Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin Character Analysis

[midnight dreary]

@Ms. Pixie wrote:

Oh God! After 24 pages of caching up the discussion, I feel like I can take part on it.

First, I really think hjbau and charming are defending the same idea: a true love’s kiss can break any curse. death is not a curse, is just death, so a kiss won’t bring anyone back alive. 😉

Second, I know a lot of people really like Rumple – I get it, he is one of, if not the, most interesting characters of the show – but I think his human side is being way too much… cherished? (my English is good, but sometimes is just so difficult to find the proper word…)

Let me explain myself: yes, he is human after all. yes, he loves his son. yes, he fell for Belle, but I don’t think it justify all the damage.

As I see it, he became the Dark One to save his son from the war, but also, because it would give him power to shut up all those who called him weak and coward. I’m not denying his love or saying it wasn’t a good purpose, but at some point he even actually says that if his son is gone HE’ll have no one else. With Belle, when they kiss, he throws her away because he genuinely thinks she’s tricking him. Some people claim that he thought he wasn’t good enough for her and that’s why he couldn’t believe in their love, but I think it’s more than that, I think, yes, he still sees himself as a coward (after all he let his son go) but is, also, just too blind by his power to not suspect everyone. (by the way, for me, this power of his is, in the end, a easy way out of this coward thing – you don’t actually have to consider what’s right, honourable and etc., you blame the Dark force and just bully around)

Sooo… I agree with someone who said his redemption, if he’s to have one, is going to be about sacrifice, not just reunion ou standing by the “good” ones. 🙂

P.S.: for me, also, both him and Regina are evil for the same reason – revenge as they blame others for their misfortunes.

Welcome! And thank you for all of your thoughts!

Personally, I don’t believe any of Rumpel’s actions are necessarily justifiable. My defense of Rumpel usually only pops up when he’s described as evil pre-Dark One. And I agree with what the Looking Glass said, we defend Rumpel because we want to see him change and turn his life around. We want to see him recognize his mistakes and try to correct them. We’re rootin for him. That’s why we tend to only look at his more human or romantic side. I want to see him become the man that Baelfire was so desperate to bring back. I loved seeing pre-Dark One Rumpel. And that is what I want to see him eventually become again.

And like other have said, the scene between him and August was very improtant. It showed that Mr. Gold KNOWS that everything he’s done was wrong. He knows that he’s done horrbile things. He knows that he’s been selfish. And this was his moment to finally repent and apologize to the person he hurt the most. His son.

The whole purpose of the show is for the characters to get their happy endings. The writers give us episodes like Skin Deep and Desperate Souls to demonstrate that Snow and Charming aren’t the only ones who are in pain. They’re not the only ones who have suffered at the hands of evil. And they’re not the only ones who deserve a happy ending. The writers continue to demonstrate to us that even villains like Regina and Rumpel were once very happy. They had lovers, they had children, they had families. And the reason why the writers are leaving the door wide open for Rumpel is because he does have the chance for happiness. Belle is still alive, Baelfire is still alive. There’s still a chance for him yet.

[an empty heart]

I was going to respond, but Midnight Dreary, Looking Glass and Vasalisa already said everything I was going to say. But would like to push home one point. Like others have said, it’s the hope that Rumpel can change. It’s the hope that he will live up to what he said to August in the forest and give up his powers for his loved ones. And this is going to be sound really pathetic, but to be honest, a lot of people just a have a soft spot for sympathetic villains. Characters that start out as stone cold villains, but are then slowly revealed to have a softer side to them. The reason why people flock to these types of characters is because they speak to us specifically. Even those who are not perfect can have a happy ending. Even those who have wronged others can seek forgiveness. It’s something a lot of people can identify with. It’s also something that has an element of spirituality to it. The idea of forgiveness is very powerful.

[angiebelle]

It’s like the line from Wicked:
The most celebrated/ Are the rehabilitated

We want to see the villains redeem themselves. Or at least I do. They both have goodness that they’ve buried deep inside. I’m rooting for them to find it some day.

I felt so bad for Rumple when August revealed he wasn’t Bae. That must have split his heart in two. For centuries he waited for his son, and when he thought he finally found him, his joy was torn from him.

I think the reason Rumple became so evil is because the magic he inherited was dark magic. It twisted his soul, and only his love for Bae kept that little spark of his humanity. Otherwise, it was out of his control.

[mickey]

I think I feel the need to defend Rumple because he tends to be described from a one-sided and judgmental perspective. He’s presented as the one who is evil, has always been evil and will always stay evil. There is nothing good about him. Period. I just refuse to view life in general that way. I think we don’t really deal so much with evil or good as we do with the in-between. It’s the in-between that makes our lives interesting, I think.
I believe that people may do things we do not approve of or the ones we think we would never do. But that doesn’t mean that we can deny them the right to rehabilitate. So that right shouldn’t be taken away from the villains of the show either.
And the last reason is I just hate a one-dimensional take on fictional characters. One-dimensional means boring and predictable to me. I want to see the characters change, grow through both positive and negative experience, but God forbid stay always the same.

[hjbau]

I actually think that the only reason people find Rumpel a sympathetic villian is because he is male. I think that he is just as evil as Regina maybe even more so because he is behind the curse. And i think that he was still evil before he became the dark one whereas Regina seemed to be kind and want happiness and freedom for herself. I think that both Rumpel and Regina are evil characters and i think the reason that Regina is given so much grief is quite simple, Regina is female and Rumpel is male.

[mickey]

Well, it’s an assumption, not a real argument. An assumption based on the belief that we are all, I don’t know, sexists here and that’s why we choose to take a broader perspective of the character than you? I could easily reverse it and say that I assume that the only reason you are so harsh for Rumple is because he’s a man. And that would count for as much.

I don’t think Rumple was evil before the curse. Other posters tried to prove why in previous threads many times, they didn’t just give opinions or interpretations but made references to actual scenes from the series. But it was like banging their heads on the wall, I guess. You still don’t see anything good in Rumple pre- or after-curse. My conlusion is that maybe you don’t want to see anything good in him. Your mind about this character is set. He’s evil. That’s it.
If that’s the case, then what’s the point of you discussing the character in the first place?

[pandoras imp]

@Ms. Pixie wrote:

Second, I know a lot of people really like Rumple – I get it, he is one of, if not the, most interesting characters of the show – but I think his human side is being way too much… cherished?

Perfect word, and I agree. 😀

I think the scene with August, heart wrenching as it was, showed the he had learned some things..but I don’t think it’s enough.

For starters he said all this thinking he was safe because his son wouldn’t use the dagger to kill him. So it doesn’t show us he is not still a coward.

For me, he can’t be redeemed until he understands that True love is not selfish. The magic that love holds enables people to put the needs of others in front of their own. People who love are willing to sacrifice for the happiness of others. .

Instead of learning from his mistakes when he lost Bae, Rumpelstiltskin proceeded to create a curse that ruined the lives of everyone in his world so he could get what he wanted. That to me is not someone who learned the big lesson and I think Bae would be devastated to learn what his father did to get him back.

I know I’m probably the only one, but I really don’t think he should be reunited with his son. All magic comes with a price. His was Bae and I think he has to pay it and learn from his mistake, not cheat it.

For me, Bae was the price he paid – Belle is his second chance.

[beauty the beast]

@hjbau wrote:

I actually think that the only reason people find Rumpel a sympathetic villian is because he is male. I think that he is just as evil as Regina maybe even more so because he is behind the curse. And i think that he was still evil before he became the dark one whereas Regina seemed to be kind and want happiness and freedom for herself. I think that both Rumpel and Regina are evil characters and i think the reason that Regina is given so much grief is quite simple, Regina is female and Rumpel is male.

Um, I’m not exactly sure how true that is, but interesting insight nonetheless. Like mickey said, it could easily be argued that the only reason why you don’t have sympathy for Rumpel is because he is a man. I’ve even read posts where you’ve said that you prefer the female characters and actors over the male ones. So, that argument doesn’t hold in any real weight.

[Daniel J. Lewis]

@hjbau wrote:

I actually think that the only reason people find Rumpel a sympathetic villian is because he is male. I think that he is just as evil as Regina maybe even more so because he is behind the curse. And i think that he was still evil before he became the dark one whereas Regina seemed to be kind and want happiness and freedom for herself. I think that both Rumpel and Regina are evil characters and i think the reason that Regina is given so much grief is quite simple, Regina is female and Rumpel is male.

I don’t think that’s entirely fair. To say that our views are based entirely on sex, gender and attraction is a little offensive. Of course, there are people who do base their views on gender and attraction, but not everyone does that. We’ve actually had extremely detailed conversations with you about how we feel about this character, and we have both used solid examples to back up both of our arguments. So, diminishing our views by saying it’s all based on gender kind of makes me feel that our discussions and opinions aren’t appreciated and shouldn’t be taken into consideration.

Even though you and I disagree on a lot of things, I thought we at least had a respect for each other. That’s why I always always respond to your posts in this thread. I want to show you the respect of acknowledging your viewpoints as valid. But as time passes, I’m beginning to think that we’re just talking in circles. We’ll never really convince each other by our separate arguments. You believe Rumpel was born evil and will die evil. I on the other hand, believe that he will be redeemed and will try to better himself. And I don’t see neither of us budging from those positions. 🙁

[midnight dreary]

Do things like race, gender and looks play into what an audience thinks of a particular character? Yes. But does it necessarily play into what WE think of the character? No. It would be different if we were mindless fangirls randomly screaming “I LOVE RUMPEL!” at every chance we got, but we’re not. 😆 Yes, he’s our favorite character, but we see past things like gender or sex appeal. Like the others have said, we’ve all participated in detailed discussions with one another about Rumpel. Each one of us offering sufficient evidence and examples to back up our separate cases. So, we’re not airhead fangirls without any clue of what’s happening on the show. We pay attention. We analyze. We participate in conversations with each other. Some with who agree with us, and some who don’t. So, to naturally assume that our opinions are based on gender is false. But like Beauty & the Beast said, still very interesting perspective. 😉

[Author]

Posts