Page 7 of 7 FirstFirst ... 234567
Results 91 to 103 of 103

Thread: What about villains

  1. #91
    aspiring Arthurianist Wilde woman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    grad school in upstate NY
    Posts
    703
    Quote Originally Posted by kelby_lake View Post
    I wouldn't call Leontes a villain. He does genuinely seem to be jealous, even if there is no reason for it.
    I would argue he's a villain figure in the first half. Or, at least, his madness is driving him into an antagonistic position. He's put into opposition against his entire court, Bohemia, even Apollo's oracle at Delphi.

    Also, for Category B: Javert from Les Miserables. How could I forget him?
    Ecce quam bonum et jocundum, habitares libros in unum!
    ~Robert Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay

  2. #92
    Bibliophile JBI's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    6,360
    To be honest, in Shakespeare I do not think there are villains. Each character seems justifiable in their own understanding of their emotions, to the point where such categorizations really fail. Even Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, or Edmund in King Lear - all justifiable within their own conceptualization of the world in regard to them.

  3. #93
    Card-carrying Medievalist Lokasenna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    In a lurid pink building...
    Posts
    2,769
    Blog Entries
    5
    Quote Originally Posted by JBI View Post
    To be honest, in Shakespeare I do not think there are villains. Each character seems justifiable in their own understanding of their emotions, to the point where such categorizations really fail. Even Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, or Edmund in King Lear - all justifiable within their own conceptualization of the world in regard to them.
    I think that's a hard case to make for the likes of Aaron, Iago and Richard III...
    "I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche

  4. #94
    Bibliophile JBI's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    6,360
    Quote Originally Posted by Lokasenna View Post
    I think that's a hard case to make for the likes of Aaron, Iago and Richard III...
    Iago is the only difficult one, but at the same time, he doesn't strike me as a Villain, just because we are reading his point of view, he is in the hero position, it has been argued. That is the problem with the play - he is victorious in his endeavor - the play is about his feat, not Othello's - his quest for destruction is the centre of the play, we are awaiting to see him succeed.

    Same with Macbeth, he is not a villain, though vile. That is a problem I guess for such categorization.

  5. #95
    Registered User kelby_lake's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    3,620
    Richard III has his reasons, doesn't he?

  6. #96
    Bibliophile JBI's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    6,360
    Quote Originally Posted by kelby_lake View Post
    Richard III has his reasons, doesn't he?
    The disturbed quality of being brilliant but deformed.

  7. #97
    defying description inbetween's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    germany
    Posts
    131
    catigory A (and I not only sympasise with them .... )
    first of all Count Dracular (don't really wanto to know what Freud would say concerning my exitement when thinking of beeing bitten... and bite myself whatsoever)
    then the one I coul fall for Heathcliff (I'd cast Jonny Depp if I was asked...)
    furthermore Sweeney Todd (no matte what version)
    there are probably more ... all those vampire like men...

    category B
    Judje Turpin (Allan Rickman made him come to life in such a disgusting way... real good job)
    who else... well perhaps there'll be some more coming to my minde later on...
    Friends help you move. Good friends help you move bodies.

  8. #98
    BadWoolf JuniperWoolf's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    The North
    Posts
    4,433
    Blog Entries
    28
    I love villains, a lot more than heroes. My favorite is Crake, but I also like Hannibal Lecter, Iago (if one classifies him as villian), Medea...

    OH!!! Satan from Paradise Lost is actually my favorite favorite.
    __________________
    "Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood. The doctors didn't know if my eyes would ever heal."
    -Pi


  9. #99
    defying description inbetween's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    germany
    Posts
    131
    yeah.. villians are well.. dunno I feel the same about them.. as long as I can remember I've always bin on their side... always bin on the side of the dragons as well ... perhaps because the bad once are appear stronger or because someone entirely good is too surreal because however hard you try to escape by reading you actually always search the mechanisms of reality just in other worlds and stories... the rules remain the same... and the bad once are those who do what we don't dare to do but always wish... perhaps adoring the bad once keeps us from doing those things ourselves and so indulge to the imp of pervers (as poe puts it) .
    dunno, I'm afraid I'm not really making a point here ... I'm rather raving or something, sorry for being so vague but perhaps you can make something of it....
    Friends help you move. Good friends help you move bodies.

  10. #100
    Seasider
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Eastbourne
    Posts
    525
    Isn't one of the problems how to make good people interesting? The only way is to pit them against a villain and hope they come out on top. Heroism needs Villainy if it is to be noticed.

  11. #101
    Metamorphosing Pensive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Neverland
    Posts
    10,601
    Madame Defarge.
    Not sure which category to put her into though....
    I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew.

  12. #102
    confidentially pleased cacian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    London
    Posts
    13,930

    villains across literature

    your favourite and why?
    it may never try
    but when it does it sigh
    it is just that
    good
    it fly

  13. #103
    Registered User kelby_lake's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    3,620
    This is an interesting thread

Page 7 of 7 FirstFirst ... 234567

Similar Threads

  1. Who is your favorite Shakespeare Villain?
    By Admin in forum Shakespeare, William
    Replies: 65
    Last Post: 05-25-2012, 01:58 AM
  2. I need an Explination on Shakespeare and Villains
    By cyclohexane in forum Shakespeare, William
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 03-08-2009, 03:59 PM
  3. heroes or villains?
    By mir in forum 1984
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 09-28-2006, 10:11 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •