Another problem I have with F/eyre's character progression (i.e. why she does x, what she wants, etc.,) is that it's completely random. She goes from hunter to wanting to be a super-mega-warrior-high-queen-lady. And it makes no sense. This want is not her own, and is not established in the beginning of the story. It just...happens.
Jude in TFOTA, she becomes enamored with the Faerie world, and her cutthroat experiences cause her to want power. In short, Jude craves power, to be powerful. It is a basic want, but it is done quite well. It motivates her actions to an extent, and for the most part -- it's a good one. It's established extremely early on, and runs a thread throughout the entire story. She's not better than the Faerie, and she quickly realizes that she kind of has to stoop to their level. And as I've said it before, while I think the plot still kind of...drags, I can appreciate Jude's character. Most of Jude's actions are filtered through that very basic understanding, and every time something horrible or dangerous happens to her...it makes sense that she thinks that way. Her response is less rooted in the psychological and more in action. Every bad experience more or less proves the main central point of her character wanting power.
F/eyre...is not like that. Naturally, F/eyre is not as well-written as Jude, by a long shot, which makes the comparison a bit unfair, but I think they both go through similar character arcs (or at least -- F/eyre is supposed to). In the end, both of them want power.
F/eyre's central wants shift according to the plot, not the other way around. So, instead of having one single core belief, or a string of beliefs, that motivate her actions, like Jude, F/eyre's wants are shifted at any given time. Both of them are written to be active characters, but F/eyre isn't very...active. She's idle until someone spoon-feeds her what she should believe.
With Jude, we see her experience with the Fae through her eyes. She is the one who learns the lesson, they're not spoon-fed to her. One of the best-written scenes in the first book is when Jude breaks into Balekin's castle, and in doing so, tries to rescue a human girl. It's a very YA, naive, reckless thing to do. And it says a lot about Jude's character. We learn about a softer, protective side to her. But her naivete gets shattered pretty quickly because the girl ends up stuffing stones in her pockets to end herself. It's a very formulaic scene which is then undermined brilliantly. Jude is removed from being the center of the world, and she learns about the cruelty of the Faerie world indirectly. I really liked the scene. Jude takes action, and while her efforts are fruitless, she grows as a character, and we the audience can see that. She faces consequences for even the kindest actions.
F/eyre does reckless things. That's it. And usually, those scenes conflict with her inner narration, and they are fruitless. F/eyre never learns anything from them, she never grows as a character. So, when she is attacked by the Naga, and other creatures...she goes out on Calanmai. And after she is almost abused and killed on Calanmai, she goes out again and is almost hurt by Tamlin. And when that happens, she still tries to ensnare a mythical creature (the Suriel). And when R/hysand SA her mind, and nearly kills her, she comes back, she still comes back, and when Alis warns her about UTM, and the dangers, she still goes. She never learns her lesson, and these reckless actions literally don't make any sense, and they make me feel less sympathy because she never learns a lesson. She just keeps doing the same reckless things over and over. And then we get to MAF, and she gives that speech to Tamlin before he locks her in, and it's completely unearned because most of it...literally doesn't make sense. (this is from a narrative/objective standpoint). Because F/eyre...ends up being a doll, and pet to R/hysand immediately after professing how she didn't want to be dressed up and paraded. F/eyre had a lot of warnings, and help, and cues about the cruelty of the Fae world, and she literally never learns. And this becomes the biggest problem with her character throughout the entirety of MAF + WAR. The recklessness that's rewarded.
But the main problem is that F/eyre's wants are treated as THE moral good. It's why she is criticized and why she always will be. If a character like Jude destroyed the SC, we would probably root for her. Because it would be treated as Jude's want and not the moral want. Every time F/eyre does something reckless, the story bends over backward to treat it as the moral good. Every time R/hys does something bad, the story has to justify it as morally good, even when the action wasn't.
