Rumbellers & Beauties– has there been any fandom discussion about the possibility that Maurice is not Belle’s biological father? It certainly would explain a lot, don’t you think?
still-searching47 answered: Do you have someone in mind then? To be honest I think Belle isn’t like Maurice, because she’s very much her mother’s daughter.
No, I don’t have anyone in mind. I mean, we know so little about Belle’s mother that I don’t even want to hazard a guess.
I only asked the question b/c I was thinking about Maurice and his relationship to Belle due to the OUaT Positivity Project. Looking ahead, the prompt for Day 23 is “Father” and Maurice has been such an awful father to Belle, that I was trying to figure out what I could say about him that would be positive. Which then made me wonder WHY he’s so awful to her. I mean, what kind of father refuses to even try waking his child from a sleeping curse? And it occurred to me that if he’s not her bio father–and has known all along–that would certainly help explain his behavior toward her. It could even explain the TLK refusal….he won’t try b/c he knows he doesn’t love Belle and a kiss from him won’t work.
There’s been some speculation (wishful thinking probably, but let’s go with it for the moment) that Belle’s mother is still alive and she’ll see her again in S6. If OUaT does bring Colette back, it’d make for a very interesting storyline for Belle to not only be reunited with her mother, but find out the truth about her father–if there’s a hidden truth to be told.
Some fathers are like that though. They are selfish, they want what they want. Some care in their own way but others don’t even care that much. Fathers can be biological or not. It’s not genetics that make someone a good father. So Maurice can be biological and be the way he is. I think Maurice does love Belle, but he loves a version of her that doesn’t exist – his ideal version.
I don’t think he accepts her for who she is, nor supports her choices. He thinks that he knows best. I daresay that if confronted about “why wouldn’t you wake her?” he would be genuinely confused as to what he had done wrong. In his mind he would be doing Belle a service in his ultimatum. He would think that made him a good father, because was looking out for her best interests. However, what he thinks is best for her, probably isn’t what Belle would think is best.
To be honest I don’t know what you could say about Maurice that was favorable either. Unless it was a backhanded compliment, like he thinks he is helping but he’s really not. Maybe, he only tries the same trick once, like sending her across the townline (only tried once). He did give her away at her wedding which I’m sure meant a lot to Belle. He was there whether he approved or not.