUMPLE/ his son/ the other serfs would be killed and the landowner gets any profits from the war. So why should he fight? for the Duke.
The DUKE labeled RUMPLE as cowardly but was he really? I would not believe anything the Duke said. FROM what I have read of the dark ages and serfdom (based on costumes and the society as exhibited on the show) I would not side with the Duke and consider RUMPLE a coward.
I do agree with the majority of the rest of your post.
NOnnie
.
@NONNIE wrote:
LOVED THE POST
😀
@NONNIE wrote:
I do disagree with the statement that RUMPLE was cowardly when fighting in the OGRE WARS… I do not feel we know enough about the wars to say the was cowardly. ( Not all wars are just.)
That’s true. I was making an assumption.
@NONNIE wrote:
The DUKE labeled RUMPLE as cowardly but was he really? I would not believe anything the Duke said. FROM what I have read of the dark ages and serfdom (based on costumes and the society as exhibited on the show) I would not side with the Duke and consider RUMPLE a coward.
you could be right.
I haven’t gone through all the old posts, so I just discovered this one but I have to respond now and say I agree! Although I had seen some of the earlier episodes, “Desperate Souls” was the episode that really hooked me on the show because I was sitting there yelling at the TV “This is a Greek Tragedy!”
I think it’s very likely Rumple may wind up sacrificing himself for Bae or possibly even for someone else. It would fit the form of tragedy and would be consistent with his character. Despite being labelled a coward, Rumple ran into a heavily guarded burning castle to steal the dagger in order to save his son. I agree he’s not the Prince Charming type of hero who grabs a sword and rushes into the nearest fight, but Rumple has shown he can sometimes overcome his fear if the stakes are high enough. And as you say, we don’t know anything about the details of the Ogre War.
I am hoping we do a get flashback one day of what really happened in the Ogre war. I feel like we still don’t know the full story there.
I do feel like, if push came to shove, Rumpel would sacrifice himself for his son, or maybe even Belle (but more Baelfire than Belle).
Great thread I do think that we are going to see this Greek tragedy as a theme for at least a couple of characters. Mr. Gold definitely fits the tragic hero theme and I believe it might be to save his son Bae. It does seem fitting and poetic to have give up his life for Bae.
The topic ‘Desperate Souls…First Act in a Greek Tragedy’ is closed to new replies.