Why is Rhaegar seen in a postive light?

[Pikachu101]

I think you're spot on. If Rhaegar had succeeded and turned out to be an awful King I think people would have loved Robert the way they love Rhaegar.

:agree:

With Rhaegar everyone can sigh and wishfully think: "if only he was king and not this debauched drunk!. Rhaegar's mystery, love and romanticisation stems from the fact that he died whilst he was young, beautiful and full of promise. If he succeeded as king, the illusion would fall rapidly and everyone would realise what a fool their king is.

The same could be said for all the characters tbh. If none of them died, we'd see a less biased interpretation of what they were like, not what people just chose to remember.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Can you stop the sarcasm please?

no.

[Mariagoner]

With Rhaegar everyone can sigh and wishfully think: "if only he was king and not this debauched drunk!. Rhaegar's mystery, love and romanticisation stems from the fact that he died whilst he was young, beautiful and full of promise. If he succeeded as king, the illusion would fall rapidly and everyone would realise what a fool their king is.

This honestly is one of the central themes of ASOIAF and one of the reasons I love the series so. Over and over, characters in this series have to confront the illusions they hold -- Ned's illusion of honor or Sansa's illusion of romantic chivalry or Arya's illusion of the wonder of adventure and so on -- and either learn to deal with reality (which Sansa and Arya seem to be doing so far) or die (RIP Ned and head).

I honestly do think that if GRRM wants to continue being ruthless, he'll have to show us that the glittering "illusion" of Rhaegar (this majestic, beautiful, melancholy, brilliant young man who would have made everyone in Westeros happy if only he had been able to be king!) is just as much a fantasy as anything Sansa used to believe in while she lived in Winterfell. In the end, there's no one who could have lived up to all the hopes and dreams Rhaegar inspired -- not even Rhaegar himself. He promised a lot but ultimately, he could deliver very little.

And I think by the end of her pregnancy, when she was locked into her Tower of "Joy" by her weakened body, her lover who just left her to fight a futile battle, and the bitter knowledge that half her family had been killed by her presumably future father-in-law, Lyanna Stark would have realized as much.

[Pikachu101]

They hold exactly the same views of marriage like we do and other parts of Westeros do. They are just more open about paramours. Even Martin said that according to the Martells, Rhaegar's treatment of Elia was humiliating.

Nothing in the books indicates that in Dorne, it was so very common to elevate one's paramour above their spouse. I'd like it if people started making difference between the two things. Even Oberyn did not marry his beloved mistress and did not acknowledge any of his Sand daughters, although he treated them quite affectionately.

Elia might not have cared who replaced her in Rhaegar's bed but she probably cared very much that Rhaegar made her look unlikeable, ugly and unsatisfying. His actions were blows to her image and pride, no matter her personal feelings.

I really don't think people doesn't understand this. But if Elia was OK with it, that would help Rhaegar keep his nice image, so they insist that she was. Still, if Catelyn and the other noblewomen we met are any indication, Westerosi's highborn ladies did not take acknowledged bastards and mistresses thrown in their faces graciously. Why would Elia be different?

:agree:

The only reason why fans insist Elia would be ok with it is because they can't stand the idea of Rhaegar not being perfect.

I think this issue alone is enough to show that Rhaegar wasn't this perfect, chivalrous prince; he could be a jerk sometimes. But in the end he wasn't 100% evil so characters tend to ignore the slight stains on his character, just like everyone's going to ignore Robb's foolishness in favour of his better points.