Amortentia and re The morality of love potions/Merope and Tom Sr.

[juli17ptf]

No: HPFGUIDX 152325

<snip> 

> 
> Julie:
> Just as a woman would be 
> > justifiably angry at being tricked into believing a man loved 
her, 
> I 
> > think Tom is justifiably angry at being tricked into believing he 
> > loved Merope. But I still don't see it as rape. 
> 
> Magpie:
> Whether or not we call it rape, Tom was not tricked into believing 
> he loved Merope.  He was forced to feel love for Merope through 
> drugs.  It crosses the line from manipulation to physically 
> interfering with another person's will, violating their self.  
That, 
> I think, is why many readers connect it to rape, not simply because 
> of the sexual aspect but because it turns a person into an object 
> for another person.  The Imperius curse too can be described as 
> tricking a person into believing they want to do something, but 
> it's  actually taking over the person's will.

Julie:
You make a good point (as does Alla). I agree that Tom did lose his 
free will. In a sense it is emotional rape. I'm actually surprised 
love potions aren't totally banned in the WW, and most certainly at 
Hogwarts, as they really aren't any different than the Imperius 
curse. 
>  

<snip>
> 
> 
> > Julie:
> > Er, huh? If you mean she hoped he would love her as she was, now 
> that 
> > he'd gotten to know her, I agree that she probably held that 
hope. 
> > She still could have kept him under the love potion forever, but 
> she 
> > chose not to, and the only reason for that is because she knew it 
> was 
> > wrong. So she took the risk and did the right thing. Which 
doesn't 
> > excuse doing the wrong thing first, but it does count for 
> something, 
> > IMO. 
> 
> Magpie:
> We assume she stopped using the love potion because it was wrong.  
> I'm suggesting it's possible that she grew disatisfied with 
> the "love" she knew was fake and so needed to see if she could have 
> the real thing, and maybe thought she could have the real thing.  
> That's not the same thing.

Julie:
I suspect it could have been a little of both. She wanted him to 
actually love HER. I'm not sure Merope really entertained the concept 
of right or wrong (she certainly hadn't been introduced to the 
concept in her upbringing), rather she was simply motivated by a 
desperate need for someone to show her affection. 

> 
> > Julie:
> Tom perhaps had no legal 
> > responsibility to do so, given that the marriage and the child's 
> > conception were founded on deceit, but morally it would have been 
> the 
> > right thing to do. 
> 
> Magpie:
> Yes, morally it would have been right for him to provide for the 
> child.  Morally it would also have been right for her to care for 
> the child.  Neither of them seemed to care much about the child.
> 
> -m

Julie:
Agreed. Merope was victimized by her family and upbringing, she in 
turn victimized Tom, and they both victimized their child. Even 
though Merope certainly bears the greater responsibility for the 
tragedy of all three lives, I feel equal sympathy for her. Being 
raised in abject misery, without experiencing a single ounce of 
affection or decency, I'm not sure Merope could have turned out any 
differently.

Julie