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.

3 comments:

  1. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I 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.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I 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.

    ReplyDelete