"Anyone else here read "The Crucible"??????"

Yes.


I think the trouble with choosing literary villains is that the best (ie most realistic, well-written) villains tend to have redeeming features, which is why people who don't - like Voldemort & Sauron (or Lex Luthor & Ming the Merciless, if you want to go there*) seem more evil.

But I have come up with a few more to add to the list ...

Empress Jadis (from The Magician's Nephew - ie the one who later becomes the Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe);
The Marquise de Merteuil from Les Liaisons Dangereuses;
Lady MacBeth (she is way more greedy than her husband!);
Mephistopheles from Faust;
Claudius (Hamlet's uncle)
*(Oh - and if you're going there, how about Glory, from Buffy? - a wonderful villain)

Have to say though that my top nomination for a literary villain (as opposed to a villain from literature) is Sir Thomas Moore, for writing all that rubbish about poor old Richard III in the first place ...



Post Edited (08-30-05 22:18)

Oh I'm glad someone's come up with some really convincing female villains.
Lady Macbeth is v evil, and Jadis was orrible. Now who else was I thinking of? Um.

*goes off to try and remember*



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If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

As long as we're listing Counts,

Dracula, no question; if taking other people's blood doesn't count as greedy, I don't know what is. Incidentally, has anyone read The Historian? No spoilers please, I'm not quite through with it.



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The Queen in Snow White.

Disney's rendition of her in particular gave me nightmares for years when I was a tot.

I've read it, Tari. It gets a bit bogged down in places, but otherwise I liked it.

For one thing, I think we are suppose to feel sorry for Medea, so therfore she shouldn't be considered a villian.

Second, Willie S. wrote some of the greatest villians of all time, espically Iago.

And 3rd, how has nobody mentioned Hannibal Lecter? He's rated the #1 most evil movie villian...and since he's origionally aliterary character why not? Come on he's pretty greedy.

My problem with it is that at the beginning, it gives you equal parts backstory and plot, and then towards the end, you have to read through 10 chapters of people reading old books to get to 1 paragraph of vampire chasing action.

so, um, yeah, I agree, it does get bogged down.



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Well, aside from the old books part, I liked reading the dad's story, which is, in fact, what the book is all about. It could probably have been shorter, but then so can most books that long. The end is really exciting, though.

I have to force myself not to turn to the end to see what happens. *slaps wrist*



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I used to read books backward. I'd start at the beginning and then the curiosty would get me, and I couldn't resist turning to the last chapter to see what happens. Then, I would get confused and read the chapter before that and the chapter before that... I have almost broken the habit though. It's been a while since I've done that.

"Dracula, no question; if taking other people's blood doesn't count as greedy, I don't know what is."

Does that really make him greedy, though? I mean, he had to or he couldn't survive. Just because you suck people's blood doesn't make you evil or greedy, if you do it to survive.

It makes him greedy because he wanted immortality, and drinking the blood of others is the only way for him to attain that goal.

Oh, ok. I see what you're getting at.

Female villains ... now where have I read about a female villain? ... er, Ali, maybe the one you are failing to remember is Aornis?!

I'm with Iheartcymru about Medea though - she only becomes bad because she is treated so badly.

And Dracula is definitely one of those villains who has redeeming features - can't find my copy to check (most of books packed into boxes in hope of being able to move house next year!), but wasn't he still in love with his wife?

Hmmm...I don't remember, I haven't read it since 8th grade. I'm gonna re-read it after I read The Historian after I finish Eldest and Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell though....so sometime next year.

As a suggestion, read Pyramid Scheme by Dave Freer and Eric Flint. Medea is actually pretty cool.

She was the victim of misleading Medea reports.... (Mr Freer's chapter heading btw....)

How about society? Brave New World (Huxley), 1984(Orwell).

The people in charge? Rats Bats and Vats, and Rats Bats and Ugly(Both Freer and Flint books).



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'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Hmm, Dracula might still have been in love with his wife, but I think you're getting the real plot mixed up with that crap movie with Keanu Reeves in it. In the book, Dracula attacks Mina Harker just to spite the men working against him. They make up that bit about his wife just to add some motivation for his actions in the movie. Goodness, I'm a vampire nerd. Or mostly just a nerd.



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No, no - I don't watch films with Keanu Reeves in them - I trained as a lecturer in acting!!

Only read Dracula once though & it was a long time ago, & I skipped all the gory bits.

I'm a Buffy nerd myself - fewer blood transfusions; more fun.

Nope Juliet, definitely not Aornis - she had family feeling and wasn't as wicked as Acheron imo. Still thinking about who it was.

Oh and if we're talking about children's books Miss Slighcarp was pretty damn wicked in the Wolves of Willoughby Chase, as was Miss Brown in Mistress Masham's Repose. Not to mention the Other Mother in Coraline. So I won't.



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If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

Skipping the gory bits Juliet? what fun is that?



Post Edited (09-01-05 19:19)

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