So first of all I want to say I don’t want to step on anyone’s feet, please respect my opinion and I’ll respect yours. You’re welcome to discuss this matter with me though, I’m always open to new ideas.
Okay, so what I’ve been thinking about for a little while now was that someone said that Charlotte’s “obsession” with Griffith is creepy. I was asking myself, is she really obsessed or are we missing something here...?
In my opinion it is much more complex than just saying “Wow this little girl is crazy, she only ever calls for Griffith when sh*t goes down and is so clingy and annoying” but that’s already where the fandom needs to cut her some slack.
Looking at her family it is not even surprising that she is attached to the first outsider who makes her feel comfortable. Starting with her mum, we don’t know much about her, just that she looked exactly like Charlotte and seemed to be a very kind and gentle person, beloved by many, but she died when Charlotte was still a child. A parent’s death especially when it happens at such a young age must have been traumatising for Charlotte. We don’t know how much grieved or if she still does, we just know her father remarried rather quickly for political reasons.
Now her step mother seems to have jumped straight out of a fairy tale and plays her role as cold and strict step mother perfectly, so Charlotte had to live without her mother’s love (or mother’s love in general) since she lost the woman that gave birth to her.
Her uncle... well... we know about his plans to make his son marry (so Charlotte’s 1st degree younger cousin) the Princess in order of him to become King one day (well that won’t happen thanks to Guts.) How much did she know about her uncle’s plans? I suppose it wasn’t really a big secret, but that must have also been an unsettling thought for Charlotte, considering that it was her cousin we’re talking about.
Now her father... her father is the most difficult person in the whole constellation, because here’s where the parallel but also difference to Theresia started forming in my mind. They’re both daughters of nobles, with two rather strict and distant fathers, both of their mother’s died when they were still children, both girls look exactly like their mothers.
Charlotte’s father seems at first just to be... well a father, the king who loves his daughter but whom’s main focus are politics and power play. The princess is free to roam the castle and do as she pleases, while of course still obeying the rules and her duties, she seems to be leading a rather happy and comfortable life.
Theresia, when first introduced to the reader seems to be scared and uncomfortable in the presence of her own father, she is forced to stay in her room and dreams of the freedom and liberty that was taken from her by her own parent.
The breaking point here, where the whole climate changes, is when the motives of each parent are revealed. Theresia’s father, despite of being an Apostle, still cared deeply about his daughter, he wanted to protect her (from himself? Whatever influenced his wife?) and loved her so dearly he gave his life for her. His love for his daughter was the pure and platonic love a father feels for his child.
Theresia was enraged over her father’s death, despite of knowing of his true nature, which further proofs that she did care about him and love him dearly, even when things seemed different in the beginning.
The King of Midland felt something very different for his own daughter. While he did not physically restrict her, like Theresia’s father did, he treated her like a priced possession, his flower, as Griffith already noticed and pointed out, the King had no good intentions in mind when it came to his own daughter. He didn’t protect her, nor did he wanted to wait to find a suitable husband for her, he wanted to own her, an idea that bred in his head over the obsession and insanity that developed after losing his beloved wife (the first one ofc).
It seemed like his motives were unknown to Charlotte till the incident after which he slowly succumbed into insanity over his daughters rejection, but that aside, we need to go back to the start.
Charlotte was a 15 year old girl who grew up in a dysfunctional family, but she is still a gentle and naive young girl, when she was first introduced to the reader. She is pacifistic and is (apparently) scared by soldiers, but then she meets Griffith, someone who doesn’t fit in the picture.
He’s a beautiful (not handsome, but beautiful) young man with a silver tongue, someone who gives her attention, someone who sees her as a girl, he listens to her, respects her and gives her answers to her questions. Griffith might have been one of the first people who ever treated her as a person and not a possession or tool (at least in her knowledge, of course he uses her).
She is an impressionable young girl, he is a charming and cunning young man, of course she’s interested in him, and seeing him almost die twice plus the threat of an untimely death always looming over his head must have left no room for her to develop these feelings slowly but steadily, she probably fell in love head over heels and you can’t blame her for it.
Charlotte was manipulated into loving him, Griffith knew of her weaknesses, her flaws, her desires. All she just wants is to be loved, she is a good girl that came from a broken home, he was the first person to make her feel like she was not just the Princess of Midland, but Charlotte, a person that is worthy of love, affection and respect, but most importantly... a person, not just a person in a position of power.
Griffith being the one to have sex with her for the first also left it’s mark on the girl, I don’t want to say he was a gentle lover, but she has seemed to enjoyed it and it was (at least on her part, I am not too sure about Griffith’s mental state and if the sex was purely consensual or rather a way of self harm, but that’s a different topic) consensual, which is a rare thing to see in this manga.
Every other sexual encounter she had was sexual abuse. So of course her longing for Griffith (keep in mind he also promised her he would return), would be something that would keep her sane, she needed a reason to get through the hardships that life was slowly pilling up in front of her and the only thing she had, the only thing that gave her a feeling of stability, security, and love was Griffith.
She’s not obsessed, she’s not his damsel in distress, Charlotte is a good girl, who came from a cold, toxic and abusive home, who only wanted to be loved by someone and feel in the hands of someone who only used her genuine wish against her in order to achieve his goals.
So... please don’t criticise her for something she’s not, try to understand why she acts like she does, she is an incredibly well written character because her backstory and her actions are deeply connected to each other.
