Gabrielle: A Woman Alone?
Not wishing to strike a match in a powder magazine, but I have read many arguments pro and con Xena?Gabrielle, Joxer?Gabrielle and even Ares-Gabrielle relationships since going online, and I have a question. Does Gabrielle actually have to be in a relationship with anyone? Why should her character have to be defined by whom (if anyone) she sleeps with?
It seems to me that in the relationships proposed the traffic is mostly one way, certainly as far as the end of Season Five. By the middle of that season, Gabrielle had made it clear to Joxer that she loved him, but not the way he wanted her to. She wished things were different, but life is like that sometimes and Joxer showed considerable maturity in accepting this. Ares tried to win Gabrielle over in both SUCCESSION and SEEDS OF FAITH, and failed.
With Xena things are a little more complicated. She and Gabrielle have been like that (you will have to imagine me crossing my fingers here) for the past five years. Gabrielle has made it clear on many occasions how much she loves Xena, but that is not the same as being in love with her. Certain episodes indicate that Xena is the one making most of the running:
THE TITANS: Xena displays what may be interpreted as signs of jealousy when she suspects Gabrielle has slept with Philius. Remember also that in Season One Gabrielle displays an adolescent tendency to fall headlong for anything in trousers.
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?: Xena does not handle her loss at all well when Gabrielle "dies on the table", becoming almost hysterical. Just as well, really, otherwise she would not have invented CPR.
RETURN OF CALLISTO: Xena is clearly in some emotional pain at the thought of "losing" Gabrielle to Perdicas. Gabrielle, on the other hand, is positively glowing the morning after her wedding night.
THE QUEST: Do I really have to describe The Kiss to anyone? Granted, it was Autolycus' body, but the motivation was Xena's. So was the choice of target area. Faced with the possibility of separation, Xena seems to have taken the opportunity to kiss Gabrielle as a lover would. Compare this to the affectionate but chaste kiss Gabrielle gives Xena in the final scene of A DAY IN THE LIFE. The younger woman seems to have missed the implications of her friend's action and mistaken it for a purely comforting gesture, probably due to her highly emotional state.
BLIND FAITH: Gabrielle tells Vidalus "I can't marry the King because my heart belongs to another, and even though I can't be with him now, I'm not ready to be with anyone else". This is more than just an excuse. Gabrielle is clearly unprepared for a relationship with anyone so soon after the death of Perdicas.
THE PRICE: After observing that Gabrielle understands hatred but has never given in to it, Xena almost gives herself away by saying "You don't know how much I love you", correcting it at the last moment to "You don't know how much I love... that". She seems unwilling to express her true feelings for her friend in case it damages their relationship.
A COMEDY OF EROS: In an early scene Gabrielle confides in Xena "Just between you and me, being chaste can be real hard", and says that the hardest part about serving Hestia would be "Giving up the chance to fall in love again". It is clear that she is referring in both cases to a heterosexual relationship. If Gabrielle and Xena were lovers, she would not have made these statements.
WARRIOR…PRIESTESS…TRAMP: Gabrielle tells Leah, "If I have to spend the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself will not be a problem." She does not appear to be speaking hypothetically, and the thinly veiled reference to masturbation clearly implies that her sex life is strictly a one-woman affair.
FINS, FEMMES AND GEMS: Xena totally misreads Gabrielle's statement "I looked into your eyes and Xena, I finally realised, there can only be one person for me in my life". She believes that her friend is finally making the first move, and you can see the Warrior Princess turning to mush. This and her reaction when she realises her mistake speak volumes.
ADVENTURES IN THE SIN TRADE: At the beginning of this story Xena seems almost obsessed by the idea of seeing Gabrielle one last time. Compare this to Gabrielle's ability to accept her loss and move on in THE GREATER GOOD and THE QUEST.
CRUSADER: Is Xena's description of Gabrielle as her "weakness" simply a reference to the protective instincts her friend inspires, or something deeper? Remember her words in her final confrontation with Najara, "…if I can't have her, nobody's gonna have her!" Xena may well be doing more here than simply burying herself in the role of obsessed lover. It is also clear that she plans to murder her opponent. Again, is this vengeance for her earlier defeat at Najara's hands, or due to jealousy of her enemy's influence on Gabrielle?
FALLEN ANGEL: Once more, Xena's behaviour borders on the obsessive. She is literally Hell-bent on spending eternity with Gabrielle, whose attitude is very different. When Michael tells her the only way to deal with Xena is to "...cut her up and let her spend the rest of eternity in pieces" Gabrielle, though clearly unhappy, replies "If that's what it takes". Apparently her plans for the future do not include eternal damnation, even if it means being with her best friend.
CHAKRAM: After giving Joxer some advice on how to express his feelings to Gabrielle, Xena sinks back in the bathtub and says, "Of course, you could just kiss the girl". Again, the dreamy look and voice say it all. It appears that the kiss they shared in THE QUEST remains one of Xena's fondest memories.
THEM BONES, THEM BONES: Gabrielle tells Amarice, "For many years I walked in Xena's shadow. I wanted to be her. She taught me something ? it's warmer standing in the sun". This more or less confirms my earlier suspicion that Gabrielle's initial feelings for Xena were based on hero worship, coupled with a "schoolgirl crush". The little girl Xena met in Poteidaia all those years ago has grown up now. She walks in the sunlight and can proudly declare herself a person in her own right, although she seems to have taken Najara's advice in committing fully to her relationship with Xena.
It may even be that Gabrielle feels a long?term partner, male or female, would threaten her identity. She would rather remain unattached than submerge (some might say diminish) herself in a sexual relationship.
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