Do you think he was ever in love with Bedelia like he was in love with Will? I ask this because Bedelia says they were both the "brides of Hannibal". But Hannibal never courted her like he did with Will, Bedelia came into Hannibal's life much before Will but he never pursued her like he did with Will. Mads said he wanted a future with Will unlike with other people he hooked up with Alana, Bedelia or Anthony. He took her to Italy as a consolation prize when Will betrayed him. Even in Italy H was pining about Will all the time and telling Bedelia how much he loves Will. I know he slept with Bedelia but he probably slept with Anthony too and he slept with Alana, Hannibal is a hedonistic guy who sleeps around. For him sleeping with someone doesn't mean he is in love with them. On the other hand he took a bullet for Will, went to prison for years for Will, made a human heart for Will, jumped off a cliff for Will, committed a whole massacre for Will. But when Will confronts Bedelia, she pretends as if Hannibal held them in the same regard which is obviously not true. Hannibal would choose Will over her in a heart beat and even she knows it but yet she acts as if Hannibal sees them both equally. I don't understand why? 😭 Why do you think?why make herself seem like a competition when she is not?
I think that’s a very interesting question, Bedelia is a complex character and I can only tell you what I think, I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong answer here.
First of all, I think we can take sex out of the equation entirely. There are moments in the show where Hannibal and Will touch each other, but none of them are in a sexual context. I think these moments have significance in the sense that they are a sign of Hannibal being changed by Will, and I can imagine a season 4 in which their physical relationship is explored further, but from what we’ve seen, sex plays a small role in Hannibal’s (and Will’s!) life. However, we see a lot of carnal connection between characters through something else: Hannibal’s cannibalism. I believe that what many people find in sex, he finds in his meals. He feeds people human meat all of the time, but in most cases they don’t know about it. Will does, and Hannibal knows he does. Inbetween all of Will’s double spy thing that’s going on, he never once suggests not wanting to eat Hannibal’s food, not just to the man himself, but also to the audience. Will wants to join Hannibal at the table, he wants to join him in the one (very corporal) thing Hannibal hasn’t shared with anyone knowing or willing (except for Gideon, but he is practically forced to eat his own leg, which is very different from willingly eating Hannibal’s murder victims while being a free man). The symbolism behind their shared meals is endless, but now to Bedelia: For all her knowledge of Hannibal, she still refuses to dine with him. In fact, I believe she is repulsed by it.
We know Bedelia has a murderous tendency, or at least that Hannibal was able to coax it out of her. I do think there are similarities between Bedelia and Will, they are both acutely aware of Hannibal’s character, danger, capability and power and they are also both intrigued by it. But there are fundamental differences between their relationship to this knowledge: With Bedelia, it results in fascinated fear, with Will in self-recognition. Bedelia is afraid of Hannibal while they share a life in Florence, because, as you said, she knows if he were to get bored with her, it would mean she’d end up as his dinner. She has no intention of joining him in eating anyone, she does not want to be eaten by him (or suffer any violence at his hand), or eat him herself. Will does. Bedelia is a spectator, Will is a participant.
As for why Hannibal spent such a huge part of his life with her, I think it’s a quite simple and very human reason: loneliness. Bedelia was his psychiatrist before she was his wife and even if she didn’t know the nature of his crimes for a long time, she did know at least part of him. Hannibal craved understanding and being known and I think he knew he could find some sense of it in Bedelia. She’s his consolation prize, as you said. He was promised a partner in crime (literally) and didn’t get one, so he might as well take the next best thing and discard it if necessary. He clearly also knew she stayed with him out of fear.
As you said, Bedelia actively tries to make Will jealous. She knows how dangerous Hannibal is, but I’m not sure she realises just in how much danger she is putting herself when making Will angry and jealous. I don’t think she loves Hannibal, it’s probably a distant sort of fascination and intrigue, but, like you said, she’s more than aware Hannibal does not see her as an equal. I believe Bedelia wants Will to believe she is Hannibal’s true partner, because then someone does, even if it isn’t Hannibal, or herself for that matter. She chose a life she knew wasn’t truly hers to live and I think she merely wants to convince someone close to her and Hannibal that it is hers to live. That’s speculation on my part, though, even if based on perception of her behaviour.
I’ve always thought Bedelia is the character most similar to the show’s audience. A spectator who is fascinated, intrigued and repulsed by Hannibal, just like (presumably) most of us are. She must be living a very lonely life in Florence. In the first two seasons, she plays the same role in Hannibal’s life, but she also has one of her own. A psychiatrist is the epitome of passive spectatorship. When in Florence, she is reduced to that role entirely, her life consists of nothing else. I honestly can’t blame her for wanting to be active in some way, even if it was only in someone else’s imagination.
It’s also interesting to take in the post credit scene of wrath of the lamb, but I fear I would talk for hours if I started and most of it would be very vague interpretations.
28 notes
·
View notes
What's your overall opinion on Thunder? (If you finished reading it) Despite a having a few issues with it personally, (such as Frostpaw deciding to become a med cat again (GIRL WHAT) and the Smokey stuff), I honestly really enjoyed it! I loved reading from Sunbeam's and Frostpaw's perspective, and actually like what they did with the park cats! They are silly, even if a little boring! :)
I really, really hope they explore Curlfeather more in the future!
I'm currently on Chapter 12 and... honestly I'm mostly just bored.
One traveling book per arc is already waaaaay too much. I'm not enjoying Frostpaw and Nightheart's chemistry at all, and it's frustrating that Tree is now suddenly part of the plot because they just suddenly remembered that they have an entire role dedicated to stopping conflict. Seeing StarClan NOW is also a huge disappointment, because I'd been liking this arc so much exactly because it was more grounded.
I keep wanting to skip chapters to get back to Sunbeam. I KNOW that Nightheart is Not Orange and still feels the need to pitch a fit over his mom having "high expectations" that were never actually on-screen. Frostpaw herself would be fun if she wasn't constantly brawling with travel filler and Riverstar/StarClan being obtuse.
And, knowing none of this is actually building anywhere and that I'm in store for a frustrating end-of-book gathering that doesn't really tie into the actions of the main characters, it's hard to care at all. That's my REALLY big problem right now. None of this matters, because Berryheart's gambit is something she's deciding entirely off-screen, uninfluenced and unobserved by ANY of the POVs.
What exactly is the point of THREE POVs, one of them seeing mere glimpses of the plot, and two of them witnessing the same exact sidequest? While one of the sidequest POVs doesn't actually DO anything because it's not even his sidequest?
Basically; sorry man I'm not having a good time here.
36 notes
·
View notes