Choices, PG-13, Narcissa/Severus

[flyingspatulas]

Title: Choices
Author: Gwendolyn James
Genre: Angst/Romance
Audience: Most People
Pairings: Narcissa/Severus, Narcissa/Lucius
Warnings: Character Death
Length/Complete: 3291, yes
Summary: I sacrificed everything to be what they wanted me to be, just so I could have a small piece of their empty admiration.

Comments

[flyingspatulas]

I can see your point, but I really feel that Narcissa *is* someone who has just let life happen to her. There are real people who do the very same thing. I don't think that a character has to be brave or proactive or even someone who stands up for themselves. I see Narcissa as a woman who has lived a seemingly "perfect" life, but at a severe personal cost - she has lost who she is. She is not the heroine of her own story, but I also do not feel that she is "spineless". She is scared, and yes, even weak at times, but that does not make her a character to be despised.

Narcissa never rebels, and we never find out why.
The whole first section discusses how Narcissa lives to please her family - she wants their approval. I didn't feel that I needed to spell out the exact consequences of "rebellion" because I assumed that the reader could infer from canon and from the brief statements about Andromeda just what would happen if Narcissa attempted to take her life into her own control. I have always hated when authors babied their readers and told them every single detail about how everyone is feeling and thinking at every moment. I like to hope that my readers are a bit better at critical thinking and emotional empathy than that. However, I feel that because this is a personal narrative on Narcissa's part that she does describe her emotions very plainly. I don't know about you, but when I write in my journal, I focus more on my emotions than on the exact events of the day. I see Narcissa as being very realistic about her life, but that doesn't mean she can control it.

We, the readers, need to see her struggling to fix her life before we'll feel sorry for her when she fails.
I can understand that as well, but that is not how I see Narcissa. I see her as one who has seen from her sisters' examples just where her choices can lead her, and she has chosen to emulate one rather than the other. She feels trapped in her life and does not have the courage to escape it. However, there are parts of the story where she does try to convince Severus to run away with her, but he believes he is protecting her by not letting her do it, and she does not dare to fight for what she wants at the cost of losing him.

Phew! Thank you SO MUCH for the helpful review. It is a very rare occasion that I get to discuss my writing in such a constructive way and useful way. I really appreciate it. :D