#i have a lot of empathy for hetty because i feel like i've been her

[phantomoftheorpheum]

concerning Hetty

I know Hetty isn't really an aspect of the show I have addressed before, largely because I've been focused on Jack & Belle and Jack & Fagin, but I did want to share a thought. Obviously it is heavily implied that Hetty is in love with Jack (which he does not seem to even notice, much less reciprocate), and as sad as that is for her character (she's just like a genuinely good person who has done nothing wrong, just not been the right person at the right time), I think there is one particular phrasing in all of this that has kept me from feeling too crushed for her.

When she talks to Jack about love, she tells him, "You've never really loved anyone, have you? You peel the skin off your heart and it always hurts, no matter what you do," and the implication of this is very much, imo, that Hetty has loved (romantically) before Jack, and not only does she have the capacity to love again after him, she already knows this about herself, too. Jack being someone Hetty falls in love with, but not her first love, and very easily not her last, is a comfort, imo. She obviously isn't at peace with her feelings for Jack yet, but she absolutely feels like a character that can and will get over him, and that makes me feel happy for her, because not everyone is like that.

Some people really never do get over their first love, but I believe Hetty already has long before she met Jack, and I believe she absolutely will do so again with him as well, that one day she will look back at her love for Jack as a distant memory of her youth, nothing less, nothing more. That's how I choose to interpret her words, and since we're unlikely to ever get any concrete confirmation on this particular topic, that's how I'm going to continue to look at her character- someone strong enough and kind enough to have several beautiful loves pass through her life and still be open to loving again.

#hetty baggett #the artful dodger #the artful dodger spoilers #hetty x jack #kind of- just discussions of #i have a lot of empathy for hetty because i feel like i've been her #been not the right person at the right time for someone who i thought was the right person for me #and it does suck #but she just strikes me very much as someone who won't get caught up in the gravity of a broken heart #idk who will read this or if anyone else has been thinking about this #also i took my sleep meds before I started writing and something I wake up thinking 'wtf did i do' but i don't think this will be like that #mine #td