I feel like it's her delusions she firmly believes that things will be better if they just go back to the way they were before. She longs for the things she has lost and she feels like once these things are put back as they were only then can she be normal again. She's chasing a shadow atp
But her whole motivation in certain scens don't make sense. She obviously wants an extravagant lifestyle but preaches being humble and eating unseasoned food etc. Going the extra mile and even goes so far as to interject her personal beliefs into political matters. At the same time she says that the poor shouldn't covet being rich but she herself is and throws tea parties while wearing fancy dresses and pretends to abide by those rules by dishing out shitty tea.
She admonished the main character for those same reasons but she above all else is selfish and I don't understand the motive.
Like I said it's her delusions, she believes so much in the way of their god, and also wants to live that extravagant lifestyle. Diana believes she's above all commoners and feel like her fairytale exists for only herself. She wants to impact the lifestyle of the saints into high society but has no thoughts of letting go of the benefits she gets with her title. In conclusion she's a hypocrite.
Ok so she really is just a hypocrite then. There's just no other deep meaning to any of her actions? Well good to know.
IMHO, Diana is quite a well-written antagonist though. She's not a crazy evil lady like some other isekai antagonists and her motives and actions are always straightforward to me haha
First of all, she believes that the temple is a divine place blessed by God that can do no wrong and anyone going against the temple means going against God. Again, she fails to realize that while God might be omnibenevolent, the humans who run the temple are not. She takes Hestia going against her as a saint means Hestia is going against God, showing her narcissistic trait.
She also wants the nobles to live in humility and frugality like the teaching of the temple, but fail to see the irony of that against her current lifestyle as a crown princess. She wants everyone to follow her way because she's a saint, the messenger of God, and that she's helping them to live a better life in the way of God. That's a religious fanatic with a savior complex for you.
And regarding the men, at the start she did only wanted Helios. Only when she realizes that Helios can't always cater to what she wants (because he's a crown prince and he has obligations) that she realizes being with Kaelus is better because she believes he will do anything for her. And again that's her narcissism and hypocrisy showing.
But then again, Diana was never "evil" just for the sake of being evil. She has a very strong belief and reason as to why she did what she did. Personally to me, what makes a well-written antagonist is how driven they are by their personal motives and how they genuinely believe in the righteousness of their cause. I think Diana perfectly embodies that with her narcissistic personality and religious fanaticism. As to what you said about "delusional people know they're being unfair or selfish" well in the case of Diana, she believes that she's neither until the end hahaha ╮(＾▽＾)╭
Well said, she's not evil, because sh3 can't be classified in that term. She's just a hypocrite that is highly delusional.
Diana's motives and actions don't make any sense. I truly believed she is poorly written to be a villain but the author tried not to change her base characteristics but it just doesn't make sense. And I know that the are complex people that are walking contradictions but there is SOME sense unless someone can explain her whole deal to me. Her being a hypocrite is the one thing I can get. She's also a total bitch. She wants both men, whatever is to her advantage and they must stay with her no matter how much she abuses or uses either. And then she says the will of God? I know we've got delusional people but most of them know they are being unfair or selfish to a certain extent. She's so ew.