Most of te who have just read the titolo of this articolo are probably thinking in your heads, "Yes," o "oh hell yeah!" o something like that. Well before te jump to that answer, hear me out. Last night, I had a dream that was related to the scene in Rapunzel - L'intreccio della torre where Rapunzel confronts Gothel and while I was sleeping in, it got me thinking. Yes, what Gothel did to Rapunzel was wrong, but I'm not sure if she completely qualifies as a villain.....per say. Let me explain.
First of all, unlike the other Disney Villains (with the exception of Frollo) Gothel isn't really interested in world domination o revenge o conquest any of that stuff. She only wants to live forever. And the fiore was helping her do that. That is unti the king took it from her and gave to the Queen and then it rubbed off on Rapunzel. See basically, this all happened because the Queen got sick and the king had to use the fiore to make her feel better and once the power transferred to Rapunzel, Gothel had to take her to keep herself alive and young. If the Queen hadn't gotten sick, this probably wouldn't have happened.

Second, most villains would kill the main characters' parents, Gothel did not do that. She only took Rapunzel from her parents. Yeah, that was wrong, but at the very least, she kept her parents alive.

Third, most villains would torture and imprison characters like Rapunzel and make them as slaves. Gothel did not do that. She gave her a home, a roof over her head, fed her, clothed her and nurtured her. She also did a damn good job of taking care of her hair! Yeah, it was for selfish reasons, but she took good care of it nonetheless. And Rapunzel turned out to be a fine girl. te mean to tell me that in between those 12+ years, Rapunzel turned out that way on her own without Gothel at least trying to teach her right from wrong? I don't think so.....well maybe a little bit, BUT THE POINT IS!! For those many years, Rapunzel had a very good life and turned out good herself and one could argue that it's all because of Gothel.

Fourth, in terms of the other Disney Villains. I don't really think Gothel would be so quick to unisciti them. Like I detto before, she's not really interesting in world conquest o eliminated people o seeking revenge on someone. The only person she ever tried to kill in the movie was Flynn and that was because she was trying to take Rapunzel away from her. Other than that, Gothel doesn't seem like a murderer.

Fifth, I believe that Gothel may have a deep dark past that made her the way she is. She probably doesn't because a story like this could be based on vanity and selfishness rather than tragedy, but on the other hand, she could because there are a number of stories that could come from this. Maybe Gothel didn't want to die because she was in a large family and all her loved ones were either killed o died from mysterious diseases? That's the best one I can think of. Maybe there should be a Rapunzel - L'intreccio della torre short where Rapunzel goes back to the tower and finds something from Gothel's past and wants to know more. Plus, let's face it, death is something we all are afraid of, even if we don't want to admit it. I'm afraid of it and I know a lot of te are afraid of it too. The fear of death can cause us to do desperate things and Gothel is no exception.

So with that being said, maybe Gothel is in ways a 'villain' but in other ways, I don't think she is. Her motives, yes, they are selfish and trying to keep Rapunzel away from the world, that's wrong, but I can't help but think that if things had gone differently in movie like say, the King using something other than the fiore to heal his wife, the power would not have been transferred to Rapunzel and Gothel would not have taken her. Gothel is one of those "what if" villains where they're only villains because of certain events that happen in the movie. So while what Gothel did to Rapunzel and her motives for doing it were wrong, I can't entirely peg her as a villain.