I actually kinda agree with Avilan. Rumpelstiltskin already seemed the kinda person to manipulate people to his own ends, even from behind bars. After all, he was the one that made the curse to begin with, it sounds like getting someone to go through the sacrifice needed to activate the curse for him is just his style.
Also it looks like the curse affected the Queen too, but possibly not Rumpelstiltskin himself. It looks like to me the show is trying to paint the Queen in an unlikeable but slightly sympathetic light. She may something of a horrible person, but horrible in ways that are rather human. It kinda suggests that while she isn't good at showing it, she does care for Henry, and not as some sort of living mcguffin but simply as a mother (who clearly has no idea on how to be a mother) to a son. I don't think they would do that if she was the intended villain.