This leads to Rapunzel experiencing anxiety, low self-esteem, and difficulty making decisions on her own. Mother Gothel - Mother Gothel is shown to have narcissistic personality disorder, where she is preoccupied with her own needs and desires and has little regard for others, including.
What personality disorder does Mother Gothel have?
Tangled in the Narcissist's Tower
As you may recall, baby Rapunzel is kidnapped by Gothel from a kind king and queen who never give up hope for their daughter's return. Gothel is a once-beautiful but now aging narcissist who restores her youth and beauty as long as she is exposed to Rapunzel's healing long hair.
vain, manipulative, and selfish. Mother Gothel has some motherly, nurturing qualities, but they're always as part of a façade used to maintain control over Rapunzel. She lies about the dangers of the outside world, plays the victim for sympathy, and batters Rapunzel's self-esteem – all in order to keep her power.
In this re-telling of the classic Rapunzel story, Mother Gothel is a narcissistic, emotionally abusive sorceress who abducts the infant Rapunzel from her crib. Mother Gothel raises Rapunzel as her own, isolating her in a hidden tower to control Rapunzel and her magical hair.
Once Rapunzel disobeys her and begins to fight back, Mother Gothel becomes overtly violent, more abusive and dangerous. Mother Gothel consistently puts Rapunzel down in underhanded ways. In her brilliantly written villain song “Mother Knows Best”, she insults her “adopted daughter” incessantly.
Narcissistic Parenting: Did Mother Gothel Ever Love Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled? - The Fangirl
Did Mother Gothel genuinely love Rapunzel?
"I also think there is this thread of a kind of love that she does have for Rapunzel. It's not what she set out. But she does raise this child and it's the most intimate and certainly the most sustained relationship I think the woman has had in her 387 years or however old she might be.
Mother Gothel imposes extensive gaslighting on Rapunzel, a term used to describe a form of psychological manipulation that causes someone to question their own reality, oftentimes by presenting a false narrative which leads someone to doubt their perceptions and become misled or disoriented.
Gothel, terrified of growing older, is motivated by fear. As a result, she begins to display symptoms of BPD--to the point where she will literally die without Rapunzel and her magic hair.
Often, narcissistic parents perceive the independence of their child as a threat. What distinguishes the narcissistic parent is a pervasive tendency to deny their child's independent selfhood. Biggest telltale signs of a narcissistic parent include emotional manipulation, lack of empathy, and neglect.
Narcissism tends to play out intergenerationally, with narcissistic parents producing either narcissistic or codependent children in turn. While a self-confident parent, or good-enough parent, can allow a child their autonomous development, the narcissistic parent may instead use the child to promote their own image.
Gothel knew if Rapunzel left their tower, she would realize that she was a princess, kidnapped, and used for the magical properties in her hair. These are rather dark messages in Tangled but that's what made Gothel one of the darkest, underrated villains in any Disney movie.
While Gothel's age is never explicitly stated, it is hinted in the series that she is at least 1,000 years old, as she is depicted as a pupil of Lord Demanitus, who lived 1,000 years prior to the events of the series.
Rapunzel syndrome is an extremely rare condition associated with trichophagia (hair eating disorder) secondary to a psychiatric illness called trichotillomania (hair-pulling behaviour). It is most commonly seen in children and adolescents. Untreated cases can lead to a number of complications.
Meanwhile, Flynn manages to escape the palace and journeys to rescue Rapunzel. When he arrives at the tower, he is fatally stabbed in the stomach by Mother Gothel.
Overall, Mother Gothel is considered a villain because of her selfish and cruel actions towards Rapunzel, and her willingness to go to any lengths to maintain her youth and beauty. Her character provides a cautionary tale about the dangers of obsession and the importance of self-love and acceptance.
In the dysfunctional narcissistic family system, the golden child is the most likely to develop a narcissistic personality. Sibling abuse by a favored narcissistic brother usually follows a predictable pattern of behavior. There are strategies that can help protect you from a narcissistic brother's abuse.
But children who were extremely melodramatic, and who also had parents that ignored or neglected them, spoiled them constantly, or insisted on perfection, were more likely to become narcissists in adulthood.
For example, a narcissist might offer an insincere apology to get something in return. They might apologize to make themselves out in a victim position or to repair the damage that's been done to their image. There are narcissists who don't apologize for their actions.
Elsa (Idina Menzel) demonstrates traits of paranoid personality disorder. She is definitely guarded and suspicious. She is so scared her powers will hurt someone again that she closes herself off. Also, she does not want to strike others with “fear”; Elsa wants to be accepted, not chased away.
From the National Institute of Mental Health : "Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness marked by an ongoing pattern of varying moods, self-image, and behavior. These symptoms often result in impulsive actions and problems in relationships.
Mother Gothel uses a variety of subtle emotional and psychological abuses to manipulate Rapunzel into staying in the tower. Mother Gothel kept Rapunzel's desire to leave the tower she was living/prisoner in in check for most of her life by a combination of belittling her and telling terrifying tales of the outside.
