In Memoriam: Britannia's Little Women
When it comes to Geass most traditional, shoujo-esque pairings, I don't think that R2 Lelouch/Shirley equals S1 Suzaku/ Euphie, mostly because I believe Suzaku/Euphie was a much darker pairing, with a considerable amount of unhealthy projection and creepiness going on (yes, yes, I know my brain is weird). But I will leave the boys and the pairings for another day and focus on their dead girls tonight, because I think they have a lot in common, and yet they couldn't be more different.
So let's start by dissecting the fresher cadaver!
Shirley
Shirley's love strike us as insane and unreal in her complete lack of criticism, but it's my opinion that it is simply old fashioned (if you're a book or old movie geek you know what I'm talking about). That is perfectly okay in my book if it helps with her characterization, and I think it does. I think Shirley's issues were far more related to the way she saw the world and the meaning of her life than to Lelouch. I think Lelouch is more a materialization of these issues than the issue itself. Contrary to those who thought she had no standing of her own and was a simple plot device, I think Shirley's story is a coming of age story - She grows up and understands herself through her love for Lelouch. It's embarrassing, but some people do that and love, as idiotic and cliché as it is, can be a source of huge internal transformation.
But that is far more than a story about a girl who falls in love, because to Shirley, the perception that love conquered all and was the ultimate power in the universe was a fundamental belief. This shows in the way she wants to accept Suzaku as an Ashford student, in the way she wishes Kallen was there with them, in the way she talks to Suzaku in the very end, in the way she tells Lelouch how to deal with the Chinese marriage, in the way she didn't steal Lelouch's kiss.
In fact, here I'd like to point out Shirley grows and learns even when she doesn't remember. Shirley did steal Lelouch's kiss in S1, when her father died. And Mao tortured her for that with gusto (certainly reflecting her own thoughts back to her). And she actually tells so to Lelouch. The fact that she refused to do it again in R2 is fascinating.
Shirley's world view is, of course, smashed to pieces once Lelouch kills her father. It revives, and it dies again, just to revive again, much stronger, much more self-aware than before, because she has acquired another brick to keep her building standing: "everything can be forgiven". Love has always been Shirley's raison d'etre, Love itself is very much the Nunnally of Shirley's life. She was the wisher of wishes. To the point that the duty of killing her father's killer or the need to shoot Villetta caused her a nervous breakdown (in a show populated by violent characters, Shirley's sincere unwillingness to be violent is very important). And of course, to the point that she would rather tell Lelouch she loved him than tell him the name of her killer.
Having her raison d'etre being torn apart just to see it reborn again is a beautiful thing. In the end, Shirley seems to have also become a metaphor for love itself: stupid, blind, frail and ever reviving. And, as many have pointed out, she was the deepest remaining connection between Lelouch and Ashford. I don't think Geass would have been the same without her.
Euphemia
People tend to be unfair to Euphemia, I think. Probably because Clamp has made her art so stereotypical (and I believe they did that on purpose)
Contrary to Shirley, Euphemia has never been a Love Goddess. Love was never Euphemia's raison d'etre. Euphemia's Holy Grail was that she wanted to mean something, but she had been seen as a doll princess throughout all her life, even by the people she loved the most (even Cornelia, even Lelouch, even Suzaku). Euphemia has always craved to matter, and yet she was considered so decorative that she has not even been allowed to finish school. In fact, her closeness to Suzaku - although it feels like a solution, a gesture of rebellion, a grasp for what she believes in - ends up being a reinforcement of her status quo since Suzaku finds very hard to see beyond what she represents. This becomes very clear when Suzaku gives his pin back to her because he is "unworthy". Through S1, I have the impression that a part of Euphemia wants to mean everything Suzaku wants her to mean, but another part wants to be seen like a flesh and blood human being - and she can't be both. In the end, she realizes she will do everything she does for the people she loves the most, just like her crazier brother would. The problem is, they will never accept her as an equal. And I find it really, really twisted that the authors make it very clear that the basis for her relationship with Suzaku is not only their willingness to change the world, but also their self-hatred:
"You hate yourself, don't you? But it goes the same for me. I know it clearly in my head... About Suzaku too."
I think her talks with Suzaku, Schneizel, Clovis' picture, and finally with Nina, all of them in Stage 20, are the most relevant scenes for Euphemia characterization (along with the Sound Episode about the royal siblings). It really saddens me that many fans pay so little attention to them and get focused on the pink hair and the waltz. XD. By the end of S1, Euphemia realizes she is alone in her wish to be more, and she will always be - the best she can do is to captivate those she loves to walk her path by her side so she can create the conditions for their happiness. I find it truly beautiful that she comes up with the idea for the SAZ exactly when she is the most lonely and rejected. And it is very tragic that Lelouch will put her down like a sick animal (always out of love, but a condescending love), Kallen - who constantly fights against her own frailty- will call her a "doll princess" right before she dies, and Suzaku will put her on a pedestal and treat her like a saint for the rest of his life ( also out of love, but which is, in itself, condescending too). In the end, she will die a doll with a loving lie and will matter to the world as the Genocide Princess.
Personally, I love to interpret Shirley and Euphemia as feminist tales: both Euphie and Shirley are, on the surface, traditional female archetypes - the princess and the girlfriend. The thing is, Euphie has never felt comfortable with her role and failed to surpass it no matter how much she tried. Shirley was completely comfortable with her role, but because of her circumstances, she had to move forward and turn it into something else so her belief system would still stand and be stronger. I think that, while Shirley, in some ways, extrapolated herself , Euphemia never did no matter how much she wished to. And that was her tragedy. I find both their struggles very touching and beautiful, and I love CG for giving us such awesome characters.
May they rest in peace and cause enough misery over their graves.