The witch loved Rapunzel so she...blinded her lover, hacked off her hair and exiled her to a lifetime of solitude in the middle of a snake-infested swamp? That means genuine love?
That's not genuine motherly love to me. That's possessiveness, vengeance, and "I'll show you who's in charge." Kind of a warped idea of love, I'd say. No wonder Rapunzel ran off!!
Mothers who genuinely love their children acknowledge when they become adults and encourage them to find stable, healthy relationships. Obviously the witch was never going to do that, and Rapunzel knew that as well. Hence the "I never want to see you again, ever!" If my mother stuck long painful thorns into my boyfriend's eyes, I'd be pretty ticked too.
You're right about the witch having no one to love, though. That's the problem - she thought possessiveness = love, and when her 'daughter' refused to be possessed, she lost it. That's why she blows a gasket; she can't reconcile that she was wrong in the way she raised her 'daughter', by shutting her away and refusing to give her freedom.
Updated On: 1/14/15 at 09:58 PM