Home › Forums › Once Upon a Time › Character discussion › Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis
Tagged: JMr. Gold, Robert Carlyle, Rumplestiltskin
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March 9, 2012 at 8:35 pm #133888midnight drearyParticipant
Welcome to the 1st Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis Thread. This is a thread for all character analysis, relationship discussions and debates on the character of Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin.
Here are a few study questions to get the conversation started:
1. What was Rumpelstiltskin’s reasoning for creating the Dark Curse?
2. When was the Dark Curse created?
3. Does Mr. Gold know every detail of Regina’s version of the Dark Curse?
4. Why is Mr. Gold desperately seeking Emma Swan’s allegiance and friendship?
5. Why is Rumpelstiltskin so fascinated with children?
6. How does Bae play into Rumpelstiltskin’s fascination with children?
7. When will Rumpelstiltskin be reunited with Belle?
8. How does Belle factor into the curse?
9. Did Rumpelstiltskin in fact choose power over love?
10. What happened to Rumpelstiltskin’s wife?
11. What happened to Rumpelstiltskin’s son Bae?
12. Who’s side is Mr. Gold truly on?
13. Why are Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen rivals?
14. What is Rumpelstiltskin’s relation to the Evil Queen?
15. Does Rumpelstiltskin still have his dagger?
16. What is Mr. Gold looking for in the woods?
17. Is Mr. Gold/Rumpelstitlsin truly evil?Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin is a very complex, and at times, controversial character. So as always, keep the discussion open, friendly and honest.
Let the debate begin!
[adrotate group="5"]March 10, 2012 at 2:28 am #138520darcyfarrowParticipantThe question of Rumple choosing power over love jumps right out at me, and my first thought is, why wouldn’t he? We haven’t seen him with his wife yet, but from what his body language reveals when he mentions her, however briefly, to Belle, it’s clear he loved her. Most likely, she was the one who ended the marriage. So what did romantic love do for him? And fatherly love didn’t do much better for him. He gave up his humanness for Bae’s sake, and Bad reacted (understandably) with fear and revultion. So for the moment at least, power seems the smarter choice. It’s. brought him those things he asked EQ for, comfort, security, and at least superficially, respect–no one would ever order the master of magic to “kiss my boot.”
But as he keeps saying, love is the strongest magic (“love is the higher law” as U2 would say). It appears he believes that; he just doesn’t seem to think he can ever have that power. We know better, though.
I keep thinking what if Belle had just been more experienced in human relationships. If she had just paid more attention to his reactions to her questions about his family, if she had just put some thought into her words. When he asked why she came back, if only she had realized what he was really asking…or if only she had been open and direct with him…”because I want to be with you…because I care for you just as you are…because I want to find out whether we can love each other.” But, oh, my heart aches that she spoke so impulsively, and what he heard from her was “I want to change you. You’re not acceptable to me as you are.”
March 10, 2012 at 4:36 pm #138554midnight drearyParticipant@darcyfarrow wrote:
The question of Rumple choosing power over love jumps right out at me, and my first thought is, why wouldn’t he? We haven’t seen him with his wife yet, but from what his body language reveals when he mentions her, however briefly, to Belle, it’s clear he loved her. Most likely, she was the one who ended the marriage. So what did romantic love do for him? And fatherly love didn’t do much better for him. He gave up his humanness for Bae’s sake, and Bad reacted (understandably) with fear and revultion. So for the moment at least, power seems the smarter choice. It’s. brought him those things he asked EQ for, comfort, security, and at least superficially, respect–no one would ever order the master of magic to “kiss my boot.”
But as he keeps saying, love is the strongest magic (“love is the higher law” as U2 would say). It appears he believes that; he just doesn’t seem to think he can ever have that power. We know better, though.
I keep thinking what if Belle had just been more experienced in human relationships. If she had just paid more attention to his reactions to her questions about his family, if she had just put some thought into her words. When he asked why she came back, if only she had realized what he was really asking…or if only she had been open and direct with him…”because I want to be with you…because I care for you just as you are…because I want to find out whether we can love each other.” But, oh, my heart aches that she spoke so impulsively, and what he heard from her was “I want to change you. You’re not acceptable to me as you are.”
I know! Rumpel would have fell for it if she hadn’t told him about true love’s kiss. But I’m still wondering whether he truly chose power over Belle. The reason why he was so angry with her was because he thought she was working for the Evil Queen. And to a certain extent, she was. The Evil Queen was the one who gave her the idea of true love’s kiss. So, I don’t see it as Rumpel making a conscience decision to choose power over love, I see it as him trying to protect himself from the Queen.
March 10, 2012 at 4:49 pm #138561darcyfarrowParticipantHmmm, that’s got me wondering how the queen would react if Rumple did become human again. Would she destroy him–out of revenge or out of insecurity–or would she brush her hands together, say “that’s that” and walk away, go back to her Snow vendetta?
March 10, 2012 at 4:52 pm #138562midnight drearyParticipant@darcyfarrow wrote:
Hmmm, that’s got me wondering how the queen would react if Rumple did become human again. Would she destroy him–out of revenge or out of insecurity–or would she brush her hands together, say “that’s that” and walk away, go back to her Snow vendetta?
I’m curious about that too. They seemed to have some sort of rivalry going on, but we’ve yet to learn the details of it. Personally, I believe Rumpelstiltskin is the one who gave her the powers in the first place, and now she’s trying to overthrow her master.
March 10, 2012 at 7:15 pm #138564ciela_crowParticipantI like that idea of Rumpel giving Regina her power. If Rumpel ever became human, I think that Regina would kill Belle and take out Rumpel’s heart. She would do something to make him suffer for eternity.
March 11, 2012 at 3:09 pm #138591RumplesGirlKeymasterI think I’ll tackle–or make a valiant attempt at least–at question 17, is Rumple/Gold really evil? This is what I love so much about this show: they are constantly deceiving you when it comes to a characters intention. I’m sure like a lot of you, I started off this show thinking that Rumple/Gold was both evil and slightly off kilter (his performance in the jail cell when talking to Snow and Charming was so bizarre that I had to re-watch it several times in order to fully understand what he was talking about). As the show moves forward we see him doing what Rumple does best: deal making. It was only with the viewing of Desperate Souls that my mind changed. I am now of the opinion that everything Rumple has been doing in FTL, post-Belle, was for one simple reason: to combat the EQ and the curse he gave her. I think at one point Rumple and the EQ were on the same side, worked together to achieve whatever ends they could. But once Rumple learned that Belle “died” it all changed. I think he wants revenge on the Queen because he blames for what happened to Belle (Rumple/Gold takes very little responsibility for his own actions against Belle which is why he chooses to torture Mr. French, trying to get out all his anger at himself by reflecting it on to another individual.) So, everything he has been up to in FTL has been to ensure that he would remember who he was and somehow–I have no idea how–undermine Regina’s curse.
I could be way off base–and my intense love of Rumple might be a bit of a stumbling block as well–but I feel that our true villain is (and always has been) Regina. Rumple isn’t her ally so much as her antithesis. I think he’ll continue to surprise us in the weeks ahead.
With all that said: I wouldn’t be surprised if Regina marches Belle out of the psych ward and tells Gold he better play by her rules or else. He gave up the power of his real name for the chipped cup (what a wonderful reversal of the myth of Rumple!) so imagine what he will do to keep Belle safe."He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"March 11, 2012 at 4:00 pm #138594darcyfarrowParticipantAs I’m rewatching “Skin Deep” for the twentieth time or so, I’m thinking about the issue of which side Gold would see as more advantageous, Regina’s or Emma’s. He knows the wrong that’s been done, the families that were torn apart by the enactment of the curse; he respects and seems to like Emma; he knows she can put things right. On the other hand, if putting things right means that everyone returns to their original identity, that’s probably not a desirable prospect for him. MM gets to be Snow White again, David gets to be Prince Charming, but Gold has to be Rumple again. Once he learns that Belle is alive, perhaps his decision will be made for him: if, to help her, he has to go back to being the monster, I think he’d willingly pay that price, and consider it a bargain.
March 11, 2012 at 4:25 pm #138596RumplesGirlKeymasterAs I’m rewatching “Skin Deep” for the twentieth time or so
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who keeps watching that episode over and over and over. My best friend is starting to think that I’ve lost my mind. I’m on Spring Break right now and I’m pretty sure I’ve watched it 10x just this week.
I wonder, though, if whenever they do go back to FTL (which I think is necessary at some point in the series, even if it’s not forever) if they will remember their lives in SB. Would Rumple, remembering everything that happened both in FTL pre-curse and everything that happened in SB, would he be the same “monster?” (A term I use loosely because I honestly don’t think he is the monster).
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"March 11, 2012 at 4:29 pm #138597killianhookfanParticipantAlthough Rumples immediate reaction when Belle kissed him was to freak out when he learned that EQ had told her that kissing him would break the curse, the more I have watched Skin Deep the less I believe that he chose his power over Belle.
I think that after all those years of living by himself and only being wanted by other people for deal-making, that he and Belle had created somewhat of a “bubble” for themselves living together in the castle for all those months. I think that even though he got Belle in a deal I think he thought of her as totally separate from his magic/power. I doubt she went with him when he went to do any of his deals and he behaved much more humanly around her than he did when he was making deals. And in conversation she talked to him about how he wasn’t a monster and reminded him that he used to be just an ordinary man. So I think in many ways he started to feel very much human around her and started to believe that she actually was falling in love with him. So when he tested her by allowing her to leave and she came back I think he was at his most vulnerable with her when he asked her “Why did you come back?” He’s in shock because he couldn’t believe she would come back but deep down he really hoped she would (and he waited by the window all day!). And then she kisses him and he thinks “OMG she really does love me!” And then she mentions the him changing and the EQ and rips his heart out (no pun intended). I think at that point he is suddenly shocked back into the realization of what he is and is completely and totally emotionally crushed. I’m guessing that later he realized that Belle honestly had no idea who EQ was but he is still horribly, emotionally wounded. So when he tells her that his power is more important than her I think he says that because it is the only thing he has that he can say to purposely hurt her. He has nothing else in his life besides power/magic so the only thing he can use to hurt her with is power/magic. He loves her too much to actually DO something to her so he decides to hurt her emotionally the same way she crushed him emotionally. You know how some people do that? Some one will say something that hurts them and instead of telling the person they were hurt by their comments they will turn around and try to say something even more hurtful back to get even? That’s what I think Rumple did. And that’s why I think he is so guilt ridden over Belle. He really didn’t mean what he said and regrets that he said it. Hence, when EQ tells Rumple that Belle’s father kicked her out he is ready to go get her. Someone pointed out somewhere that Rumple says “So she needs a home?” Not “She needs a place to stay?” or “She has no where to go?” He uses the word “home.” That implies that he was ready to go get her and bring her back “home.” Like they had a fight and he is ready to go make up. Those aren’t the words of someone who is choosing power over someone they love. Now he may have a reason that he needs to remain Dark One Rumple (like to get Bae back) so he might not be able to kiss her but that doesn’t mean that he is choosing his power over Belle. He could have had both if she had approached it better.
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