femnista sept oct 2013
DESCRIPTION
Inside: John Willoughby, Reverend Dimmesdale, Professor Umbridge, Curley, St. John Rivers, Mrs. Norris, Lady de Winter, Bradley Headstone, President Snow, Madame Defarge, Billy Budd, Hannibal Lecter.TRANSCRIPT
Literary Villains
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silly and insipid wife. One could argue that without the villain, the hero would never become heroic, for he would have no chance to show his goodness, his selflessness, and his true heart… either to win the girl, to save the day, or simply to survive.
Herein, you will find a motley crew of nasty, diabolical, backstabbing, murdering fiends that all are memorable in some way, even if it’s simply for the fact that we utterly despise them. I’d say ―enjoy,‖ but…
XOXO,
Charity
Cinema has no end of diabolical, fearsome and even likable villains, but literature has an even deeper wealth of truly despicable figures (Dickens in particular can lay claim to a great number of them), who embark on unforgivable actions and give the hero or heroine of the tale no end of emotional trauma and bad experiences.
Fortunately, what fiction also teaches us is that in the end, good wins. The villain may get the upper hand for a time, but he or she will get a nice comeuppance in time, whether that is a bullet as a result of their general unkindness or merely being ostracized from society and left to live out life with a truly
as time goes by 14 Classic Movie: Billy Budd
digging deeper 24 Spirituality in Film: Hannibal
w here would literature be without
villains? If there were no human evils to overcome, heroes would not embark on adventures. Damsels would not need rescued. For just about every hero in a novel, there is an evil personified in a living individual. The characters of Bleak House are tormented by the rigid, vile Mr. Tulkinghorn (among a host of other bad guys!). The Bennet sisters face a lesser but just as insidious evil in the form of the manipulative, seducing Mr. Wickham. And, of course, Harry Potter goes up against the diabolical Lord Voldemort, to save all of wizarding kind. Authors simply know that as difficult as life can be, often life itself isn’t enough of a challenge for a main character. There must be evil individuals in that character’s life, to further complicate their decisions and even to lead them astray for a time. Sometimes these evils are obvious, and sometimes they’re more cunning… such as the evil of a friend who gives bad or selfish advice.
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John Willoughby 4 Rev. Dimmesdale 6 Professor Umbridge 8 Curley & His Wife 9 St. John Rivers 10 Mrs. Norris 12 Lady de Winter 16 Bradley Headstone 18 President Snow 20 Madame Defarge 22
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Since we do an extra edition on Halloween,
this means you’re getting THREE issues of Femnista
four weeks apart! Wow! Here’s what’s coming up!
Speculative Fiction & Film Oct 31. (See our back cover for info.)
Musicals! Dec 1. Clear your throats and stomp your feet!
Our Christmas issue is all about your favorite singing and dancing musicals!
Can’t wait to see what our upcoming themes are? You don’t have to!
Jan / Feb: Unrequited Love Tell us about the ones who
didn’t live ―happily ever after.‖
March / April: A Nation at War
Lincoln. Rhett. Scarlett. Civil War.
May / June: Faith & Villainy
Those who believed it, and those who abused it.
July / Aug: The Colonial Period
Salem. Columbus. The Patriot. How did America’s Independence
shape the rest of the world?
Sept / Oct: Underrated Tales Is there something you love,
and wish more people knew about?
Halloween: Monsters & Madness
Fiends from the darkest corners of our imagination… human and creation.
Nov / Dec: Common Blood
Siblings. Parents. Explore the theme of ―family‖ in literature and film.
n ot all villains are bent on evil. Most do not even consider
their actions evil. In their minds, they’re looking out for their own best interests or they are ―following their heart.‖ Many even have good qualities; they love and give and show flickers of morality. Mr. John Willoughby of Jane Austen’s timeless classic Sense and Sensibility is one of those villains who is
not exactly a villain, but he’s not a good man either. When he makes his debut in the story, he seems to come in the form of a knight in shining armor but in reality he is the downfall of many.
When tragedy strikes the Dashwood family, the four ladies leave their home and move into a cottage far away in Devonshire. Between silly neighbors and a colonel who is instantly smitten, Marianne
Dashwood feels smothered by her new life. As much as she loves her family, they do not understand how this new atmosphere stifles her. On a walk with her younger sister Margaret, Marianne falls and
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sprains her ankle. Almost as if he came straight out of one of the romances she likes to read, a young, handsome man happens upon her. He rescues her in her plight and carries her to safety. He introduces himself as John Willoughby of Allenham. His wealthy aunt lives not too far away; she is elderly and he will inherit everything from her. Between his good looks, charm, lively spirit and secure fortune, Marianne's romantic sensibilities are instantly piqued. Willoughby is her equal in every sense. While she is often scolded by her older and more sensible sister Elinor, Willoughby matches her in all her passions and pursuits. He seems truly devoted to her. From giving her a horse, to taking her on rides alone, to showing her the house he will inherit, Marianne is convinced it is true love and throws caution to the wind. But on the day she expects to receive a marriage proposal, Willoughby informs her he must go to London and has no reason to return. He tells her that his benefactress has disinherited him and chosen another relative,
her affections. Somewhere along the way he fell in love with her, wanted to marry her … and would have were it not for the sake of money and security.
Although Willoughby appeared early on as the night in shining armor, it is Col. Brandon who is the real hero of the story. Unlike Willoughby, the
Colonel is selfless, even when Marianne rejects him time and time again. In the end, he wins her whole heart.
The end of Sense and Sensibility, leaves Willoughby married to a cold woman he doesn’t love. While Marianne redeems herself, Willoughby likely continues on his path of self-destruction. Due to
his selfish ways, we can only imagine that he didn’t stay faithful to his wife and pursued happiness elsewhere. That is the result of living only for yourself and your own amusements, rather than following God’s Will and putting others first. Though Willoughby is in the wrong, we can learn from his poor example and do what is right. ♥
Willoughby. He manages to avoid her until he comes face to face with her at a public dance. Again, Willoughby takes the easy way out and snubs her. It’s only when his betrothed confronts him that he sends back Marianne's letters and lock of her hair, along with a coldly worded rejection.
While Marianne writhes in pain and Eliza is left to raise her child on her own, Willoughby marries into wealth and secures his future. But money doesn’t buy happiness and when he hears that Marianne is on the verge of death, he rushes to her. Elinor refuses to allow him to see her but listens to his side of the story. As it turns out, when he first met Marianne he had no intention of loving her but knowingly engaged
but doesn’t disclose the whole ugly truth. His aunt had discovered that several months prior he seduced a young girl, Eliza, got her pregnant and abandoned her. The young girl is none other than the charge of Col. Brandon. While several years his senior, Col. Brandon challenges Willoughby to a duel and wins… not only for the
honor of his charge, but for Marianne as well.
Willoughby genuinely loves Marianne—at least in his mind he loves her. He planned to propose to her but panicked at the idea of being penniless. When the heiress Miss Grey catches his eye, he pursues her and it isn’t long before they are engaged. Simultaneously when the Dashwood sisters arrive in town, Marianne does what she can to get in touch with
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Visit Veronica’s Blog.
A dultery is a sin
that spreads its
roots into many
lives. If a pastor commits
adultery he brings this sin
upon the community at-
large, himself, the woman,
a child (if formed), the
families, the church and
God. In a pastor, one hopes
she can trust her soul to be
cared for as a shepherd
tends his flock, to find a
man who is responsible,
gentle, fatherly, protective
and providing. Young
Hester Pyrnne (married to
an elderly man but alone in
a small early American
community) is drawn to the
Oxford-trained minister,
Rev. Dimmesdale… a
flaming hypocrite!
In writing about a villain, I
wanted to find one that is
less common or frequently
overlooked. In Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s classic novel,
The Scarlet Letter, many
people pick Chillingworth
(Hester’s husband) as the
villain. He’s driven by
revenge, a despicable and
unworthy husband, yet
Dimmesdale is the truest
villain by displaying the
hypocrisy of a ―righteous‖
Puritan society. He had the
letter inscribed onto his
soul, hidden from everyone,
while Hester was publically
scorned—a reaction
encouraged in the strict
Puritan early American
community.
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The purpose of a pastor is
to protect and nurture the
eternal souls of those in
his congregation. God
entrusts him with this
noble purpose. Yet Rev.
Dimmesdale falls in lust
and takes advantage of
Hester. To me this is
painful enough, but he
becomes a greater villain
in my eyes by being silent
when Hester is publically
accused and ridiculed. I
abhor the sin of silence.
An act of sinning is a sin
of commission; the act of
being silent is the sin of
omission. Both are
equally grievous sins in
the eyes of God.
From the beginning of the
novel, the entire town is
in chaos over Hester, a
mother to a fatherless
child. She is disgraced for
adultery, made to wear a
letter ―A‖ on her garment,
and shunned by everyone.
It’s hidden from even the
reader that Dimmesdale is
the father to her child.
Sadly, even today a girl
carries the burden of
exposure and ridicule if
she has a child out of
wedlock because her sin
can’t be hidden. Some
men think it’s the price a
woman pays for the
chance she takes, so they
bear no responsibility to
her, especially if they have
no emotional feelings for
her. How sick this sounds
and how sad! While the
girl bears her shame in
front of all, the man
doesn’t have to confess
publically. (Now a woman
can avoid this through the
sin of abortion! Hester
couldn’t hide or abort it!)
our lives, to take personal
responsibility, and to take
responsibility for our
sinful actions even if they
aren’t evident to others.
We must not think the
greatest villains in life are
those who are exposed,
but look first within our
own souls to examine
―hidden‖ un-repented sins
that provide a place for a
deadly foothold to grow.
In the end, Dimmesdale’s
guilt of hypocrisy does
lead to his death, though a
careful observant reader
would know they’d been
watching this villain’s
slow internal death
throughout the novel.
The wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is
eternal life. Therefore, we
should go to God,
willingly confessing our
sin to receive forgiveness.
God is faithful and just to
forgive us of our sins and
to cleanse us of all
unrighteousness. By
dealing rightly according
to God with sinfulness, we
are collecting potential
testimonies to be used as
trophies of grace for God.
One can only imagine the
outcome if Dimmesdale
had openly confessed his
sin when it mattered
most! How could God
have used his life’s
testimony to bring about
genuineness in the
Puritan mindset?
But alas, this is simply a
character of a novel… is it
not? ♥
judgmental, and a very
disliked man. He lurks in
disguise seeking out the
sinner. Undeniably he is
despicable in his pursuit
of Hester’s anonymous
lover, but he alone
searches for the truth.
It’s much like the female
adulteress written about
in the New Testament.
Jesus saved her from
being stoned by a mob of
religious men. Again, only
one person was accused
and shamed—the woman.
And it is with this in mind
that Nathaniel Hawthorne
crafts his classic novel by
allowing Hester to make
substantive observations
about the treatment of
women in such matters.
Her elderly husband, who
sent her to live in America
alone and never followed
her, carries the weight of
her sin morally but not in
the story. He is guilty of
setting her up for
temptation, which the
Bible warns us against as
husband and wife. It was
during the time that she
waited for her husband
that she had an affair with
Dimmesdale, which led to
the birth of her child.
The townspeople spread
rumors that the girl’s true
father is the Devil, thus
causing her also to be
feared and shunned. This
shows the handiwork of
the Devil’s plan to destroy
all lives. Not only does the
sin destroy Hester, but
her child’s reputation and
well-being as well! We can
learn much from this
classic novel. It teaches us
to be watchful of sin in
Arthur Dimmesdale is a
beloved pastor who
preaches with eloquence
and emotion. He seems to
be a compassionate leader
able to provide spiritual
guidance. In the end when
he tries to confess his sin
in a sermon, the church
believes it’s an allegorical
testimony of a sinner
rather than a confession.
Dimmesdale’s silence in
the presence of the public
exposure, ridicule and
punishment of Hester is
what makes him a great
villain. How unholy! How
unrepentant! How un-
useable by the Holy
Spirit! How spineless!
Hester Prynne, wearer of
a patch of fabric in the
shape of the letter ―A‖ that
marked adultery, was a
guilty girl married to an
absent elderly scholar,
Chillingworth. But as in
life, a hidden sin is often
much more serious than
what is known. It goes on
to create destruction: evil
festering, growing and
infiltrating more lives.
One person cannot be a
lone adulterer. It takes
two to commit that sin.
The Puritan community
spends no thought or time
seeking out the guilty man
and Hester is unwilling to
reveal his identity.
Therefore Chillingworth
does the duty that should
be done by the entire community—seeking to
find the responsible
culprit who is hiding his
sin. As holds true to many
who try to discover the
facts and root out
deception, Chillingworth
is seen as a revengeful,
Visit Lindy’s blog. 7
L ord Acton first said,
―Power tends to
corrupt and absolute
power corrupts
absolutely.‖ Professor
Umbridge of the Harry
Potter series presents an
excellent example for that
phrase. We first meet her
when Harry is brought
before the High Court.
Though toad-like in her
appearance, her honeyed
voice masks a desire to get
what she wants, no matter
the cost.
As the Defense Against
the Dark Arts teacher, she
quickly makes it known
that even Hogwarts is not
safe from her prying
fingers. Before long, the
Minster of Magic,
Cornelius Fudge, appoints
her High Inquisitor and
she does everything she
can to rule the school.
Instead of letting the
teachers and Dumbledore
enforce the rules, she
constantly finds new
things to ban. If someone
challenges her power, she
finds a way to make that
person pay. When Harry
challenges what she
teaches during class, she
forces him to write with a
pen that uses his own
blood to engrave a
message on the back of
his hand. She became
High Inquisitor because
Professor McGonagall
dared to contradict her
authority. And when
Marietta refuses to utter
another word after being
branded a sneak,
Umbridge shakes the girl
to get the truth from her.
Umbridge looks for those
who are weaker than she
is. She constantly acts as
if Hagrid speaks barely
passable English as a way
to fire him. She makes fun
of Professor Trelawney
and enjoys the woman’s
distress and fear when she
fires her. Part of the
reason Malfoy and his
friends admire Umbridge
so much is that they are
finally given free reign to
act as they want. They can
treat those who are like
them favorably and take
points away from those
who oppose them. They
are even encouraged to
use curses against Harry
and his friends.
Quick to be offended,
Umbridge’s voice grows
high-pitched and sweet to
hide her growing anger.
Though her desire for
power and control is
limitless, her abilities are
rather mediocre. She can’t
reverse Hermione’s jinx
on Marietta, nor can she
clean up the swamp the
Weasley twins leave
behind when they quit
school. She expects Snape
to instantly create a
potion that takes a month
to brew. Many students
suffer ―Umbridge-itis‖
when around her and she
is unable to find the
cause. With such
lackluster magical
abilities, it
becomes obvious
that she rose to
power through
nothing more
than guile and
manipulation.
What makes her
such a loathsome
person, though, is
that somewhere
deep inside of her
is some good.
She is able to
produce a
Patronus,
something
Death
Eaters
can’t do
since
that is
the opposite of what they
stand for. To produce a
Patronus, you must have
some good inside you, and
if Umbridge truly did, that
means she knows the
difference between right
and wrong and chooses to
do what is wrong. Even
her wand indicates her
true nature: a short wand
often reveals a stunted, or
undeveloped, emotional
nature.
Umbridge acts despicably
toward all who stand up
to her, and this is what
makes the ending of
Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix so
satisfying. She pays for
her hatefulness, cruelty,
and bigotry in a way that
makes the reader cheer.
To top it off, Dumbledore,
in a show of his always-
good nature, rescues her.
But she never thanks him;
instead, she continues to
hate those she does not
understand.
For not actually being the
main villain in this novel
or indeed of the series on
the whole, Umbridge is a
nasty piece of work. She
claims to love the rules
but all she loves is power.
In the end, though, all
that power led to her
demise. Her life is a vivid
picture of how unlimited
power will lead to total
destruction. She tries to
destroy the lives of those
around her, but ends up
destroying herself. ♥
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J ohn Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is story of two
friends in the Depression. George Milton and the mentally-challenged Lennie Small search for work after being run out of their last place of employment due to a somewhat serious mishap by Lennie. They eventually find work at a ranch and manage to make new friends as well as a couple of enemies. Both of them, especially Lennie, draw the ire of the boss's son, Curley, a bully with a bad temper and an inferiority complex, as well as Curley's wife, a femme fatale who finds living on a ranch with its all-male inhabitants to be insulting. Although the two men make only brief appearances in the novel, they represent the evil of the story.
Most folks find bullies to be evil. Bullies have no purpose in life other than to make those around them miserable or hellish. School yard ―toughs‖ enjoy picking on others half their size and avoid those much bigger than them. Now imagine the schoolyard bully as an adult. His attitude doesn’t change and neither do his violent habits. Curley fits the description of a school bully. To make up for his
part to have Curley beat him senseless should they be spotted together. Although she seems harmless, Curley's wife is anything but, to any man who crosses her path.
Literary villains are all despicable in their own right. Some are sleaze-worthy seducers, some are cold-blooded killers, and some are just plain indescribably evil. Of Mice and Men has few villains but these two in particular stand out. The story's two protagonists, George Milton and Lennie Small, both have big plans of saving enough money to purchase a home and a plot of land to take care of. Their employment on the ranch is a means of succeeding in this venture and surviving during the Depression. But Lennie's large stature and limited mental capacity leave him to be victimized by a man smaller than himself but with an ego twice as big.
It’s a tale of dreams confronted with subtle evil in unexpected places. The plans and hopes of these two friends are threatened by the novel's antagonists, whose true villainy is shown in their behavior, despite the fact that their own way of life isn't threatened by the heroes. ♥
While not as evil-minded as her husband, Curley's unnamed wife has her share of sins. Being the only woman around, she grows bored and tries to flirt with the ranch hands. Fortunately for them, they distance themselves from her knowing full well that they’d encounter the wrath of her husband if they ever reciprocated her advances. What makes her evil is her attitude and her insults to the men. She, being the
beautiful trophy wife, feels living on the ranch is beneath her and would much rather be ―in pictures.‖ She claims she was with men who promised her a
career in film. She insults the employees by not only calling the black stable hand Crooks, a racial epithet, but also threatening to have him lynched if he ever crosses her path. She also calls Lennie a ―dum-dum,‖ but succeeds in ―tempting‖ him to sit and talk with her. This looks like a deliberate attempt on her
short stature, Curley takes on a ―tough guy‖ image by threatening to beat up anyone who looks at him funny or as much as talks to his wife. He doesn’t hide his hatred for men twice his size, especially Lennie, who is a giant with the heart of a child. His background as a lightweight boxer does give him some leverage, but Curley's hair-trigger temper gets the best of him and he takes it out on Lennie because the latter allegedly smirked at him (which was not the case). As a result, Curley beats the poor man almost senseless until Lennie manages to break Curley's hand by crushing it with his own. Despite Lennie's mental capacity, Curley is not above beating him up. Being able to pick on a bigger man, win or lose, makes him feel tough to compensate for his short stature. Because of his temper and attitude toward ―weaker‖ men, he is truly this story's villain… or is he?
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F or my literary
villain, I offer a
minister and
aspiring missionary who
wants nothing more than
to do what he is called to
do; a man called good by
all the people who know
him; a man who believes
serving God as a
missionary is the greatest
thing anyone can do; a
man willing to give up
everything important to
him to go out and live,
serve, and die in India,
doing the work of God; a
man determined to help
preserve the virtue of a
young woman he knows
and admires and offers
her the chance to do what
is truly noble and serve
God by his side. This man
is Jane Eyre’s St. John
Rivers, one of my least
favorite fictional
characters of all time.
As an aspiring theologian
and missionary myself, I
love missionaries and
ministers in fiction, and
other characters who are
bound and determined to
do God’s will against all
obstacles. But I can’t
remember a character
who agitates me to the
degree that St. John
Rivers does, every single
time I read Jane Eyre,
which is frequently.
For those unacquainted
with the plot , here are
some spoilers necessary
to understanding my view
of St. John as the villain
of the piece. Little, plain,
impoverished, and
intelligent Jane Eyre,
after a loveless childhood
and harsh education,
becomes a governess for a
child in a mysterious
manor house in a remote
area of England. She
meets, falls in love with,
and becomes engaged to
the master of the house,
Edward Rochester, a
peculiar, ugly, mercurial,
none-too-virtuous but
ever so compelling man
with a secret. The secret,
which makes a Gothic
novel of the book, is that
he is already married and
has his thoroughly insane
wife locked in the attic.
When Jane finds out, she
flees the temptation
Rochester holds out to
her of moving to the
Continent and living in a
false marriage. After
hardship, she is taken in
by her cousins Diana,
Mary, and St. John
Rivers, lives and works
with them, and is
eventually offered the
chance to leave England,
and all its painful
associations, and go to
India as St. John’s wife to
live and die a missionary.
She chooses to find out
what happened to
Rochester in her absence
before making a final
decision, learns his wife is
dead, and marries him.
There’s no real bad guy in
this story, no real villain,
other than circumstances
and personal temptation.
By all accounts, Rochester
should come closest
because he tries to trick a
virtuous and godly young
woman into a bigamist
marriage and then tries to
tempt her into becoming
his mistress. His rival, the
handsome St. John, is
portrayed as ―good,‖
upright, and self-
sacrificing yet I call St.
John the antagonist, not
Rochester. Wikipedia
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says, ―An antagonist is a
character, group of
characters, or institution
that represents the
opposition against which
the protagonist must
contend.‖ The opposition
St. John offers Jane Eyre
nearly undoes her.
manipulates her into
almost agreeing to his
request. She can stand up
to the fire of Rochester
but not the ice of St. John.
But we, the readers, know
his agenda is all wrong.
Jane’s purpose is not
missions in India, as good
and noble as missions in
India is. Jane belongs
with Rochester. The point
of the whole book is that
she belongs with him. In
fact, when Jane returns to
Rochester, she performs
her own missionary work,
because her return brings
him to an understanding
of God’s love and
forgiveness. In obeying St.
John, the missionary, she
would have been false to
her true Christian
purpose.
St. John Rivers is not a
classic villain, nor do I
think Charlotte Brontë
intended to write him as
one. But he stands in the
way of the story’s
fulfillment, which makes
him an antagonist, and he
inserts his will for God’s,
which makes him even
worse. He is a more
immoral character than
even Rochester, because
in all his claims to
godliness, Christianity,
ministry, and following
God’s will, he gives no
room in his life for the
love and mercy that make
a true believer. St. John
Rivers nearly destroys our
protagonist, and that
makes him the
unintended villain. ♥
loneliness to try to take
what comfort he can in
the piquancy of Jane’s
presence, unaware of the
forgiveness and comfort
of Christ. He truly loves
plain, insignificant Jane.
He is a protagonist, and
we long to see him find
joy and love with Jane.
St. John, on the other
hand, is a man seemingly
of virtue and godliness, a
minister with Christian
authority but no Christian
love. He has no love for
his intelligent little cousin
Jane. He only knows she
would make a good fellow
laborer. Love, and with it
gentleness, mercy, and
forgiveness, is not part of
St. John’s Christianity. He
is a cold man, a harsh
man, and what is more,
an arrogant man. He
believes his will is God’s
will, and anyone who
opposes him and his
agenda, as Jane tries to
do when he proposes
coldly to her, is opposing
God. When Jane at first
refuses to marry him,
believing his diamond-
hard character will kill
her if she is forced to
submit to him, he believes
she is denying God in her
life and is worse than the
heathen. He treats her
with cold, hard anger and
unforgiveness.
By the end of the book, he
has nearly brainwashed
Jane into believing he is
right. By his coldness to
her when her whole being
cries out for the love and
kindness of family, he
While Rochester creates
opposition for Jane by
tempting her to sin with
him, she is strong enough
to oppose him and run
away. Rochester is a sad
character, as much sinned
against as sinning, driven
through pain and
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S he may not possess nefarious magical powers used for ill.
She may not live in an eerie castle or have a deadly criminal past. Her goal in life is not world domination. But Mansfield Park’s Mrs. Norris is so mean and false in her attitudes and impressions that she makes people’s lives—namely her niece, Fanny Price—ever the more difficult and unhappy.
Mrs. Norris loves money. On the one hand, her preoccupation for it is understandable because unlike her sister, Lady Bertram, she didn’t marry a wealthy man. Mr. Norris was a parson and friends with Sir Thomas; while they are not ―contemptible‖ towards one another, the union appears to be one of convenience and obligation. Mrs. Norris learned to manage a frugal household not only to accommodate their needs but also to make ―a yearly addition to an income which they had never lived up to.‖
While she is economical when it comes to her own household, Mrs. Norris has no problem ―spend[ing] that of her friends.‖
Despite bearing little love for her own sister, Mrs. Norris is constantly at Mansfield Park, managing the household and always ready to enjoy the comforts of their home. Her love for money and the comforts of the upper class can be seen in the way she treats her nieces, Maria and Julia, whom she reminds every so often of how many of their accomplishments are the result of their socio-economic status.
Coupled with her love and concern for money is ―her love of directing.‖ She especially likes to tell people of her role in certain developments or subject matters, saying things like ―owing to me‖ to credit herself in the discussion. She enjoys her role as confidante to her brother-in-law, influencing and advising him, so much so that it seems she is closer to Sir Thomas than his own wife. She is greatly proud of Maria’s engagement to Mr. Rushmore, a wealthy man. When Tom Bertram and his friend Mr. Yates decide to put on a production of Lovers’ Vows during Sir Thomas’ absence, she places herself in charge
of helping put together the set. Her pride in her own schemes is so great that she becomes upset whenever someone revises it, like when Edmund offers to stay at home so Fanny can join Mrs. Norris and his siblings in visiting the Rushmores.
These characteristics come together to form one particular vice that resonates in Mrs. Norris’ character throughout the novel: vanity. On the outset she seems ―thoroughly benevolent‖ and likes the appearance of ―being the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world.‖ But her actions don’t support her words; although she is the one who proposes the idea of bringing Fanny to Mansfield Park and agrees to share custody in raising her, Mrs. Norris later talks her way out of her obligation of bringing her into her home, arguing that she is in no position to care for a young person with her reduced income and widowed state. Her desire to look useful also compromises her responsibility as an adult such as failing to put a stop to the makeshift play—knowing that Sir
Thomas won’t approve—and setting a proper example of kindness and right conduct to her nieces.
Mrs. Norris’ treatment of Fanny over the course of the novel shows how contradictory her actions are to her words as well as how uncaring she can be. She has ―no affection for Fanny‖ and has ―no wish of procuring her pleasure at any time,‖ to the point that she will deny her simple comforts such as the use of a carriage to take her to dinner at the Grants’ home or a pleasant conversation with Lady Bertram while working on a hem. She constantly reminds Fanny that she is socially ―beneath‖ them and she should be thankful for Sir Thomas’ generosity. She both encourages and exacerbates Fanny’s timid, introverted nature by telling her time and again, ―wherever you are, you must be the lowest and last.‖ Saying such things also reinforces Fanny’s status as an outsider in the Bertram household, despite spending her formative years in their tutelage. Like the stepmother in Cinderella, Mrs. Norris
12
is very bossy toward Fanny, putting her to task with chores around the house. She often scolds Fanny, especially whenever she catches her in a moment of rest. Mrs. Norris has absolutely no regard for Fanny’s well-being, leaving her out to work on the garden in the sun despite knowing that her health is generally fragile.
Mrs. Norris’ unkind behaviour eventually pays her in kind. Upset by Maria’s downfall and blaming Fanny for refusing Henry Crawford’s proposal, Mrs. Norris leaves Mansfield Park to take care of her niece. Rather than feeling sad by her departure, her relations are relieved and she is ―regretted by no one at Mansfield.‖ Sir Thomas lost his good opinion of his sister-in-law after he returned from Antigua and ―felt her an hourly evil.‖ Although Maria
money and appearing resourceful and generous contributes to her poor behaviour toward other people, especially her niece, Fanny. She actively seeks to keep Fanny from truly enjoying the company of the family who took her in. In a way, she also contributes to the dysfunction of the Bertram household through her reinforcement of snobbish attitudes of social standing, especially amongst her nieces. Mrs. Norris leaves some ―bitter remembrances behind her,‖ but the people who were most affected by her behaviour—
namely Fanny—survived her company without reciprocating her meanness. ♥
Jane Austen supposed in the narration ―that their tempers became their mutual punishment.‖
Mrs. Norris is a miserly woman whose love for
was her favourite, she had no genuine love for her, or vice versa on Maria’s part. In the end, Mrs. Norris and Maria were stuck together in the countryside; even
Visit Lianne’s blog here.
13
ometimes, no
matter how hard
you look for a
glimmer of goodness in a
person, you won’t find it.
There are times when a
man or woman has zero
redeeming qualities and,
in fact, they are rotten
through and through…
evil to the very core. One
such man is Captain John
Claggart, the antagonist of
Herman Melville’s Billy
Budd.
Based on the 1949 stage
adaption of the novel,
Billy Budd is a 1962
period drama starring the
sensational Robert Ryan.
Peter Ustinov, who also
directed the film, stars
with Ryan, while the title
role introduces newcomer
Terence Stamp (in an
Oscar-nominated best
supporting actor nod).
David McCallum and
Melvyn Douglas are the
supporting players.
While on a wartime cruise
in 1797, The Avenger, a
ship of the British Royal
Navy, stops the merchant
ship The Rights of Man
which is bound for the
West Indies. Needing to
impress one of that ship's
men into naval service,
the officers board The
Rights of Man and come
away with Billy Budd, a
teenager. A simple boy,
Billy can’t read or write,
and when he gets nervous,
is unable to speak and
instead he stutters.
The Master at Arms
on The Avenger is John
Claggart (Ryan), a man as
evil as the day is long.
Cruel and sadistic, he
rules over the crew with
viciousness and brutality,
finding pleasure in having
the men flogged, often for
infractions they're not
even aware of. All the men
despise Claggart, which
delights him.
Billy Budd, on the other
hand, is kind, friendly,
and good. When all the
men complain about the
Master at Arms, Billy
insists that since no man
takes pleasure in cruelty,
there must be a reason
when someone is flogged
or put on report. Even
after Claggart forces a sick
man to stand watch, Billy
believes he must have had
a reason for doing so. It is
not in Billy to consider
that one human being
would purposefully, and
for no reason, hurt
another.
Believing Claggart to be
good deep down, Billy
seeks to befriend him
while topside one evening,
an act which causes the
man's hatred towards
Billy to increase; and
when Billy refuses to take
part in an assassination
attempt on the master at
arms, his fate is sealed.
The evil in Claggart is so
infuriated by the good in
Billy that he will stop at
nothing to destroy the
boy.
Billy Budd is gripping and
amazingly acted. The
always-brilliant Robert
Ryan positively oozes evil
in this film. While Mr.
Ryan often portrayed "bad
guys" and did a fantastic
job doing so, I find this
role to be perhaps his
most wicked. There is
absolutely nothing decent
or redeeming about
Captain Claggart. He is
simply rotten through and
through, and Mr. Ryan’s
portrayal of the evil,
malevolent man is
completely stellar. The
Billy Budd character is
kind, forgiving, caring, honest, trustworthy—the
kind of person we wish
there were more of in this
world. Terence Stamp
does a beautiful job
bringing Billy to life. Peter
Ustinov, who produced,
directed, and starred in
the film, is quite good in
his role as the ship's
captain… a man torn
between justice and
mercy.
Fostering such questions
as ―Is black always black
and white always white,
or are there gray areas?‖
Billy Budd is a great
discussion piece. . Be
warned, it’s not a feel-
good story, but it is
incredibly thought-
provoking and well worth
watching. ♥
14
H appy 110th
birthday to one
of the classiest
gals of Hollywood's
golden era (or any era!),
the lovely Miss Claudette
Colbert (September 13,
1903 - July 30, 1996).
Born Emilie Lily
Chauchoin (or Lily Emilie,
depending on the source)
in Paris, Claudette Colbert
was one of those actresses who could do it all—
comedy, drama, stage,
silents, talkies, TV.
Having moved to New
York with her family when
she was nine years old,
Lily (who had changed
her named to Lily
Claudette) began her
show business career on
the Broadway stage. The
stage would remain a
love, and it would draw
her back regularly
through the years.
In a career spanning over
six decades, Claudette
made 62 films, earning a
Best Actress Academy
Award for her work in
Frank Capra's It
Happened One Night.
She would be nominated
two more times for that
award. Her appearance in
the 1987 TV mini-series,
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles,
garnered her an Emmy
Award nomination (Best
discovered the completely
charming "bus movie." I
fell in love with Miss
Colbert; she’d been one of
my favorite actresses ever
since. I think she's classy,
elegant, sophisticated,
feminine, and always a
delight to watch!
So, Miss Claudette
Colbert, here's to you on
your 110th birthday. You
were a wonderful actress,
and you will always be
one of my favorites.
Thank you for making so
many terrific movies,
including two (It
Happened One Night and
Imitation of Life) which
are among my 20
favorites of all time. ♥
Supporting Actress) and a
Golden Globe win. Her
stage work brought a
Tony Award nomination
her way. Not many
actresses can boast of
having Oscar, Emmy, and
Tony nominations, but
this "can do it all" gal did.
Over the course of her
long career, Miss Colbert
was paired with a variety
of leading men, including
Don Ameche, Clark Gable,
and Fred MacMurray.
The lovely, classy
Claudette came into my
life through It Happened
One Night. It was close to
seven years ago, when,
having long-loved It's a
Wonderful Life, I went on
a quest to see more of
Frank Capra's works and
Montgomery Clift Get reviews of his films on
Patti’s blog!
Patti loves the golden age of
Hollywood! If you do too, you’ll love
her blog!
Vivien Leigh is the November
Star of the Month!
15
A few months ago,
author Neil
Stephenson stated
in an interview that his
novels never have female
villains because for a
villain to be convincing,
they have to be powerful.
Ouch. Apparently
Stephenson never read
Alexandre Dumas’ The
Three Musketeers, which
features one of the best
villains in literature, man
or woman: the mysterious
and sly Lady de Winter.
Like Cardinal Richelieu,
Lady de Winter is a major
antagonist for the
Musketeers; unlike
Richelieu, she’s described
as ―evil‖ and ―a demon.‖
Known by various
aliases—Lady Clarick,
Milady, the Comtesse de
la Fère, Anne de Breuil,
and Charlotte Backson,
among others—the true
identity, even nationality
(she can pass as English
or French, as she chooses)
of Lady de Winter is an
enigma. The reader
doesn’t even start
connecting her identities
until nearly halfway
through the novel, and
her various plots take
even longer to unravel.
Let’s take a look at this
―demon’s‖ various crimes:
as a spy for Cardinal
Richelieu, Lady Clarick
plotted to kill the Duke of
Buckingham and steal
diamonds given to him by
Queen Anne of France.
She hired men to kill
d’Artagnan after an
assignation between
them, and she tried to kill
her brother-in-law and
the heir to the de Winter
estate numerous times.
But by far her greatest
crime, at least as far as the
Musketeers are
concerned, is that she
broke Athos’s heart. Athos
is everyone’s favorite
Musketeer because he has
a Dark Past, and the key
element to that Dark Past
is that before he joined
the Musketeers, he was a
nobleman who fell in love
with a poor young girl.
Athos’s sun, moon, and
stars revolved around her
until one day he saw a
fleur-de-lis brand on her
back, a sign that she was,
in fact, a thief! Quelle
horreur. So what did
Athos do? He sentenced
her to death by hanging to
pay for her crimes, of
course. Then he ran off
and spent the next decade
whining about how
women are completely
untrustworthy.
So here’s the thing about
Lady de Winter: like all
great villains, even though
her actions are morally
reprehensible, you can
totally understand where
she’s coming from. Can
anyone really blame her
for running off and
marrying a count after her
first husband tried to kill
to her? I think that’s
generally filed under
―relationship ender.‖ And
I would have wanted to
kill d’Artagnan after the
way he behaved, too! I
wouldn’t have done it, of
course, but I’m not the
villain in an adventure
novel. Villains are gonna
be villainous!
Not only that, but one
can’t help but admire
Milady’s cleverness, even
while thinking, ―Ooooh,
she is sooo eeeeeevil.‖ For
example, when Lady de
Winter escapes from the
prison her brother-in-law
throws her into by
convincing her guard
she’s a persecuted
Puritan. Pure genius! For
someone who was
apparently born with
nothing but her brains
and her good looks, she
made it pretty far in the
world by the time the
Musketeers showed up.
She’s not just a passive
character, either: her
actions during the course
of the novel drive much of
the plot. For proof, just
look at the film
adaptations of The Three
16
Musketeers: even
though Hollywood
tends to
marginalize
female
characters,
they all
feature
Milady
prominently
because
there’s no
way you can
tell The Three
Musketeers
without
including Lady de
Winter—you
wouldn’t have the
second half of the book!
Lady de Winter takes the
weaknesses of every male
character she meets and
uses them against him.
With Athos, it’s his heroic
nature; with d’Artagnan
it’s the fact that he falls in
love with every woman he
meets. With the prison
guard, it’s his religion,
and with her brother-in-
law, it’s his arrogance.
Her ability to manipulate
men, almost turning them
in their own worst
enemies for her own
personal gain, must be
pretty terrifying. She may
not be powerful in the way
Cardinal Richelieu is, but
she is the smartest, most
Machiavellian, and most
resourceful character in
The Three Musketeers. At
some point Richelieu and
the Musketeers reach a
détente because of the
war with England;
Milady, on the other
hand, is forever
17th- and 18th-century
females for inspiration!
The Three Musketeers is
hardly a work of feminist
literature (although it
does pass the Bechdel
Test), but it still has
believable women
characters with their own
motivations who drive
major events of the story.
Lady de Winter is only
one of those characters,
but she’s definitely the
most memorable and a
woman that everyone
loves to hate. ♥
Carlisle, who was involved
in numerous political
intrigues in the court of
Charles I and pawned a
pearl necklace to support
both sides during the
English Civil War. She
was summarily locked in
the Tower of London, but
eventually managed to
escape, much like our
intrepid Lady de Winter.
Dumas knew that women
could be powerful enough
to serve as formidable
villains based on history,
and that was a nineteenth
century writer looking to
condemned because, in
the long run, Richelieu’s
scheming seems silly in
comparison to hers.
Of course, that’s all
fiction—right? Wrong-o.
Dumas based Lady de
Winter on historical
accounts of actual women.
In the memoirs of 18th
century French naval
officer Hubert de Brienne,
he described a woman
named Lady Clarick de
Winter, who actually did
scheme to steal Queen
Anne’s diamonds from the
Duke of Buckingham.
Another French writer,
the Duc de La
Rochefoucauld, related
the story of an
Englishwoman named
Lucy Hay, the Countess of
Make sure to check out Tasha’s Blog!
17
C harles Dickens
wrote many
memorable and
heinous villains in his
time. One of the defining
characteristics of his
stories is that most of
them have more than one
villain. Sometimes, there
are many, of varying
levels of evil intent and
impact on the plot. Our
Mutual Friend fits well
into this generalization, as
Silas Wegg, Mr. and Mrs.
Lammle, Rogue
Riderhood and Bradley
Headstone all impact the
storyline in different
ways. However, of this
collection of people with
villainous intent, Bradley
Headstone makes the
most impact on the reader
because he is a fascinating
psychological study,
descending ever deeper
into a madness brought
on by obsession.
He is introduced as a
decent, morally upright,
rule following, law-
abiding schoolteacher. He
appears to be quiet,
constrained and utterly
respectable. He is not
wealthy but earns enough
to make a comfortable life
for himself and is set up at
the beginning as a fitting
suitor for someone of a
similar social standing.
This is simply the surface
of the matter. Under his
cool exterior, Headstone
hides a boiling pot of
18
emotional turmoil and
conflict. He is proud to a
fault and repressive of his
emotions but capable of
violent temper. This
hidden nature is aroused
by the introduction to his
life of the beautiful and
virtuous Lizzie Hexam.
Lizzie’s brother Charlie is
one of Headstone’s
students and Charlie
hopes to help educate his
sister through Headstone.
His admired and trusted
mentor is thrilled at the
opportunity to tutor
Lizzie, whom he has
already fallen for. But two
things put a damper on
Headstone’s passion. He
discovers a rival for her
affections in Eugene
Wrayburn, a man of
higher social standing
who has already procured
a tutor for Lizzie… and
Lizzie doesn’t care for
Headstone and rebuffs his
attentions. These things
serve as a burner to ignite
the fire of his inner
demons and to propel this
troubled love triangle
towards certain conflict.
As a villain, Headstone
isn’t particularly wicked.
This isn’t a story of high
stakes, political intrigue,
power, greed, money or
scheming. Rather, Our
Mutual Friend revolves
around obsession. The
triangle of Eugene, Lizzie,
and Headstone has her as
the object of longing and
her two suitors as rivals
and opponents, both for
Lizzie’s affections and
against one another.
waters Eugene survived.
Obsession with anything
is never healthy, but
obsession with another
person is especially
dangerous. Headstone
falls down the rabbit hole
of murder and passion
into insanity as he
changes from respectable
schoolteacher to deranged
stalker and would-be-
killer. He is effective as an
antagonist because his
brand of villainy is
something that we can
easily find in society at
any time. People who
harbor dark obsessions
too often turn into case
studies on Dateline and
60 Minutes because their
actions become murder or
kidnapping. The desire to
possess is what first drives
Bradley Headstone down
his dark path. When he is
spurned, by what he
perceives as Lizzie’s
interest in Eugene, his
passionate desire turns
violent and his obsession
envelops Eugene too.
Headstone perceives
Eugene as the one who
has taken his object of
desire, as the source of his
problems, as a wall that
must be taken down to get
to the peace and
happiness on the other
side. Headstone conceives
wrongly that by taking
down Eugene he can
obtain Lizzie. In fact, what
lies on the other side of
the wall is the emptiness,
fear and self-loathing that
the path violent obsession
inevitably leads to. ♥
deepens upon seeing her
again. He ponders taking
her by force since she will
not acquiesce to his
overtures, despite her
being in love with him,
but he is stopped from
doing anything rash by
the appearance of
Headstone, who followed
him there. Seeing Eugene
and Lizzie together is the
final straw for Headstone
and he attacks Eugene,
beating him and throwing
him in the river to drown.
This murder attempt
almost succeeds, but the
true hero of the story,
Lizzie, saves Eugene in
time.
Eugene’s brush with
death changes him and he
is ―reborn.‖ He recognizes
the error of his ways,
marries Lizzie, and comes
to forgive Headstone,
refusing to name him as
the attempted murderer,
knowing that Headstone
will punish himself
enough. Indeed, fear of
discovery, unresolved
violent passion,
unrelenting obsession and
insane jealousy eat away
at Headstone. His fears all
come true when another
villain, Rogue Riderhood,
reveals that he knows all
about the murder attempt
and tells Headstone of
Eugene’s survival and
newfound happiness with
Lizzie. Riderhood tries to
blackmail Headstone with
this information, but with
nothing left to lose,
Headstone takes the man
down with him, drowning
them both in the icy
The enmity between the
men begins with their
discovery that they are
chasing the same woman.
This escalates when they
also discover they truly
despise one another as
men. Eugene’s arrogant,
high born nature, haughty
attitude and ambiguous
intentions and lust for
Lizzie make him a sort of
anti-hero for most of the
story, and give Headstone
good reason to dislike
him; Headstone’s cold,
calculating demeanor and
violent jealousy give
Eugene reason to dislike
him, and what ensues is a
game of cat and mouse.
Obsession is the central
component in this game.
Both men are obsessed
with Lizzie, something
that frightens her into
running away and hiding
from them. While the men
are in the dark as to her
whereabouts, their
obsession with her turns
into an obsession with
each other. Headstone
takes to following Eugene
everywhere in hopes that
he’ll locate Lizzie. His
sanity and grasp of reality
deteriorate during this
period as his focus blurs
and twists in his jealousy.
He sees Lizzie as an
unattainable object of
desire and Eugene as the
reason for his problems.
In his obsessive misery,
Eugene enjoys tormenting
Headstone and actively
misleads him. Through
less than morally upright
means, Eugene locates
Lizzie. His desire for her
19
now. What is it? Is it just a frozen drop of rain or the
sign of a new beginning? When snow begins to fall and cover the ground we know that winter is here. Those living in warmer climates see snow-covered towns during the winter and look at it in awe. Many who live in snowy climates might even see it as a nuance. However, for the most part, it has been a symbol of purity and even innocence.
That makes us wonder why author Suzanne Collins penned the name President Snow on the heartless ruler in the Hunger Games Trilogy. President Snow is anything but pure or innocent. In fact, he’s ruthless, cruel, and just plain evil.
In the Hunger Games Trilogy readers go on a journey with Katniss, Peeta, Gale and a band of rebels as they face down President Snow and his minions. When Katniss stands up against the terrifying ruler of Panem, President Snow finds that his world has been turned on its head. What is this world that he and
the others live in? Well, annually for the past 74 + years the 12 Districts (what is left of America) provide two ―Tributes‖ to fight to the death in The Hunger Games as a form of punishment to remind the 12 Districts, that like the infamous District 13, if you rebel they will blow you off the map. This is a reminder of who is truly in power. What makes this even worse is the ―Tributes‖ range in age from 12 to 18… they’re children. What makes a man or a society accepting of the fact that children are put into an arena to fight to the death? What truly happened to this world? What happened to this particular man?
We often wonder what our society would do if something catastrophic happened. Would we band together and hold each other up? What if those we depended on, the President, our Military, the police, was no more? Could we keep our humanity and rebuild? That is the question the Hunger Games Trilogy tries to answer. In Collins’ world, it isn’t all sunshine and butterflies.
President Snow takes advantage of a struggling society for his own gain. Much like your average dictator, he rules with an iron fist. However, like a thief or snake, he stays in the shadows… scheming, pretending to be a truly merciful ruler… until he strikes. Like many successful dictators, he is able to control an entire population with a few words, a threat and even the shining, gleaming lights of the Capital. He knows exactly how to manipulate people as well as control them. He doesn’t even blink when he is told how his citizens are starving or when an innocent child dies in one of his ―Games.‖
This lack of emotion is a telltale sign of a sociopath… to put it bluntly. He lacks any kind of empathy and compassion where most people would be crushed under the emotions of the devastation caused through their role in sending children to murder one another. Snow revels in the fact that he strikes fear in Katniss. It’s as if he thrives off that fear and without it, he’d shrivel up and wither away.
Collin’s description of Snow, at first glance, is unassuming. She almost teases us with him. In fact, we don’t know much about Snow other than what Katniss tells us. He’s just a man with white hair, a white suit and a red rose pinned to his chest. Then we learn he isn’t as pure as his suit. Katniss tells us that his breath smells like blood, a metallic scent that makes her sick.
This is the perfect example of a villain. He is polished and poised on the outside, but inside is rotten. He is the symbol, in every fashion, of his beloved Capital. On the outside there is glitz and glamour, but underneath the layers of money and fashionable taste is a dead society of truly lost individuals.
Since President Snow is such a sly character and so able to control the masses, and Collins’ books take place in what is left of America, it leaves one to wonder, could that really happen here? Could we or would we allow someone to control us the way Snow does Panem? Would we sacrifice just a few of our
20
young so that others have the chance to live?
We could take many aspects of the world of Panem and correlate them to our world today. First, we allow President Snow type characters to control our minds. We’ve seen it through the ages in ancient civilizations such as the Mayans, who sacrificed their people to appease their gods, Vlad III, who impaled those who opposed him on stakes, and Hilter, who controlled an entire country by hating a single race into near extinction. Secondly, we let ourselves be hypnotized by the sparkles of Hollywood and celebrities, much like the people of the Capital. Lastly, and on a lighter note, we know how to band together. Even if there are times Americans lose sight of what is important, giving in to a President Snow character or just lead astray by something shiny, we have always come to our senses and realized that together we can overcome any obstacle. ♥
Begins with “The Shadow”
Christian Speculative
Fiction / Fantasy!
The Darkness Trilogy
Out Now! Buy it on
Kindle & Paperback
Add on Goodreads
Read more about author A.G. Porter
on her Goodreads profile and her blog
(where she also hosts lots of fun
giveaways!).
21
S he appears so quiet and calm at first glance—the wife of a
Parisian wine vendor, focused on her knitting, self-contained and self-sufficient. But looks can be deceiving. Inside the quiet woman is a seething cauldron of suppressed rage, hatred, and vengefulness, just waiting
for the right moment to boil over and scald everything in its path.
If Madame Defarge looks meaningfully at you as she knits, believe me, you will live to regret it.
In fact, Thérèse Defarge personifies all the terror and vengeance of the French Revolution, in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Like many other historical novelists,
when dealing with the sweep and force of a major event from the past, Dickens created a handful of individuals to represent that event for us, and thus to place it on a more human, more comprehensible scale. The revolution arose out of many complex factors and causes, but in Dickens’s retelling, all the bitterness, injustice, and unrest are distilled in one woman who, after many
patient years of waiting and plotting, at long last exchanges her knitting needles for a dagger.
The tragic events that spur Madame Defarge’s rage are buried deep in the past, not to be unearthed until late in the story. She was born into a peasant family who were mercilessly tormented by the St. Evrémondes, an aristocratic family who,
This article contains spoilers.
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for all intents and purposes, owned them. Thérèse’s sister, brother-in-law, brother, father, and unborn niece or nephew all died at the hands of these corrupt and cruel aristocrats. Thérèse herself only escaped their brutality because her brother was able to smuggle her away and hide her before they could get hold of her.
The destruction of her family was, naturally enough, the defining event of Madame Defarge’s life. Bent on avenging her family and punishing all aristocrats —especially Charles Darnay, the descendant of the St. Evrémondes—she has become a woman without mercy. Having lured her intended victim from England back to France, she toys with him like a particularly masterful cat with a particularly naïve and helpless mouse. Dickens writes of her:
it does to us. As she methodically plans to wipe out her victim and his entire family, Madame Defarge tells her compatriots: ―Tell Wind and Fire where to stop … but don’t tell me.‖ She has become more a force of nature than a human being, and a force of nature has no heart. It has no ability to hear, to feel, to experience any sort of genuine connection with anyone.
The real tragedy of Madame Defarge—a tragedy that she never recognizes, and probably wouldn’t care about if she did—is that she has become what she hates. Just like the men who tortured and killed her family members, she persecutes the innocent. Their family connections are enough to blacken them in her eyes; she cares about nothing else. It’s chilling to see how she has become the perfect reflection of the evil men who stole her family from her.
While A Tale of Two Cities as a whole tells a beautiful story of love and redemption, Madame Defarge haunts it like a dark, foreboding shadow—a picture of what life looks like without those things in it. That bleak picture should give us pause before we allow hatred—no matter how justified—to infect our own lives. ♥
It’s noteworthy that we only see Madame Defarge responding to the events of her past with anger and hate—as a ―tigress.‖ At some point, she must have felt terrible sorrow and grief, but never for one instant do we, the
readers, see those emotions in her. They have all been transformed into a burning desire for revenge.
I think there’s a reason that Dickens never lets this character show a softer emotion. I think he’s trying to show us something about the nature of hate, and what
―Imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress … It was nothing to her, that an innocent man was to die for the
sins of his forefathers; she saw, not him, but them. It was nothing to her, that his wife was to be made a widow and his daughter an orphan; that was insufficient punishment, because they were her natural enemies and her prey, and as such had no right to live.‖
Visit Gina’s Dickensblog and BreakPoint.
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N o villain is more
remembered than
Hannibal Lecter, the
charming serial killer in
Thomas Harris’ novels.
Dr. Lecter is a contrast of
manners and sadism… a
cultured art-appreciating
murderous cannibal (such
is his disdain for the rest
of humanity) who exploits
others’ vulnerabilities for
his own amusement. Dr.
Lecter began as a minor
character but audiences
couldn’t get enough of
this terrifying genius.
There are four books
in the series:
Hannibal Rising,
Red Dragon, The
Silence of the Lambs
and Hannibal. The
most disliked book by
fans is Hannibal Rising,
which establishes the
reason for his actions as
―revenge‖ for a
childhood incident.
When his little
sister is killed
during
WWII, he
tracks
down
those
responsible and kills
them. Some readers
believe this lessens his
impact as a villain, since it
makes him a victim, thus
igniting that age-old
debate, ―are sociopaths
born or created?‖
Red Dragon has him in
prison after being found
out as the Chesapeake
Ripper. He is consulted by
an FBI agent and former
victim, Will Graham, on a
current serial killer, but
manages to come out on
top when he sends the
murderer after Graham.
The Silence of the Lambs
introduces him to Clarice
Starling, an FBI agent in
training who is neither
intimidated by him nor
afraid to play his games.
He leads her to a killer,
and she unwittingly aids
in his escape.
Hannibal pits him against
an old adversary/victim
who wants revenge and
uses Clarice as bait. The
novel ends with Clarice
living out the rest of her
life with Dr. Lecter.
Anthony Hopkins first
brought the character to
life in the award-winning
Silence of the Lambs. It
launched a film franchise
that covers the rest of the
books (with degrees of
accuracy, although the
controversial ending to
Hannibal is changed).
More recent is NBC’s
Hannibal, a unique take
that starts before Lecter’s
capture. Certain aspects
are changed (characters,
motives, conclusions) but
its brilliance lies in the
gradual build-up of its
leading character and his
influence over the life of
Will Graham. This is Dr.
Lecter before he is caught
– manipulating everyone
to where he wants them,
using subtle cruelties,
taking quiet pleasure in
crime scenes, and often
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manufacturing a ―human
response‖ that melts into
a total lack of empathy as
soon as someone’s back is
turned. Everything is
calculated, down to his
responses. The series
follows his relationship
with Will Graham and
Abigail Hobbs. Graham is
a brainy but sensitive man
who feels remorse and
trauma when stepping
into the minds of killers.
(The FBI uses him as a
consultant in criminal
cases.) Lecter, under the
guise of his therapist,
emotionally manipulates
Will to the point where he
doubts his own sanity. He
also builds a mentor
relationship with Abigail
Hobbs, the daughter of a
murderer. She’s enough
like Lecter to figure him
out before anyone else but
different enough not to
become what he wants
her to be, a remorseless
murderer. What becomes
of her and how Will reacts
leads to one of the most
Early scenes find Abigail
or Will aloft (on the moral
high ground) but as his
influence over them grows
we find Lecter elevated to
a place of superiority and
influence, coinciding with
their demise.
Hannibal Lecter’s evil is
terrifying because he has
―no motive.‖ He has no
reason to be cruel or
manipulative except that
he enjoys it and feels no
remorse or empathy for
his actions. His brilliance
is used to destroy others.
This purposelessness in
evil both fascinates and
disturbs us, and sets Dr.
Lecter apart from other
literary villains who are
motivated through lust,
greed, ambition, or even
moral superiority. Lecter
is proof that evil doesn’t
need motives; it can
simply exist. And that, for
any reader or viewer, is
the most terrifying
realization of all. ♥
chilling confrontations in
the history of television.
Mads Mikkelson plays
Lecter not as ―a villain but
an incarnation of the
devil.‖ It’s a brilliant
interpretation a figure
that enjoys torment, lets
others fall into pits of
their own making with a
little bit of help, has no
empathy, and uses people
in cruel ways. This
symbolism is carried on in
the subtle influences of
the scripts and staging.
One can see similarities in
Will’s struggle against
Lecter to the plight of a
believer falling into sin;
Abigail’s victimization by
Lecter is reminiscent of a
life without Christ. Even
the structure of Lecter’s
office and his interaction
with other characters
smacks of symbolism…
characters that start out
―aloft‖ on his balcony
―descend‖ into his office
and realm of influence,
often by taking his hand.
Coming Oct 15
Christian Speculative
Fiction / Fantasy! Find out
more here.
Ever wondered what personality type your
favorite character has? Check out Charity’s MBTI in Fiction
Tumblr!
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Learn the spiritual
symbolism of the film
series.
25
Speculative Fiction & Fantasy
Speculative Fiction takes place in ―our world‖
or one similar to it, but with fantastical elements
… magic, vampires, werewolves, that sort
of thing.
Some of the upcoming articles include: The Horatio
Lyle Series, The Invisible Man, The Firebird Trilogy,
Early Edition, Lisey’s Story, Going Postal, Inception,
Star Trek, The Parasol Protectorate, The Raven,
Orphan Black, The Dresden Files, Star Trek, Once
Upon a Time, and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
There are still open spots! Want to write
something? Claim your topic today: [email protected]! Coming on Halloween