Oh, anon, you make me so happy with this! lol I don't know if you'll check back here or not - sorry about having anonymous disabled over at the story; I hadn't realised it was set that way...
I'm so very glad that this worked for you. I was never really a fan of Arthurian Guinevere, but Merlin's Gwen is just too sweet and wonderful not to love. I love that she is simple, and ordinary. She isn't like the rest of the cast, who are all larger than life; she's better suited for a normal life, rather than the life of a legend.
I tried to show that, that she's really out of her depth. She cares for Arthur, but as a prince before a man. And she tries to love him the way he wants her to. If Lancelot hadn't made a reappearance, maybe she could have. But since Lancelot was there, and loving him felt more natural to her, since they were starting out on more even footing anyway.
I think that she really feels a connection to Merlin; she looks up to him and identifies with him, but that only goes so far. When his relationship with Arthur starts up, Gwen knows and willingly takes a backseat, because she thinks that he deserves it more than she does. There's a certain amount of guilt there, too, because Merlin can love Arthur, the man, entirely, in ways that she has tried and failed because Merlin has only ever seen Arthur the man. Arthur the prince (or king) is secondary to him, circumstantial.
Also, Morgana leaving the way she did, in this story, was sort of the final blow to Gwen's self esteem. It was what really told her that she didn't belong in the world that had grown up around her. When Morgana returns, Gwen finds herself slipping back into her role as a servant, deferring more and more to Morgana. It causes a lot of confusion in the court, and even more scorn from the nobles, which eventually pushes Gwen over the edge into her affair with Lancelot, who is there for her, like always, and supports her as his Lady and friend.
Whew! Anyhow, thank you once again for commenting! It makes my day that you like it so well, you have no idea! ♥
I'm so very glad that this worked for you. I was never really a fan of Arthurian Guinevere, but Merlin's Gwen is just too sweet and wonderful not to love. I love that she is simple, and ordinary. She isn't like the rest of the cast, who are all larger than life; she's better suited for a normal life, rather than the life of a legend.
I tried to show that, that she's really out of her depth. She cares for Arthur, but as a prince before a man. And she tries to love him the way he wants her to. If Lancelot hadn't made a reappearance, maybe she could have. But since Lancelot was there, and loving him felt more natural to her, since they were starting out on more even footing anyway.
I think that she really feels a connection to Merlin; she looks up to him and identifies with him, but that only goes so far. When his relationship with Arthur starts up, Gwen knows and willingly takes a backseat, because she thinks that he deserves it more than she does. There's a certain amount of guilt there, too, because Merlin can love Arthur, the man, entirely, in ways that she has tried and failed because Merlin has only ever seen Arthur the man. Arthur the prince (or king) is secondary to him, circumstantial.
Also, Morgana leaving the way she did, in this story, was sort of the final blow to Gwen's self esteem. It was what really told her that she didn't belong in the world that had grown up around her. When Morgana returns, Gwen finds herself slipping back into her role as a servant, deferring more and more to Morgana. It causes a lot of confusion in the court, and even more scorn from the nobles, which eventually pushes Gwen over the edge into her affair with Lancelot, who is there for her, like always, and supports her as his Lady and friend.
Whew! Anyhow, thank you once again for commenting! It makes my day that you like it so well, you have no idea! ♥
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