Emma Swan Character Analysis

[schmacky]

really had no right to reappear in his life and she should’ve known better.

You’re blaming Emma coming into Henry’s life as if she sought him out. What is she supposed to do? This kid showed up on her doorstep. So she drives him home but every conversation they have, he’s begging her to stick around for a little while.

Emma staying in town isn’t about Regina. It isn’t about wanting Henry back. It is about this kid that she gave birth to whom sought her out is begging her to stick around. Second to last episode of the season Emma says,

let’s be honest – we both know the world where I’m not in his life no longer exists, and there’s no one who can do anything about that.

That’s true even in the very beginning of the series. He’s re-entered her life. He’s wanting to get to know her, spend time with her, etc.. what is she supposed to do? Just ignore him? Not care? Yes, she gave him up… but that’s still her son. She still carried him for 9ish months, gave birth to him. There is a connection there even if it’s been a long time.

I agree with you that in the real world if a person puts their child up for adoption (and putting a child up for adoption shouldn’t be synonymous with “dumping” their child), they shouldn’t have a right to re-enter the child’s life and try to take the kid away.

But, that’s not what happened in this story at all.

So, to re-iterate… Emma is minding her own business, Henry finds her, gets her to drive him back to his house, begs her to stay, seeks her out repeatedly, the boy’s mother literally threatens her twice in less than 24 hours. Something is fishy, she isn’t sure what. She sticks around. And we know the story.. as more time goes on and on, she falls in love with this kid.

[gypsy]

Emma was a young kid when she gave Henry up. She was alone, probably scared. Like she said, she gave him up because she wanted to give him his best chance.

If Emma hadn’t showed up in Storybrooke and stayed, there wouldn’t be a show.

If Emma was so wrong just for getting involved, what does that make Regina?
Look at the circumstances surrounding the fact that Regina was even in a position to adopt Henry in the first place.
If it weren’t for all the evil things Regina did, there might not be a Henry. Or, if there was, Emma would’ve been in a better place (her ‘normal’ life in FTL) and been able to keep her baby.

Every evil thing Regina did led to Emma coming to Storybrooke and staying.
So, technically, it’s Regina’s own fault. She should’ve left well enough alone.

But, again, if Regina had left well enough alone, there wouldn’t be a show. 🙂

[elle]

To be clear, I do think that Regina loves Henry in her own way. But it is pretty clear from her actions in season 1 that she was not a good parent–she may have given Henry toys and a house and all that, but he lived in fear of her. He knew of her actions as the Evil Queen, knew what she did to all Storybrooke, and knew that she only made him go to therepy to make it seem like he was making the whole thing up. He said so himself that she made him feel like he was crazy, and she convinced everyone in Storybrooke that he was suffering a delusion.

Archie even said that she was harsh on him, and the reason Emma stayed was due to the fact that Henry sought her out, and Emma saw how unhappy Henry was. That was why she invesitgated with Archie and read the files–she wanted to try to learn why and how he could be helped. She admited to Regina that she gave Henry up because she wanted him to have a good life, and that she was not in town to take him back. All she wanted was to make sure that he was okay.

[evilqueen]

Fine, I agree with you guys and I know the show wouldn’t be that dynamic if the things were introduced in a different way. By no means I want to defend Regina’s way of parenting Henry but the plot development throughout the beginning of the series was just really annoying and artificial to me, including how Henry managed to get all the way to Boston on Regina’s watch! Of course boy begged Emma to stay and it was what made her stick around, however she’s an adult and should’ve known better of the consequences of this decision, however hard it would be, and that once she gave in, she couldn’t possibly go back to her life as if nothing happened – even for the simple reason that she would’ve given the kid the hope and it would be purely cruel to snatch it away – logically, it would be just so much easier for the boy if she just left it there and then.
I know the circumstances of the whole case are different, as we learn on, but I guess my point is that Emma, as a character, keeps appearing as this slightly immature, lost person, that has a grudge on her childhood without her parents and cannot get it out of her way, even though, theoretically, she did the same thing – slightly hypocrytical? She cannot even bring herself to show some forbearance once she’s reunited with Snow and Charming, she just keeps digging, finding excuses. At the same time she’s meant to be this ‘saviour’? I guess the writers wanted to make it clear she’s far from perfect on many levels (thief, huh?) and show her development throughout the story. I get it. But that doesn’t make me like her any more because of it, maybe when she finally grows up…

[Grimmsister]

@Elle wrote:

To be clear, I do think that Regina loves Henry in her own way. But it is pretty clear from her actions in season 1 that she was not a good parent–she may have given Henry toys and a house and all that, but he lived in fear of her. He knew of her actions as the Evil Queen, knew what she did to all Storybrooke, and knew that she only made him go to therepy to make it seem like he was making the whole thing up. He said so himself that she made him feel like he was crazy, and she convinced everyone in Storybrooke that he was suffering a delusion.

I think Regina IS a good mother to Henry, sure there are glitches, but there are for every parent. I dont think its fair to judge anyone on wheter they are bad parents. You can judge their actions and yes she did do some wrong things, hopefully she will learn from them.
I hope we will see more of Henrys and Reginas relationship prior to Emmas coming to SB, in flashback scenes at some point.
But Emma is also part of Henrys life now and it should stay that way. If all of them live through all this mess they will just have to figure that out and learn to stand or perhaps grow to like eatchother.

[schmacky]

however she’s an adult and should’ve known better of the consequences of this decision, however hard it would be, and that once she gave in, she couldn’t possibly go back to her life as if nothing happened

To me, nothing would go back to how it was the moment Henry knocked on her door. Soon as they were introduced, there was no turning back to a world where Emma doesn’t exist in Henry’s life. Even if all Emma ever did was say “Go home kid” and shut the door on him… he would still have met his birth mother. And she would have seen her son. And it’s easier to say walk away from that than to actually do so.

but I guess my point is that Emma, as a character, keeps appearing as this slightly immature, lost person, that has a grudge on her childhood without her parents and cannot get it out of her way, even though, theoretically, she did the same thing – slightly hypocrytical?

I truly, truly hate the comparison that Emma giving Henry up for adoption is the same thing as Emma’s situation as a child. Talking about Emma’s perspective that she’s had for 28 years… being left abandoned on the side of a freeway… is nowhere near the same thing as giving your child up for adoption. People keep referring to Emma giving Henry up as abandonment or “dumping” him or something. No, adoption isn’t any of those things. I don’t understand why people are looking poorly on that decision or that Emma is hypocritical of giving up Henry because she was abandoned.

She cannot even bring herself to show some forbearance once she’s reunited with Snow and Charming, she just keeps digging, finding excuses.

I’m confused by this. Finding excuses for what? Digging for what?

[Grimmsister]

@Schmacky wrote:

To me, nothing would go back to how it was the moment Henry knocked on her door. Soon as they were introduced, there was no turning back to a world where Emma doesn’t exist in Henry’s life. Even if all Emma ever did was say “Go home kid” and shut the door on him… he would still have met his birth mother. And she would have seen her son. And it’s easier to say walk away from that than to actually do so.

I agree!

I like the conversations she and Snow has about her being the savior a hero to Henry and that, that is a wall she is building up. She wants him to see her that way because she don’t know how to be anything else to him, and he already has a mother so she don’t know how to be that to him, she really isn’t butting in on that department.
But she have to put this ‘badge’ on herself as the ‘hero’ or this wall, and that is keeping her from getting too close to Henry, because it scares her probably. Throughout the first season we saw her start out completely at arms length, calling him that kid to saying she loves him.
The ‘hero wall’ is a deffence thing that she’s had since childhood I think, she had to take care of herself, and she couldn’t find her own lost loved ones so she became a private detective(or what ever the title is) and helped others find the people that they lost.
Very nice and beautifull story I think.

[elle]

When Henry came, Emma thought the best thing for Henry would be for him to go back to regina–twice she did so, all for Henry. It is only when she notices how controlling and possessive she is, as well as how miserable Henry is, that she decides to stay in Storybrooke. And even then, she was still planning on leaving–Regina purposesly tricked Henry into listening to the conversation between her and Emma about how the latter thought the curse was crazy.

Yes Regina loves Henry, but many of her actions have resulted in hurting him, and Emma could see that. That was one of the reasons why she stayed.

And I think she also stayed because of Mary Margaret–the latter helped her to find the courage to be there for Emma, she bailed Emma out of jail, and she provided a home for her, asking for nothing in return. 🙂 These acts of kindess, of being wanted, were what inspired her to stay, also.

And then when Graham died, and when Henry gave up hope and claimed that good never wins, Emma stayed to show him that good can win. She wanted to show him that and also to be his hero 🙂

[gypsy]

Regina loved her father, too, and look what it got him.

Maleficent said, enacting the Dark Curse would take a terrible toll -it would leave an emptiness inside that she would never be able to fill. That was the price she would pay for using the curse.

So, if Regina was able to kill her father, in cold blood (before the curse )- is it possible for her to really, truly ‘love’ Henry?

[elle]

@Gypsy

Regina would never kill Henry. Archie himself said that she could hurt anyone but Henry. Regina loved her father, but he had never been brave enough to stand up for her when her mother abused her, nor did her give her any of the comfort or sympathy she had wanted–Regina was resentful of him.

[Author]

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