Was Arya really jelaous of Bella from the Peach?

[Ice Turtle]

A lot of people seems to take it as a fact, but I never saw it as certain.

“I bet this is a brothel,” she whispered to Gendry.

“You don’t even know what a brothel is.”

“I do so,” she insisted. “It’s like an inn, with girls.”

He was turning red again. “What are you doing here, then?” he demanded. “A brothel’s no fit place for no bloody highborn lady, everybody knows that.”

One of the girls sat down on the bench beside him. “Who’s a highborn lady? The little skinny one?” She looked at Arya and laughed. “I’m a king’s daughter myself.”

Arya knew she was being mocked. “You are not.”

Arya doesn't believe Bella, but that is only negative though she has about her and that has nothing to do with Gendry.

“Well, I might be.” When the girl shrugged, her gown slipped off one shoulder. “They say King Robert fucked my mother when he hid here, back before the battle. Not that he didn’t have all the other girls too, but Leslyn says he liked my ma the best.”

The girl did have hair like the old king’s, Arya thought; a great thick mop of it, as black as coal. That doesn’t mean anything, though. Gendry has the same kind of hair too. Lots of people have black hair.

“I’m named Bella,” the girl told Gendry. “For the battle. I bet I could ring your bell, too. You want to?”

“No,” he said gruffly.

“I bet you do.” She ran a hand along his arm. “I don’t cost nothing to friends of Thoros and the lightning lord.”

“No, I said.” Gendry rose abruptly and stalked away from the table out into the night.

Bella turned to Arya. “Don’t he like girls?”

Arya shrugged. “He’s just stupid. He likes to polish helmets and beat on swords with hammers.”

“Oh.” Bella tugged her gown back over her shoulder and went to talk with Jack-Be-Lucky.

Arya talks a little to Bella even after Gendry leaves angry. Arya calls Gendry stupid but shows no anger towards the girl. This is actually part that really made me doubt that she was jealous. Later Gendry returns when Arya gets in trouble with an old perv.

“Why did you say that?” Arya hopped to her feet. “You’re not my brother.”

“That’s right,” he said angrily. “I’m too bloody lowborn to be kin to m’lady high.”

Arya was taken aback by the fury in his voice. “That’s not the way I meant it.”

“Yes it is.” He sat down on the bench, cradling a cup of wine between his hands. “Go away. I want to drink this wine in peace. Then maybe I’ll go find that black-haired girl and ring her bell for her.”

“But . . .”

“I said, go away. M’lady.”

Arya whirled and left him there. A stupid bullheaded bastard boy, that’s all he is. He could ring all the bells he wanted, it was nothing to her.

It's Gendry not Arya who brings up Bella. This time Arya gets angry but IMO it have more to do with Gendry sending her away and abandoning her than with him being interested in girls. She never wonders in her POV if he indeed slept with her, though she brings Bella up later:

“My aunt Allyria says Lady Ashara and your father fell in love at Harrenhal—”

“That’s not so. He loved my lady mother.”

“I’m sure he did, my lady, but—”

“She was the only one he loved.”

“He must have found that bastard under a cabbage leaf, then,” Gendry said behind them.

Arya wished she had another crabapple to bounce off his face. “My father had honor,” she said angrily. “And we weren’t talking to you anyway. Why don’t you go back to Stoney Sept and ring that girl’s stupid bells?”

Gendry gets arguably jealous of Ned Dayne, but it may have more to do with Ned's social status than with Arya. As for Arya I think that there are two good explanations besides jealousy:

1, part of their talk when she brings up Bella is important. They are talking about Eddard Stark's honor and Arya kind of reminds Gendry that he has no right to judge her father because he is no better as he himself (almost?) bedded a whore at least once.

2, Arya is returning to their talk when he just rudely send her away and is repaying him with his own coin

Actually Arya bringing up Bella because she thinks Gendry is jealous makes by far the least sense as she doesn't seem to have any idea why Gendry is so rude to Ned Dayne.

[ARYa_Nym]

Good job.

I also thought that Gendry being jealous Ned could have more to do with his insecurity over being a bastard than implying he's upset because he thinks Arya has feelings for little Ned.

& IA that she never really thinks about the possibility of Gendry being with girls. If she was really so jealous she would care about this more.

[Crimson King]

I completely agree. It seems clear the tensions between them are much more fueled by social status than jealousy.

[Lord Voldemort's Toes]

This is what I thought, too.

[Dorian Martell]

Arya keeps losing the people she cares for. First it was her brothers, and her mom. Then it was her wolf. Then it was her dad and sister. Next was Lommy and weasel when they got caught by Gregor. Then it was Hot pie at the inn. She is probably a tad too young to be thinking realistically about romance but she has been through a lot with gendry and by that point in the books she probably cares quite deeply for him. Their birth status seems to be the big obstacle. She will probably find she has romantic feelings if she meets him later. as she seems to be quite interested in his arms and chest when he is hammering steel

[ARYa_Nym]

I don't think Arya noticing someone is attractive means much though. She noted that Myrcella looked like a little doll. She's not into her. She noticed Lanna's looks more than once. She noted Jaqen more than Gendry. She never calls Gendry good looking but she does for Jaqen. We know she thought Dareon was attractive but that didn't stop her from killing him.

[Mummers Dragon]

I always perceived the tension as both Arya and Gendrys hormones kicking in, although neither realizes or understands whats going on, and are confused about these new awakened feelings. So it comes down to biology doing its thing, and neither Arya(too young at winterfell) or Gendry have had anyone tell them about the birds and the bee's, so they have no ability to cope with the strange new feelings.There is an attraction, but they don't know it for what it is, but i still don't know if i would call it a love connection or that they are fated to be together.

[Mark Antony]

Never got a jealous vibe from Arya tbh

[ARYa_Nym]

I always perceived the tension as both Arya and Gendrys hormones kicking in, although neither realizes or understands whats going on, and are confused about these new awakened feelings. So it comes down to biology doing its thing, and neither Arya(too young at winterfell) or Gendry have had anyone tell them about the birds and the bee's, so they have no ability to cope with the strange new feelings.There is an attraction, but they don't know it for what it is, but i still don't know if i would call it a love connection or that they are fated to be together.

Gendry had a beard already in AGoT. He's 15 in ASoS. Jon was having lots of sex at 15/16. So was Lyanna. Dany is a year older in ADWD and is all over Daario.

I think Gendry is likely already hormonal but he's not going to talk about it with a 10 year old. For all we know Gendry might not be a virgin. How would Arya know? She wasn't around him all the time.

[Pod The Impaler]

A lot of people seems to take it as a fact, but I never saw it as certain.

“I bet this is a brothel,” she whispered to Gendry.

“You don’t even know what a brothel is.”

“I do so,” she insisted. “It’s like an inn, with girls.”

He was turning red again. “What are you doing here, then?” he demanded. “A brothel’s no fit place for no bloody highborn lady, everybody knows that.”

One of the girls sat down on the bench beside him. “Who’s a highborn lady? The little skinny one?” She looked at Arya and laughed. “I’m a king’s daughter myself.”

Arya knew she was being mocked. “You are not.”

Arya doesn't believe Bella, but that is only negative though she has about her and that has nothing to do with Gendry.

“Well, I might be.” When the girl shrugged, her gown slipped off one shoulder. “They say King Robert fucked my mother when he hid here, back before the battle. Not that he didn’t have all the other girls too, but Leslyn says he liked my ma the best.”

The girl did have hair like the old king’s, Arya thought; a great thick mop of it, as black as coal. That doesn’t mean anything, though. Gendry has the same kind of hair too. Lots of people have black hair.

“I’m named Bella,” the girl told Gendry. “For the battle. I bet I could ring your bell, too. You want to?”

“No,” he said gruffly.

“I bet you do.” She ran a hand along his arm. “I don’t cost nothing to friends of Thoros and the lightning lord.”

“No, I said.” Gendry rose abruptly and stalked away from the table out into the night.

Bella turned to Arya. “Don’t he like girls?”

Arya shrugged. “He’s just stupid. He likes to polish helmets and beat on swords with hammers.”

“Oh.” Bella tugged her gown back over her shoulder and went to talk with Jack-Be-Lucky.

Arya talks a little to Bella even after Gendry leaves angry. Arya calls Gendry stupid but shows no anger towards the girl. This is actually part that really made me doubt that she was jealous. Later Gendry returns when Arya gets in trouble with an old perv.

“Why did you say that?” Arya hopped to her feet. “You’re not my brother.”

“That’s right,” he said angrily. “I’m too bloody lowborn to be kin to m’lady high.”

Arya was taken aback by the fury in his voice. “That’s not the way I meant it.”

“Yes it is.” He sat down on the bench, cradling a cup of wine between his hands. “Go away. I want to drink this wine in peace. Then maybe I’ll go find that black-haired girl and ring her bell for her.”

“But . . .”

“I said, go away. M’lady.”

Arya whirled and left him there. A stupid bullheaded bastard boy, that’s all he is. He could ring all the bells he wanted, it was nothing to her.

It's Gendry not Arya who brings up Bella. This time Arya gets angry but IMO it have more to do with Gendry sending her away and abandoning her than with him being interested in girls. She never wonders in her POV if he indeed slept with her, though she brings Bella up later:

“My aunt Allyria says Lady Ashara and your father fell in love at Harrenhal—”

“That’s not so. He loved my lady mother.”

“I’m sure he did, my lady, but—”

“She was the only one he loved.”

“He must have found that bastard under a cabbage leaf, then,” Gendry said behind them.

Arya wished she had another crabapple to bounce off his face. “My father had honor,” she said angrily. “And we weren’t talking to you anyway. Why don’t you go back to Stoney Sept and ring that girl’s stupid bells?”

Gendry gets arguably jealous of Ned Dayne, but it may have more to do with Ned's social status than with Arya. As for Arya I think that there are two good explanations besides jealousy:

1, part of their talk when she brings up Bella is important. They are talking about Eddard Stark's honor and Arya kind of reminds Gendry that he has no right to judge her father because he is no better as he himself (almost?) bedded a whore at least once.

2, Arya is returning to their talk when he just rudely send her away and is repaying him with his own coin

Actually Arya bringing up Bella because she thinks Gendry is jealous makes by far the least sense as she doesn't seem to have any idea why Gendry is so rude to Ned Dayne.

It's all of these things, including a bit of jealousy. Maybe not of Bella herself, but the idea that Gendry with some other girl seems to bother her, though at that age she's probably not realizing why. Doesn't matter that Bella is a whore either, but that the other girl is older - a woman and not a little girl like Arya still is.

In general also it brings up both their sore points - Arya feels inadequate because she's still a little girl; Gendry feels inadequate because he's a lowborn bastard. The whole thing is a silly awkward mess.

[Mithras]

I get the impression that Gendry knows he is Robert's bastard and he understood Bella is his half sister.

[Ice Turtle]

I get the impression that Gendry knows he is Robert's bastard and he understood Bella is his half sister.

I wondered if he knew too. It's possible but we have no strong proof.

[Lady Howell]

Not romantic jealousy, or even jealousy at all. I don't even think it was aimed at Bella, but she does brood about the incident later on, showing it had some sort of emotional weight to it for her. As others and the OP pointed out, it's more aimed towards Gendry, not Bella, and the tension of their class differences. Still, I always thought it was some nice character interaction for Arya and Gendry.

[Ice Turtle]

It's all of these things, including a bit of jealousy. Maybe not of Bella herself, but the idea that Gendry with some other girl seems to bother her, though at that age she's probably not realizing why. Doesn't matter that Bella is a whore either, but that the other girl is older - a woman and not a little girl like Arya still is.

In general also it brings up both their sore points - Arya feels inadequate because she's still a little girl; Gendry feels inadequate because he's a lowborn bastard. The whole thing is a silly awkward mess.

Don't know. She claims sometimes that she is almost woman but even more times she simply identifies with a wolf. Arya wants her family, revenge, freedom and power. Though arguably power and family can be tied to sexual maturity and beauty Arya does not see it that way yet. Arya doesn't want to find a perfect man like Sansa, doesn't desperately pray for a savior like Jeyne Poole or secretly wish to start a family like Jon. Why would she wish to be a woman grown?

[Mummers Dragon]

Gendry had a beard already in AGoT. He's 15 in ASoS. Jon was having lots of sex at 15/16. So was Lyanna. Dany is a year older in ADWD and is all over Daario.

I think Gendry is likely already hormonal but he's not going to talk about it with a 10 year old. For all we know Gendry might not be a virgin. How would Arya know? She wasn't around him all the time.

I agree Gendry was already hormonal, but i don't think he had much exposure in the presence of girls/women. I think by the time his hormones began kicking in, he was already Mutts apprentice and his blacksmithing was almost the entirety of his existence. I think that whole wrestling Arya in a dress thing was indicative of his hormones at play and his inability to comprehend his feelings. I also think his unease around Bella is proof of his virginal disposition, rather than due to a suspicion that they may be related.

[ARYa_Nym]

I agree Gendry was already hormonal, but i don't think he had much exposure in the presence of girls/women. I think by the time his hormones began kicking in, he was already Mutts apprentice and his blacksmithing was almost the entirety of his existence. I think that whole wrestling Arya in a dress thing was indicative of his hormones at play and his inability to comprehend his feelings. I also think his unease around Bella is proof of his virginal disposition, rather than due to a suspicion that they may be related.

I think Gendry was old enough to understand if he had feelings. The birds and the bees talk is late to tell a 14/15 year old. Boys can show interest in sex young and even if they don't they talk.

Stannis is uneasy around women too but he sure is sexing Mel up a storm. I think Gendry is more like him than he is Robert. He has the untrusting bitterness. I just don't think we know about Gendry's history to say he is one. I doubt he has tons like Robert did at his age but he could have been with a girl before or even now.

[Lady Howell]

I think Gendry was old enough to understand if he had feelings. The birds and the bees talk is late to tell a 14/15 year old. Boys can show interest in sex young and even if they don't they talk.

Stannis is uneasy around women too but he sure is sexing Mel up a storm. I think Gendry is more like him than he is Robert. He has the untrusting bitterness. I just don't think we know about Gendry's history to say he is one. I doubt he has tons like Robert did at his age but he could have been with a girl before or even now.

Even older teenagers have a hard time working out their feelings, especially when it comes to people they're close to as friends.

[ARYa_Nym]

Even older teenagers have a hard time working out their feelings, especially when it comes to people they're close to as friends.

Not in the sense of they've never had a crush or sexual desire before and have no idea what it is. By that time they've likely already done it. For the latter case maybe an asexual wouldn't but they can do the former and have a crush.

ETA: Especially in Gendry's position he should have been around older men a lot and they definitely will talk. I think even if he hadn't had a crush on anyone himself he shouldn't be totally in the dark on the subject.

[north of the wall]

I never felt Arya was jealous towards Gendry. But I did feel as if he is jealous of her. Not because he loves her but because she is highborn.

Having said that if they met again and were older I wouldn't mind if they had romantic feelings. With Arya being so young though I doubt either have romantic feelings for one another yet (if ever)

I think if a male and female get along well some readers feel that they should be "shiped" regardless of age and context and this is what I think is what's happened with Arya and Gendry.

[ARYa_Nym]

Don't know. She claims sometimes that she is almost woman but even more times she simply identifies with a wolf. Arya wants her family, revenge, freedom and power. Though arguably power and family can be tied to sexual maturity and beauty Arya does not see it that way yet. Arya doesn't want to find a perfect man like Sansa, doesn't desperately pray for a savior like Jeyne Poole or secretly wish to start a family like Jon. Why would she wish to be a woman grown?

She definitely doesn't. Like when she talked about Lady Smallwood calling her pretty long after being with her but she doesn't do the same with any males. Female opinion on her looks matter more to her. She's not trying to attract any males and doesn't see what power she could get from it so it makes sense.