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Originally Posted by CaptainofDespair
I think he would. It's like the cookie jar, that Ring is. Gandalf openly refused The One Cookie, but the temptation to eat that cookie grows, as he wonders at the possibilities. Gandalf wanted to defeat Sauron, and he wanted to help Frodo. So, why not do both (at least the Cookie would tell him that  )? |
How would taking the Ring accomplish either? Gandalf might think that with the Ring he could throw down Sauron, but he also knew that he would be taking the Dark Lord's place...I guess he would be the 'Grey Lord?' Frodo would suffer under this dominion, as would many others. Gandalf, a loremaster, knew the price of the stupid/wrong/easy path. I think that he even alludes to past failures...but I can't remember the quote (got to get my brain defragged) and later sees the folly of choosing the wrong path in Saruman. Also, Gandalf is the Prime Motivator. It's not for him to uproot Sauron but to aid others in the task. Think about the Siege of Gondor (the Book version). Just how many times does Gandalf's sword come out of its sheath?
He didn't need the Ring to show people the right path. Theoden was under the spell of a Maia, and Gandalf was still able to set him on the right road. Treebeard acted on his own, not because he was controlled by Gandalf. Aragorn took the Paths as a free man, not as a Ring-controlled robot.
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He could take the Ring, and destroy Sauron with it, and maybe find enough strength in his friends to cast the Ring into the Fire. He would then have saved Frodo from that horrible experience, and not have risked his life any further. These thoughts would be in the back of his mind, and he might act on them.
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Mayhap, yet I think that the evidence points elsewhere. Aragorn and Gandalf were ready to sacrifice all for the goal, and Frodo was of the same caliber. Surely Gandalf wanted to spare Frodo any pain, yet knew that as Frodo accepted the task freely that he was solely responsible for his own destiny.