Merope Gaunt: Character Analysis

[HagathaChristie]

Originally Posted by Melaszka

I can see where you're all coming from, and the genetic mutation angle is evry interesting, but I don't like the idea of Voldemort being born evil for two reasons -

(1) it eliminates the idea of moral choice, which has been central to the series

(2) I know it is wise to be wary of drawing too many conclusions from biographical parallels, but I think it unlikely that an author who has campaigned tirelessly for the rights of single parents would choose to portray children conceived without love as being innately evil.

For me, the damaging thing that TR Snr and Merope did to Voldemort was to fail to love him, not fail to love (or feed love potions to) each other.

I totally agree. Considering the number of children that are born on a daily basis in every country of the world without love as a component of their conception, I can't imagine that JKR would assert that conception without "real" love had anything to do with Tom, Jr. becoming a very bad person. If either parent had actually loved him, he might very well be a very different person.

Originally Posted by Melaszka

I didn't think I was speculating - I thought I was alluding to widely known biographical fact.

No, it's certainly not speculation in my opinion since JKR has publically spoken about that time period in her life on quite a number of occasions. The fact that she has campaigned both for the rights of single parents and against the use of cage beds in orphanages that still use them seem to lend themselves to discussion of where she may think Tom, Jr. was damaged as an infant.

[Melaszka]

Originally Posted by HagathaChristie

The fact that she has campaigned both for the rights of single parents and against the use of cage beds in orphanages that still use them seem to lend themselves to discussion of where she may think Tom, Jr. was damaged as an infant.

Good point!

[shmcminn]

I'm not really sure if I made this clear or not, though I'll try to explain again. I don't think the whole genetic mutation thing came from there being a lack of love. If this was true a good population of our race would be born evil. I think that the potion acted as kind of a drug, altering the "good" or "bad" or whatever you want to call it gene.

[Emperor_Gestahl]

Originally Posted by HagathaChristie

I totally agree. Considering the number of children that are born on a daily basis in every country of the world without love as a component of their conception, I can't imagine that JKR would assert that conception without "real" love had anything to do with Tom, Jr. becoming a very bad person. If either parent had actually loved him, he might very well be a very different person.


No, it's certainly not speculation in my opinion since JKR has publically spoken about that time period in her life on quite a number of occasions. The fact that she has campaigned both for the rights of single parents and against the use of cage beds in orphanages that still use them seem to lend themselves to discussion of where she may think Tom, Jr. was damaged as an infant.

I can see your first point but I don't think the orphanage has much to do with how he turned out. Voldemort was incapable of love from the start. As for other emotians like pity or mercy, if he ever had them they woulld have stopped as he ripped his soul into smaller pieces.

[Chris]

The presence of a mother in Tom Riddle's life would have changed Tom Riddle. How it would have changed Tom Riddle is hard to specify - plenty of bad apples come from good homes as kids - but it's hard to think that Tom Riddle would have turned out the exact same way that he did if Merope hadn't died.

Merope may not have known a mother's love herself - we get (to my knowledge) no mention of who her mother is - so it may not have seemed an awful thing for her to deprive Tom Riddle of a mother. She was probably in such a bad state mentally at that point that she felt it hardly mattered whether she lived or died.

I posted some thoughts on this topic upthread, but I'll repeat one now - Harry's description of Merope as "the most defeated person he's ever seen" seems quite accurate. The influence of the men in her life seemed to just drain her of her will to be a witch and her will to live.

[JimmyPotter]

Because of the lack of mention of Merope's mother (Marvolo's wife), we can also guess as to what became of her. I can't imagine that she and Marvolo fell in love with each other. Maybe her family pushed her into the marriage (or arranged it) in order to be related to the descendents of the famous Salazar Slytherin. My guess is that Mrs. Gaunt either died or left the family. Either way it would only have a negative effect on Merope.

[loona]

Originally Posted by JimmyPotter

Because of the lack of mention of Merope's mother (Marvolo's wife), we can also guess as to what became of her. I can't imagine that she and Marvolo fell in love with each other. Maybe her family pushed her into the marriage (or arranged it) in order to be related to the descendents of the famous Salazar Slytherin. My guess is that Mrs. Gaunt either died or left the family. Either way it would only have a negative effect on Merope.

It has been stated in HBP that the Gaunts were so obsessed with being pure-blood and being descendants of Slytherin that there was inter family breeding going on. This shows with the way Merope and Morfin look and act. I believe that they were both inbred. I don't have time to look it up at this moment, but I will try to get the quote for you later.


Also I would like to point out something about LV being evil. I believe that if Merope had stayed alive, LV wouldn't have been as bad as he is now. He probably would have turned out to be more like Snape. His whole quest is based on living forever. He is afraid of death because his mother, a witch, could not save herself from it.

[Chris]

The quote is

"Marvolo, his son, Morfin, and his daughter, Merope, were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins."

DD said this (p. 212, US Hardback), but did not give any hints about Merope's mother.

I agree with you Loona that it's a good possibility that Merope and Morfin's mother may have been related to Marvolo. It would explain a lot. But she could also have been forced into a marraige, which would also explain a lot. Personally I'm beginning to like the idea that Merope's mother was forced into marrying Merope's father. Then she herself left, leading to Marvolo's bitterness towards women, and thus his treatment of his own daughter.
No canon to support my guess...just a bit of psychoanalysis .

[mysterious]

Originally Posted by chparadise

Then she herself left

Or was killed by Marvolo?

[Hes]

Originally Posted by chparadise

I agree with you Loona that it's a good possibility that Merope and Morfin's mother may have been related to Marvolo. It would explain a lot. But she could also have been forced into a marraige, which would also explain a lot. Personally I'm beginning to like the idea that Merope's mother was forced into marrying Merope's father. Then she herself left, leading to Marvolo's bitterness towards women, and thus his treatment of his own daughter.
No canon to support my guess...just a bit of psychoanalysis .

I think this is possibly true, I can hardly imagine Marvolo would have been a pleasant husband to live with.

Maybe she did the same as Merope, she could have given up on her family. You can hardly blame her and it could have been an example to Merope.

[irmapince]

Originally Posted by Madron

Erm, yes, as long as you can provide canon to back up a theory about a certain character there is not reason why you cannot discuss this theory in terms of character analysis.

Since I have an ok from Madron, here's greater part of my Merope was a metamorphamagus theory.

I wanted put this option out there and get other reader's opinions. There were plenty of things that bothered me about Merope using a love potion on TR Sr. First, there is the general "ick factor." Also, others have pointed out that Merope could have been too magically weak to brew a love potion or Merope did not have enough money to buy a love potion. But what if Merope did not need a love potion, in that she was a metamorphamagus and turned herself into a stunningly beautiful women in order to marry TR Sr.?

As I reread the chapter "House of Gaunt," I noticed that at one point Harry describes Merope as if she wanted to blend into the wall. This phrase immediately reminded me of a chameleon, in how they can change their appearance in order to blend into their surroundings. Then I remembered that Harry does not notice Merope for a long while once he enters the Gaunt house. Was it because he didn't notice her, or was it because he couldn't notice her, in that she actually had blended into the wall? Furthermore, in reading the description of Merope as depressed with lank hair I remembered the description of Tonks in HBP as being depressed and having mousy hair. Both Tonks and Merope are dejected, both are dejected because they cannot be with the men they want, and both are described as have have "down" appearances. Could this be a clue that they are both metamorphamagi?

Merope being a metamorphamagus would explain a peculiar comment Morfin makes to her in "House of Gaunt." Morfin say to her in essence, "so, TR Sr. didn't want you, did he?" This comment makes no sense. In specific, it indicates that there was a possibility in the first place that TR Sr. would have liked the appearance of Merope. And it clearly stated in the text that Merope was very unattractive. So what hope would there have been for TR Sr. to have seen her and fallen for her on sight? Very little. Then why did Morfin make that comment, which inherently implies that Merope had a chance to attract TR Sr. with her looks? The comment does make sense if Merope was a Morphus and transformed herself into a moderately attractive person in order to catch TR Sr.'s eye when he rode by. Then Morfin's comment is appropriate, in that he is saying, "you morphed yourself into a better looking person and he still didn't want you, did he?" So Merope being a metamorphamagus would explain why Morfin acted as if she would have been able to attract TR Sr. with her appearance.

When I was looking at the Gaunt family names I saw a pattern. The name Morfin could be related to Morpheus and thus have something to do with sleep. But a homonym root for Morfin is "morph," as in metamorphamagus. What if being a metamorphamagus ran in the Gaunt family and that is why Morfin got his name? Later, I found out that Marvolo is similar to "marvros," the Greek word for "black." So perhaps Marvolo got his name because his mother was born a Black (his mother could have still been his father's cousin in her mother was Gaunt and her father a Black). And being a metamorphamagus could run in the Black family (Tonks, and I suspect Regulus) just as Parselmouths run in the Gaunt family. So if Marvolo is a descendant of the Black family as well at the Gaunts, then naming his son "Morfin" could be a way of acknowledging that heritage.

If Merope could have changed her appearance, this would explain how she could have "tricked" TR Sr. without using a potion. Once her father and brother went off to Azkaban, she would have been much happier and may have been able to use her morphing abilities to a greater extent. This would be congruent with Tonks in HBP. In that book, Tonks is depressed and as a result she is having trouble morphing, as Hermione tells Harry in HBP. But when she is happy at the end she is able to morph well again, as her vivid pink hair represents. By this logic, once Merope was happier she may have been able to morph herself into a fantastically beautiful woman. And with that fantastic beauty she may have been able to entrance TR Sr. enough for him to start carrying on with her and to leave Cecelia.

The main problem with Merope changing her appearance into that of a beautiful woman is DD's comment regarding the villagers' reaction to her marriage to TR Sr.. DD says that there was a scandal in the village when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter. Now, if Merope changed her appearance, how would the villagers have known that she was the tramp's daughter? Once explanation is that DD was just speculating when he made the comment. But there could be another. In OotP when Harry first meets Tonks she is has short purple hair and a heart shaped face. Later at Grimmaund Place Tonks has long red hair and turns her nose into a hooked nose to entertain the kids. And when Harry sees Tonks before going to St.Mungo's she is an old woman. Now, if a Muggle who knew nothing of magic saw a girl with short purple hair, a girl with long red hair and a hooked nose, and an old woman, would the Muggle think they are the same person? No. So it could have been the same with Merope. Specifically, Merope kept her true, deformed appearance at home but when she went to town with Marvolo she could have morphed into a normal looking girl so that the villagers would not harass her. And if the villagers saw a normal looking girl in town with Marvolo and a deformed girl in the yard around Marvolo's house, they would assume that they are two different girls and that they are both Marvolo's daughters since the villagers see the "two" girls either with Marvolo or at Marvolo's home.

Once Marvolo and Morfin go to Azkaban, Merope would be happy enough to use her morphing abilities to their fullest and would turn herself into unbelievably beautiful-Cecelia who?-Merope and then stand in her yard until TR Sr. rode by. And when a stunned TR Sr. came up to talk to her, Merope could just say, "Oh, I'm the youngest Gaunt sister. My father could not afford to raise me so he sent me to live with my aunt. I'm just visiting, yada, yada, yada, whatever." TR Sr. would be so smitten that he really wouldn't care what Merope said. But the important point is if the villagers saw TR Sr. and beautiful Merope together in the town, they would ask TR Sr. who she is and TR Sr. would say beautiful Merope is Marvolo Gaunt's youngest daughter. And when TR Sr. marries beautiful Merope, thus the scandal of the squire's son running off with the tramp's daughter.

Merope being a metmorphamagus could also explain why TR Sr. left her. In HBP, Dumbledore suspects that Merope stopped using a love potion of TR Sr. because she didn't want to have a "fake" relationship with him anymore. When I first read this, it did not make sense. Why would Merope, who was unethical enough to use a potion on TR Sr., suddenly develop a sense of morality? But what if Merope, instead of choosing to stop tricking TR Sr., had to stop tricking him. In specific, what if being pregnant affected her ability to morph? What if being pregnant forced Merope's body to return to it's original form so that her biology would be compatible with her baby's? In normal human biology, the body will protect the baby even if it means killing the mother. So what if it the same with Metamorphamagi, in that their bodies will not allow them to morph if morphing endangers the baby? If being pregnant prevented Merope from being able to morph, then she would have been forced to return to her true, unattractive appearance. And once she stops morphing TR Sr. will see her true appearance and would leave her. That would explain why TR Sr. left Merope when she was pregnant. This also explains TR Sr. saying that he was fooled, in that he was fooled by her appearance, rather than by a potion.

Merope using her appearance to get TR Sr. would also add an interesting aspect to the series. In CoS, we "know" that TR. Sr. left Merope when he found out that she was a Witch, thus making TR Sr. the villain and Merope the victim. Then in HBP, we "find out" that Merope used a potion of TR Sr., making Merope the villain and TR Sr. the victim. With Merope lying with her appearance and TR Sr. leaving Cecelia and then Merope based on solely on the women's looks, both are to blame and this gives a more balanced allotment of fault and a final twist to the story.

So there it is. It is being discussed in the original thread, which can be found here

Was Merope REALLY a metamorphmagus?

http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=99905

[Hes]

Originally Posted by irmapince

Since I have an ok from Madron, here's greater part of my Merope was a metamorphamagus theory.

I wanted put this option out there and get other reader's opinions. There were plenty of things that bothered me about Merope using a love potion on TR Sr. First, there is the general "ick factor." Also, others have pointed out that Merope could have been too magically weak to brew a love potion or Merope did not have enough money to buy a love potion. But what if Merope did not need a love potion, in that she was a metamorphamagus and turned herself into a stunningly beautiful women in order to marry TR Sr.?

As I reread the chapter "House of Gaunt," I noticed that at one point Harry describes Merope as if she wanted to blend into the wall. This phrase immediately reminded me of a chameleon, in how they can change their appearance in order to blend into their surroundings. Then I remembered that Harry does not notice Merope for a long while once he enters the Gaunt house. Was it because he didn't notice her, or was it because he couldn't notice her, in that she actually had blended into the wall?

Merope was being abused by her brother and father, she didn't want to be noticed because then they would abuse her again. That's why she wanted to blend with the wall.

Harry didn't see her at first. Merope was silent, she didn't move or make a sound, Harry's attention was focussed on Ogden and Marvolo who were arguing, not on how the room looked and who else was there.

Furthermore, in reading the description of Merope as depressed with lank hair I remembered the description of Tonks in HBP as being depressed and having mousy hair. Both Tonks and Merope are dejected, both are dejected because they cannot be with the men they want, and both are described as have have "down" appearances. Could this be a clue that they are both metamorphamagi?

Both women were suffering of an unanswered love for someone else. When you suffer from this, it's not unusual that you neglect your appearance. You just don't care anymore but all energy goes to thinking about your love. Both were miserable, but this is something that happens to all women not just metamorphamagi. I am sure this isn't a characteristic of metamorphamagi.

Merope being a metamorphamagus would explain a peculiar comment Morfin makes to her in "House of Gaunt." Morfin say to her in essence, "so, TR Sr. didn't want you, did he?" This comment makes no sense. In specific, it indicates that there was a possibility in the first place that TR Sr. would have liked the appearance of Merope. And it clearly stated in the text that Merope was very unattractive. So what hope would there have been for TR Sr. to have seen her and fallen for her on sight? Very little. Then why did Morfin make that comment, which inherently implies that Merope had a chance to attract TR Sr. with her looks?
The comment does make sense if Merope was a Morphus and transformed herself into a moderately attractive person in order to catch TR Sr.'s eye when he rode by. Then Morfin's comment is appropriate, in that he is saying, "you morphed yourself into a better looking person and he still didn't want you, did he?" So Merope being a metamorphamagus would explain why Morfin acted as if she would have been able to attract TR Sr. with her appearance.

Merope believed she has a chance, because she loved Riddle Sr and was blinded by her love for him. Morfin knew this, he knew that his sister believed in her chances. He said that comment as means to tease Merope, as confirmation that he was right. I think he might have said to her beforehand that she had no chance, but she didn't believe him.

When I was looking at the Gaunt family names I saw a pattern. The name Morfin could be related to Morpheus and thus have something to do with sleep. But a homonym root for Morfin is "morph," as in metamorphamagus. What if being a metamorphamagus ran in the Gaunt family and that is why Morfin got his name? Later, I found out that Marvolo is similar to "marvros," the Greek word for "black." So perhaps Marvolo got his name because his mother was born a Black (his mother could have still been his father's cousin in her mother was Gaunt and her father a Black). And being a metamorphamagus could run in the Black family (Tonks, and I suspect Regulus) just as Parselmouths run in the Gaunt family. So if Marvolo is a descendant of the Black family as well at the Gaunts, then naming his son "Morfin" could be a way of acknowledging that heritage.

We haven't seen a Gaunt on the Black family tree have we? Therefor I am not sure if Marvolo got his name from a Black connection. But his name suits him, he had a black heart. Since there isn't a known family connection with the Blacks, there isn't any canon proof that metamorphamagi are in the Gaunt family too.

The main problem with Merope changing her appearance into that of a beautiful woman is DD's comment regarding the villagers' reaction to her marriage to TR Sr.. DD says that there was a scandal in the village when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter. Now, if Merope changed her appearance, how would the villagers have known that she was the tramp's daughter? Once explanation is that DD was just speculating when he made the comment. But there could be another. In OotP when Harry first meets Tonks she is has short purple hair and a heart shaped face. Later at Grimmaund Place Tonks has long red hair and turns her nose into a hooked nose to entertain the kids. And when Harry sees Tonks before going to St.Mungo's she is an old woman. Now, if a Muggle who knew nothing of magic saw a girl with short purple hair, a girl with long red hair and a hooked nose, and an old woman, would the Muggle think they are the same person? No. So it could have been the same with Merope. Specifically, Merope kept her true, deformed appearance at home but when she went to town with Marvolo she could have morphed into a normal looking girl so that the villagers would not harass her. And if the villagers saw a normal looking girl in town with Marvolo and a deformed girl in the yard around Marvolo's house, they would assume that they are two different girls and that they are both Marvolo's daughters since the villagers see the "two" girls either with Marvolo or at Marvolo's home.

Marvolo would have never allowed that. That would have been like giving into what the muggles want.

I don't think Merope would have cared about the opinion of other people, she was in love, Riddle Sr was in love with her, due to the potion. She had all what she wanted, why should she change her appearance to go outside? She had been used to being looked down up during her whole life.

Once Marvolo and Morfin go to Azkaban, Merope would be happy enough to use her morphing abilities to their fullest and would turn herself into unbelievably beautiful-Cecelia who?-Merope and then stand in her yard until TR Sr. rode by. And when a stunned TR Sr. came up to talk to her, Merope could just say, "Oh, I'm the youngest Gaunt sister. My father could not afford to raise me so he sent me to live with my aunt. I'm just visiting, yada, yada, yada, whatever." TR Sr. would be so smitten that he really wouldn't care what Merope said. But the important point is if the villagers saw TR Sr. and beautiful Merope together in the town, they would ask TR Sr. who she is and TR Sr. would say beautiful Merope is Marvolo Gaunt's youngest daughter. And when TR Sr. marries beautiful Merope, thus the scandal of the squire's son running off with the tramp's daughter.

Riddle Sr would never have believed that Cecelia was a Gaunt. He must have known her very well, it's likely that they moved in the same social circle. Arrogant as the Riddle's where, they would have known about the family she came from. Cecelia looked nothing like the Gaunts.

And what has happened to the real Cecelia? Suddenly disappeared?

Merope using her appearance to get TR Sr. would also add an interesting aspect to the series. In CoS, we "know" that TR. Sr. left Merope when he found out that she was a Witch, thus making TR Sr. the villain and Merope the victim. Then in HBP, we "find out" that Merope used a potion of TR Sr., making Merope the villain and TR Sr. the victim. With Merope lying with her appearance and TR Sr. leaving Cecelia and then Merope based on solely on the women's looks, both are to blame and this gives a more balanced allotment of fault and a final twist to the story.

Well it shows where Voldemort has it's arrogance and it's bad blood from that's for sure.

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by HesHPfan

Well if she was a squib, in theory she could have followed a course at Quickspell. However I doubt she would have done it. Because those courses undoubtedly cost a lot of money, something the Gaunts didn't seem to have and Merope was never let out of her family's sight. But in theory it could have happened.

Not only they probably cost a lot of money, but they are also useless. Squibs can never perform magic and we don't know how much magic you really need to make a potion.

So either Merope is a witch and brew it herself or she's a squib and bought one or still made it herself, what I doubt.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by TENSHI

Not only they probably cost a lot of money, but they are also useless. Squibs can never perform magic and we don't know how much magic you really need to make a potion.

So either Merope is a witch and brew it herself or she's a squib and bought one or still made it herself, what I doubt.

Well remember what JKR said... that someone late in life will perform magic. So it's not entirely impossible that a squib could do this too, if Merope was a Squib, which I don't believe, but if she was... it could have been possible that she was capable of it.

I think she brew it herself, she did all the cooking, so I am sure potions were no problem when she was rid of her family members and could use her abilities to the fullest.

[anabel]

Originally Posted by HesHPfan

Well remember what JKR said... that someone late in life will perform magic. So it's not entirely impossible that a squib could do this too, if Merope was a Squib, which I don't believe, but if she was... it could have been possible that she was capable of it.

Originally Posted by Jo

Section: Extra Stuff
SQUIBS

I have been asked all sorts of questions about Squibs since I first introduced the concept in ‘Chamber of Secrets’. A Squib is almost the opposite of a Muggle-born wizard: he or she is a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent. Squibs are rare; magic is a dominant and resilient gene.

Squibs would not be able to attend Hogwarts as students. They are often doomed to a rather sad kind of half-life (yes, you should be feeling sorry for Filch), as their parentage often means that they will be exposed to, if not immersed in, the wizarding community, but can never truly join it. Sometimes they find a way to fit in; Filch has carved himself a niche at Hogwarts and Arabella Figg operates as Dumbledore’s liaison between the magical and Muggle worlds. Neither of these characters can perform magic (Filch’s Kwikspell course never worked), but they still function within the wizarding world because they have access to certain magical objects and creatures that can help them (Arabella Figg does a roaring trade in cross-bred cats and Kneazles, and if you don‘t know what a Kneazle is yet, shame on you). Incidentally, Arabella Figg never saw the Dementors that attacked Harry and Dudley, but she had enough magical knowledge to identify correctly the sensations they created in the alleyway.

link

Squibs can't do magic at all. You are either magical or non-magical. Merope was a witch, but her powers were suppressed by abuse and low self-esteem, then by a broken heart.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by anabel

Squibs can't do magic at all. You are either magical or non-magical. Merope was a witch, but her powers were suppressed by abuse and low self-esteem, then by a broken heart.

I have written it wrongly. Someone could first be considered a Squib with all the characteristics, like Merope was called a Squib by her father and then later perform magic. But like I have said a few times before I consider her a witch.

[Tenshi]

Thanks for the quote anabel.

Here's the quote of what Jo said about the person who will perform magic later in life.

Barnes and Noble Chat: March 1999 Question: Will there be, or have there been, any "late blooming" students in the school who come into their magic potential as adults, rather than as children? By the way, I loved meeting you, and hearing you speak, when you came to Anderson's in Naperville. I can hardly wait until you tour again. Ahhh! I loved the event at Anderson's. It was one of my favorites. That is completely true. No, is the answer. In my books, magic almost always shows itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in life, but that is very rare in the world I am writing about.

But Jo also said that this is very rare and it will only happen to one out of 100s HP characters in the books. Merope, in case she's was a Squib, was still young and in the quote it refers to "late in life". So it doesn't refer to her in this case.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by TENSHI

Thanks for the quote anabel.

Here's the quote of what Jo said about the person who will perform magic later in life.



But Jo also said that this is very rare and it will only happen to one out of 100s HP characters in the books. Merope, in case she's was a Squib, was still young and in the quote it refers to "late in life". So it doesn't refer to her in this case.

I didn't say that Merope was the person who Jo meant, she is death so unless Harry would find a way to go back in someone's memories or travel back in time she won't turn up again. I just said that it might have been possible for someone to get magical abilities later on.

[anabel]

I can't wait to find out who does magic late in life! But it's a bit confusing. Would that be someone who refused their place at Hogwarts, do you think?

[Tenshi]

Now do you think Merope attended Hogwarts, in case she was a real witch? Or did her father refused to send her there?