misaele

In reality, I don't think it works like that. I don't think that you can be a horrible, misogynist, violent, abusive war criminal and then turn around and be the perfect husband to your wife. But this is a common trope in fiction.

On the other hand, even if Tywin loved his twin children, he abused them all the same. And he's perfectly content to sacrifice their freedom and happiness for the ideas of family and the power of the house (he's not unique in that). He forces Cersei into marriage with a violent man that had already illegitimate children without thinking twice. He was going to force adult Cersei away from her children and into another marriage. And Cersei doesn't even try to really fight it (that we know). He's definitely not too nice to Jaime and doesn't accept his life choices even if he's less violent towards him.

This attitude towards consent is reflected in the relationship between J&C.

I would really like to see Joanna's side of the story. Because what kind of person falls in love with Tywin? When they got married he had already committed the slaughter of the Reynes. What did she think about that?

Also I think that people can have a skewed impression of Tywin because of what he claims/what other people claim and because of GoT. We all know that he has been made cooler and nicer in the tv series.

In the World of Ice and Fire:

Grand Maester Pycelle insists the tales that Joanna used to be Aerys' mistress are baseless, as Tywin would not have married Joanna if they were true, "for he was ever a proud man and not one accustomed to feasting on another man's leavings."

We know this is false because he has sex with Tyrion's lover in canon. A lot of his character is contradicted in that last scene. His whole uprightness is hypocritical and contradictory with the actions we see.

This is what Oberyn Martell says on Tywin and Joanna:

"Tywin ruled the Seven Kingdoms, but was ruled at home by his lady wife, or so my mother always said."

If we try to claim that Tywin and Joanna were a happy and healthy couple because Tywin really loved Joanna, and she had power over him, we should compare them to their children. Cercei and Jaime loved each other, they cared for each other, she had significant psychological power over him, and if one were to die, the other would probably commit suicide immediately (maybe less true in the end of Dance), and yet they are horrible to each other.

It's very interesting to me that briefly after Oberyn's observation, Tyrion thinks this:

It all goes back and back, Tyrion thought, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance on in our steads.

Makes me think that the relationship between Jaime and Cersei reflects the relationship between their parents.

This is my textual analysis. Let's move to the author's intent. Why are Tywin and Joanna cousins?

Is is to tell something about Tywin's opinion on his house? He likes it that much that he decided to marry inside of it?

Is it just because George think it's normal in that world to marry inside your family?

Is it to show that tywin is hypocritical in marrying for love but forcing cersei and tyrion into marrying?

Is it because he wanted tywin to have less political alliances in the world?

Is it because he wanted to show that incest "runs in the family"? Did he want to show that the reason why J&C are like that is because they've never known anything different?

Is it to signify that Tywin is a bad person?

Is it to justify the fact that tyrion is a dwarf? Because he's a child of incest?

Is it to justify that J&C look so much alike even though they're eterozygote twins?