queensthief | Shadow Princess

Hi there. Part-time lurker coming out because I know that all of us have had, at least once, that kick-in-the-head moment where we're looking at something unrelated and think suddenly, "but that's just like a QT character!" I wanted to share this one, since I'm wondering if I'm the only person who sees it.

Anti-heroes are easy to find if you read the right books: all those troubled men stamping around and looking gloomy. Or wuthering, or something. A hero worth his salt should be able to get away with almost anything and still remain on the side of good. This is much less true of women (excluding for - I know - the exceptions of mid-Victorian sensation schemers, Faith, and anybody in a dress on HBO's Rome), and I've found I have to keep my eyes peeled to find anti-heroines. This is why I like Attolia so very much. She's both a woman who will eat you for breakfast, and the love of Gen's life, and I think her personality is one of the most interesting things in these books.

I have Attolia on the brain because I was sitting in Row G of a theatre watching a terrific production of Dangerous Liaisons and I thought - first - "heh heh, this is like two hours of listening to Attolia talk to the Mede Ambassador," a thought which ripened into, "gee, Mme. de Merteuil sounds a lot like Attolia." Then I felt bad.

More below the cut, since this is a bit long and I figure any time Dangerous Liaisons is under discussion, there should be some kind of adult content signpost. I certainly hope this doesn't get too explicit, but please do note that this is a play (and a novel) with grownup language and content.

Dangerous Liaisons is about two congenital schemers - Merteuil and Valmont - and their attempts to get one over on each other (figuratively and, yes, literally) by ruining the lives of three other people who got stuck in their orbit. If you've seen Cruel Intentions, you know what this is about; I'm pretty sure the only thing in that movie that isn't in the original novel is Kathryn's coke habit. Nobody's very likable here. The good end unhappily, the bad unluckily, and everyone is going to get guillotined in about 8 years anyway. It's not the most cheerful thing ever written, but I do love it.

What I think is interesting here is not so much the hardened rake semi-reformed by love, which should be the main plot. I'm a lot more interested in the other two women - the ones who aren't interested in being virtuous. Here's what the Marquise de Merteuil has to say for herself (and disregard the scary and reptilian Valmont in the first minute or so...):

Now, Merteuil is nobody's idea of a nice person - though I doubt she's ever actually granched a rebellious baron - but to me this incredibly smart woman trapped very young in a world where no one takes her seriously sounds rather surprisingly similar to Attolia. It makes me wonder what Attolia would be like sans Gen, and appreciate him even more for marrying her and taking care of her - not that I don't appreciate Gen for his own impressive skills.

So I suppose this is the non-YA Attolia or something? Or maybe just one of those moments when you realize you should probably read something else and stop looking for parallels everywhere you go.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com

Wow... She scares me. Deeply...

I do believe you have found yourself a Victorian (and more adult) Attolia.

I am also fascinated by female anti-heros. They are not as accepted in literature as male anti-heros, because I guess people are more weirded out by them. I wouldn't so much call this sexism, as the human expectation that woman are more gentle, more kind, more sensitive than men. When a woman is cruel, she is not simply insensitive. She fully understands what she is doing but goes through with it anyway.

When we compare that with a male anti-hero such as Artemis Fowl, we find that the audience is more comfortable with this character, because they assume he is just immature and insensitive. With guidance it is possible for him to learn not be this way. With women, people don't assume that as readily.

From:

traboule.livejournal.com

Heh - yes, she's a force to be reckoned with. Very dangerous. Although (technically), she isn't Victorian; she was written in by a Frenchman in 1782, right before the Revolution.

I think you're right that people are more weirded out by women who can do bad things and stay good guys. There's something uncomfortable about that - maybe it's because we expect so many innocent female protagonists, or because, as you say, women are expected to be more gentle and sensitive. And even with heroes older than Artemis Fowl, there's a character-type of obnoxious hero available to men that's less available to women.

Hmm. Yes. Anyway, glad to know it isn't just me.

and Gen

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