Hi gang, now I need examples of "shady ladies" in literature.

[Nedsdag]

I already have a few:

Moll Flanders
Fanny Hill
Hester Prynne
Madame Bovary
Lady Chatterley
Lolita

I need a few more. Any suggestions? I will be discussing this with my students tomorrow.

I have two male "whores" so to speak:

Tom Jones
Joseph Andrews

[kevinthediltz]

Cathy from "East of Eden"
But that is more completely evil and sadistic than shady. :lol:

[Virgil]

Well you have define shady lady. I would not characterize Hester Prynne or Lady Chatterly as a shady lady.

[acdouglas92]

Tess in Tess of the D'Urbervilles could be considered one, as she is basically used as a means of trade by her parents in order to heighten their social status.

Julia from 1984 (?)

[billl]

Zola's Nana

[Virgil]

Tess in Tess of the D'Urbervilles could be considered one, as she is basically used as a means of trade by her parents in order to heighten their social status.

Julia from 1984 (?)

What? I would not consider eithewr Tess or Julia shady ladies. What is you definition of shady? These were both admirable ladies caught in a web of tragedy.

[Qaphqa]

Madame Defarge from A Tale of Two Cities.

[Nedsdag]

Sorry, what I should have said was so-called female characters who were sexually adventurous or used their sexuality to either enhance their standings or their narcissism.

[kevinthediltz]

Cathy from east of eden is your best bet there. She is manipulative and uses sex for gain.

[sixsmith]

Nicola Six from Amis' 'London Fields'

[Virgil]

Sorry, what I should have said was so-called female characters who were sexually adventurous or used their sexuality to either enhance their standings or their narcissism.

Well then Hester Prynne and Lady Chatterly are definitely wrong.

[Nedsdag]

I have to use Hester Prynne and Lady Chatterly regarding the sexual nature of their lives.

[billl]

have to? The Scarlet Letter is pretty unrelenting in its sympathy for Hester, if I remember right (and I might not, that was high school for me). I imagine she could maybe be worked in, but you'd probably be seriously misrepresenting the character as she is actually presented in the book if she were simply looked at as "sexually adventurous." Not to say it'd be technically wrong, it just seems like a loaded phrasing. And I don't think there was much evidence for narcissism or social standing being the motive... I mean, I don't know how the paper is going to go, but she seems an odd choice, just considering the use of the words "shady" and "whore" in the original post, the others in the list, etc.

If by "have to" you mean that the teacher assigned that list of women, then... well, I hope you are planning an angle that takes into account the fact that the community around Hester is what really takes a moral beating from the author.

Sorry if I'm spending too much energy defending Hester from a portrayal you don't intend or something, I guess that novel had an effect on me back in the day :)

[Nedsdag]

Again, I was using Hester Prynne as an example of female characters and sexuality. Perhaps I should've phrased it that way.

[Gustavo L.]

Alejandra from Ernesto Sabato's On Heroes and Tombs. Definitely.
Maria, from his short novel The Tunnel, somewhat qualifies too.

Edit: Darn! Morgana, of course. Notably in Steinbeck's version of the Arthurian mythos. And Vivien in Tennyson's.

[kiki1982]

The Lady with the Camelia (does she have a name? :p), Dumas the younger? She had loads of lovers.

I have to say I totally do not agree with Tess... She never descends into that kind of thing, only at the end and then she regrets it. She can hardly be called a shady lady...

[imthefoolonthehill]

the secretary from All the Kings Men.... what was her name? She'd fit.

[IJustMadeThatUp]

Maybe Rebecca from Du Maurier's book of the same name?

[Tsuyoiko]

Anna Karenina? I don't think she's a "shady lady", and I didn't blame her for what she did, but her affair was the centre of the novel.

[kasie]

[QUOTE=kiki1982;737916]The Lady with the Camelia (does she have a name? :p), Dumas the younger? She had loads of lovers.....QUOTE]

Marguerite Gautier. :)

Becky Sharp?

[Stella Mica]

Scarlett O Hara from Gone with the Wind; Lady Susan by Jane Austen.

[wessexgirl]

Lydia Gwilt from Armadale by Wilkie Collins. I haven't read it, but was listening to a dramatised version on Radio 4. I missed the 2nd episode, so I'll have to catch up. But she's a real piece of work, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

[mona amon]

I already have a few:

Moll Flanders
Fanny Hill
Hester Prynne
Madame Bovary
Lady Chatterley
Lolita

I need a few more. Any suggestions? I will be discussing this with my students tomorrow.

I have two male "whores" so to speak:

Tom Jones
Joseph Andrews

What on earth is poor Lolita doing on this list? :(

I also agree with Virgil about Hester Prynne and Lady Chatterly.

[JuniperWoolf]

Lady Chatterly does NOT belong on that list.
Also, LOLITA?!? I'd hardly call a twelve year old who was kidnapped an assalted by her stepfather "shady" in her sexuality (its pretty clear what you're referring to, and you definately have the wrong opinion).

Mildred from Of Human Bondage belongs on this list.

[Fen]

Marquise de Merteuil from Les Liaisons dangereuses

[jocky]

Mildred Rogers the character from Somerset Maugham's ' Of Human Bondage ' Now there was a trollope and a half, and she was working class. How could she treat poor cripple Phillip Carey in that awful way?

[Emil Miller]

Therese Raquin

[amarna]

Jean Genet from The Thief's Journal.

[prendrelemick]

Becky Sharpe from Vanity Fair, a devious little minx if ever there was one.

[mystery_spell]

Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's The Awakening could be considered a "shady lady" because she is not the societal norm.

[*Classic*Charm*]

Again, I was using Hester Prynne as an example of female characters and sexuality. Perhaps I should've phrased it that way.

In that context, you could also try Fantine from Les Miserables.

[Maida]

I'd have to go with Blanche Dubois from "A Streetcar Named Desire," or are you excluding plays?

[rozreads]

Cathy in East of Eden is the shadiest character in literature in my opinion..totally without conscience.