10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Harley Quinn
8. She Doesn’t Understand The Joker Is Abusive
In a way, this is the biggest tragedy of Harley Quinn’s character. It’s hard to feel sorry for her when she’s committing her evil deeds or setting her faithful dogs on her enemies, but once you understand this misconception, it becomes a whole lot easier.
Going hand in hand with the fact Joker is abusive and that she’s not a ditz is this - she understands exactly how bad her relationship with Joker is. She isn’t blind to his harm and never really convinces herself that he’s going to change. It’s Stockholm Syndrome and she knows it, there’s just not a lot she can do about it.
Joker is the one who made her this way, and in breaking her psyche he made her completely dependent on him. She discusses with the likes of Poison Ivy and Catwoman (her Gotham City Sirens) the extent of her relationship with Joker and seems desperate to leave him at times.
She knows all too well how brutal Joker can be, and after she’s experienced how he treats her as a lover, she’s terrified of how he’d treat her as an enemy. Once you read more into their backstory, she starts to break your heart.