His Dark Materials | 2x03

More on Mrs. Coulter's feelings

Originally posted by expectedbehavior

It strikes me that at this point in the story, Mrs. Coulter doesn't really know why she wants Lyra. "I'm her mother," she tells Lee dramatically, her head raised in self-importance. "She needs me." Of course that's a pretty and impressive line to tell people that Lee sees through immediately, dismissing her and schooling her on the indifference of intentionality. During this exchange, she realizes that she doesn't even have a real, tangible reason for wanting Lyra other than that she's her daughter, that she has a maternal claim to her and, arguably, a maternal yearning for her. Yet here is Lee, talking about how that little girl changed his life and has given him hope and is worth so much more than his own life. Mrs. Coulter loves Lyra, but so does Lee. So do several other people. Lyra is biologically her child, but she is in the heart of so many others. Mrs. Coulter doesn't know how to process that. She's jealous, of course, but also realizes that these other people's feelings might lead to better protection for Lyra. And in the end, keeping her child safe is the one thing she desperately wishes to do, although it's yet to be seen if that desire can temper her more selfish desire of having and controlling her child for herself.