The Tragedy of Guy

[lfeisee]

Looking through season 2 and season 3 I note, as I am sure many others do, the tragic nature of Guy's character. He loves Marian so much... so much so that he changes his whole life for her. Even when it is clear that she is lying, he won't believe it.. he can't accept that someone he could love so much could be heartless and manipulative. Looking

Comments

[fedoralady]

I agree, Guy is truly a tragic character; a man who lost so much important when he was still young, who blamed himself needlessly for his mother's death, whose only family despised him for doing what he believed was best for her . . .and when he fell in love with Marian, he was desperate for love and for someone he could trust. And Marian took full advantage of that. I hated the way she lied and manipulated him. There was always good and decency in Guy; it went dormant due to the harsh circumstances of his life and his struggle to achieve the power and wealth he thought would make him happy.
I was certainly not ready to see the character die just as he was evolving into that better man.

There was so much more of his earlier life I would have liked to discover, and future adventures I wanted to see him have . . . and the discovery of a woman who could love him for himself. Alas, we'll just have to write them and imagine the glorious RA inhabiting those stories.

[lfeisee]

"alas, we'll just have to write them and imagine the glorious RA inhabiting those stories."

Well then honey! get to it! :-) I'm hoping such tales will slowly fint their way to the boards...

[lcmmomx3]

Lila, I like the points you make about Guy's ability to love a "good" woman because of his idealized image of his "pure and good" mother. I agree that Marian was never "pure and good" in the sense Guy thought she was. I always found her to be manipulative and cold-hearted in so many ways. She was able to use Guy, and step all over his feelings and passions (quite knowingly, I might add), all in the name of her vaunted "cause". She was extremely self-righteous and rigid, and frankly quite naive in her attitudes at times. "I'm right, you're wrong, and there are no shades of gray" seemed to be her way of thinking. That may have been because of her age, and her relative inexperience with "real life". Once we've been "around the block" a few times, like some of us older broads, we start to realize that things are rarely as simple and straightforward as they seem. Marian could never realize that, and she held Guy to impossible standards at times

[ladykate63]

I stumbled on your journal looking for something Guy of Gisborne-related (LOL, can't recall what, now) and I have to say I really like all of your posts! :) (Even the non-Guy-related ones.) But anyway, to comment on Guy: I totally agree with you that he did not have to die to be redeemed. His journey as a good man (who still had a long way to go) was only beginning

[lfeisee]

Hi Ladykate! thanks for your thoughtful comments. I had to reread my post to see what I was getting at.. what you say has merit and would be far more persuasive to me if Marian's character was meant to be flawed. I think the legend, and to some extent the series wanted Marian to be viewed as a woman of strong character and integrity. What I recall about Maid Marian in the legend is her integrity and her true belief in the cause for justice and the plight of the poor. This was to a great extent the perception in the series as well. Because of this perception, I put far more emphasis on her approach to achieving her ends than I normally would. True, Guy did not do such a great job of being a good suitor/lover, but we (and Marian) knew his character already. He is cruel and power hungry. Marian, on the other hand, is (or at least she is perceived to be) kind, generous and pure. This is what Guy believed too.. because she was so good at appearing thus. She could have been honest with Guy even knowing that she may not be able to

[ladykate63]

Hi Lila! :) Sorry about the belated response.

I'm not sure what the character of Marian was like in the Robin Hood legends. As far as I know, there isn't a single Robin Hood canon; there are many different versions of the legend, many of which (especially the early ones) don't even include Marian. Marian also appears in many different guises, as this Wikipedia article shows.

Personally, I'm not a fan of perfect characters, and I didn't think that Marian in this series was shown as perfect from the very start. So while I don't always like what she does, I do like the character, and as I said I think the Guy and Marian story was a tragic one for them both.

I hope we continue talking! :)