Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Our Leading Lady
As soon as I was introduced to Adeline’s character while
reading The Romance of the Forest, I knew that there was a reason the
Radcliffe chose to have this woman as our heroine. As the book was starting out,
I could tell that many readers (especially female readers) would have a problem
with Adeline because she came off as the typical damsel in distress. It seemed
that she was constantly being dramatic, fainting, or crying. She is described
as being young and beautiful, and these things only add on to the idea that she
is also naïve and innocent; almost to a fault. If you take her at face value,
she seems like a weak protagonist. However, I also got the feeling that there
had to be more to Adeline. There’s no way that this woman is nothing past her
crying and gentleness. I argued this in our class discussion, and it was a
risky argument to make, considering that at that point we had only read the
first part of the novel and we still didn’t know much about her. As I went on
to read further in the book, I found that my argument was a pretty solid one. Although
Adeline seems like a fragile being, the mysterious things about her that are revealed
as the novel goes on make us appreciate her character a little more. She is in
fact a strong character, and I’m glad that I gave her the benefit of the doubt
from the beginning. I believe the Adeline’s true strength is revealed towards the
end of the book (for example when she refuses to marry the Marquis despite all
the trouble that it may cause) as the plot begins to shift and we begin to
understand who she really is. These things allowed me to view her as a woman
with high moral standards and the perfect heroine for a mysterious gothic
romance.
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I totally agree with you, except for the fact that she has "high moral standards." I feel like she is that woman in the books who, like a black widow, spins a beautiful web, but she is also a poison. Rather than say she has "high moral standards" I would like to put for to say she is cultured. She seems to have knowledge, of course on poetry, and the goings on of society but she uses them to her advantage not necessarily that advantage of others. I wouldn't say she is totally evil but she is defiantly not pious either.
ReplyDeleteI also agree but I think the transition of her character is the most important in terms of defining her as a heroine. At first she takes on many of the traits of the damsel in distress like you said. This seems to be a fairly common character within the gothic novel with Adeline being similar in behavior and dialogue to Isabella in Castle of Otranto. We see the transition through her use of voice, made apparent and pertinent by the increasing amount of dialogue. I'd say by the end of the novel she seems to coalesce with the character of Matilda in Otranto. Both characters have enough voice to be considered heroines while still retaining a certain femininity in regards to their emotional turmoil.
ReplyDeleteI think it is only natural for current times/situations to leak into books. Even if Radcliffe was not meaning to originally come across as being political, her thoughts and ideas were bound to creep in. If you were to look at any novels written in today’s generation, you would also see characteristics and similarities to current society/government topics. I think part of what makes Romance in the Forest so timeless and significant is because of the times and political issues that are being represented. It allows the reader to get an insiders perspective on what was possibly going on during the French Revolution, and how a woman of that time viewed it.
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