Honestly, I've never understood why so many people call Beatrix a bad mother just because she was strict. Yes, she wasn't affectionate with Shu and Reiji. She didn't constantly tell them she loved them or act like the perfect, loving mother. But if you look at the Sakamaki family as a whole, there weren't really any normal parents to begin with. Compared to everyone else, Beatrix comes across very differently than people often make her out to be.
She definitely expected too much from her sons, especially Reiji. Sometimes she went too far, and I'm not going to deny that. But I never saw her use her children the way Cordelia did. To Beatrix, Shu and Reiji were her sons. To Cordelia, her own children often felt more like tools she could use whenever it suited her.
I also think people forget the situation Beatrix was living in. She was Karlheinz's wife, and then Cordelia entered their lives. Not just another woman, but someone who slowly pulled Karlheinz away from his own family. Try putting yourself in Beatrix's shoes. Imagine watching your husband spend more and more of his time with another woman while she acts as though she has every right to take your place. That would break almost anyone.
In a way, Beatrix was forced to go through something that felt very much like betrayal. She watched the man she loved drift away from her because of someone else. Whether Karlheinz had his own reasons or not doesn't change the fact that Beatrix was the one left to deal with the pain. I think that kind of experience would change anyone.
Maybe that's one of the reasons she became even stricter. She knew no one was going to hand her sons anything. In the Sakamaki household, weakness wasn't forgiven. If you couldn't stand your ground, you'd be crushed. I think she wanted Shu and Reiji to survive in that world. Did she handle it perfectly? No. But I can at least understand why she became the person she did.
Cordelia, on the other hand, is much harder for me to understand. It almost feels like she enjoyed tearing everything apart. Attention was never enough for herāshe wanted everyone to admire only her. Karlheinz's love wasn't enough either. It seemed like what really mattered to her was being the woman he chose over Beatrix. And the worst part is that she clearly saw the pain she was causing, but it never seemed to bother her.
That's one of the reasons I've always felt sorry for Beatrix. She didn't just lose her husband's love. She lost the life she thought she had and the family she was trying to hold together. That doesn't excuse every mistake she made, but once you understand what she went through, it's hard not to see her differently.
I don't think Beatrix was a perfect mother. She made mistakes, she could be cold, and at times she demanded far too much from her children. But there's still a huge difference between her and Cordelia. Beatrix hurt her sons because she believed she was preparing them for a cruel world. Cordelia hurt people because her own ego always mattered more than anyone else's feelingsāeven her own children's.
That's why I've always found it easier to sympathize with Beatrix. When I look at her, I see someone who was deeply hurt, someone who lost almost everything and eventually broke under the weight of it all. I've never been able to feel that same sympathy for Cordelia.
