[HPforGrownups] Inside Bella - Social & Psychological Motivation

[Charme]

No: HPFGUIDX 126372

>Steve said:

> Bella is willing to bow down to Voldemort, because he is the source of
> all power. It is through him, that every bit of her own self-worth is
> validated. That and she really doesn't want him to kill or torture
> her. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge and accept that you've met
> someone who is even more crazy and fanatical than you are, and when
> you do, in your own insanity, you admire them for it.
>
> Anything here you can use?

Charme:

Liked your post, Steve.  Your final paragraph is true in some sense, 
although I'd like to add some comments of my own, with your indulgence. :)

>From philospohical perspective, I've tried to forget that Bellatrix is a 
woman and find some common ground within mythology and legend, but her damn 
predeliction for "baby talk" always throws me off.  If I ignore that (and 
it's hard), then I start to feel she's bent towards zealotry, and even 
Nazism. In any of these ideologies, there is nearly *always* a leader, every 
fanatic respects someone who is more crazy and committed than everybody 
else. Doesn't matter if you're a male or female zealot, if you're not the 
leader, you're going to look up to the one who is or can teach you to be 
more powerful than you already are. She's committed to the idea of her own 
and others pureblood superiority (the *cause*, if you will) over halfbloods, 
Muggles and mudbloods, but not over Lord Voldemort.

Another factor in my mind is the difference, and interaction, between Lucius 
Malfoy and Bellatrix in OoP during the conflict in the DoM .  Lucius leads 
her (and the rest of the DE's), yet if you'll note, she doesn't harbor the 
same respect towards Lucius as she does Voldemort. Lucius is ambitious, 
logical, and determined, and Bellatrix is just chaotic and rash up until the 
"action" really heats up. This leads me to believe that Bellatrix is, for 
lack of a better phrase, a "warrior princess." In combat, she is filled with 
her own self worth, taunting and teasing those she duels with. She likes 
fighting, torture, cruelty (she says at much to Harry during their MoM 
interaction regarding the Cruciatus Curse) and the validation of herself in 
combat to support the *cause* and the desires of her mentor. It's almost 
similiar to the desire to fight for a cause bigger than oneself, only for an 
ammoral conviction rather than a moral one.

Charme