Role Models: Literary Villainesses

You may have noticed that I took the weekend off from posting, which was nice because I didn’t have anything I very much wanted to get out.

But today I’d like to talk about some of the women in literature I find to be very inspiring- the women who are pretty much the devil incarnate.

Putting aside issues of women’s representation in literature and other arts, and how it may or may not be more connected to men’s imagination than female actuality… some of my favorite characters are strong, selfish, and mean people.

I’m not sure why this is, especially because I’d like to think that I personally am nothing like that.  But it’s also not difficult to see why their drive, anger, and uncompromising attitudes are appealing.  After all, the world is a scary place and women are frequently expected to be easy victims of it.

Friday Links 6/9: Not So Many

It’s not so many links this week, so I’m going to supplement with some basic life facts; I just finished Vanity Fair, which I believe was on my list of long books I had and hadn’t read, and have moved on to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
I watched The Testament of Youth recently and really enjoyed it- somehow I seem to be picking out a lot of WWI, so I put a hole on Gallipoli at the library. It’s time. Bracing myself.  I’m also debating watching It Comes at Night at the theater. It looks like a good suspenseful family drama, more than a horror film. Maybe Lily and I can watch it next weekend if it’s still playing.
Speaking of visiting friends, Gabriella is here for the weekend and she has four tiny tiny kittens! We’re planning fun and a potential visit to the Pride Parade at Boston tomorrow.  What else? Visiting my aunt and uncle tomorrow meaning and possibly seeing another aunt next weekend.  It’s a lovely confluence of people I care about.
Anything else? I took my first parkour lesson yesterday and it was great fun.

Onto the links!