A Top Ten Meme from The Broke and The Bookish
This week's topic is "Mean Girls" but since I don't much read YA I don't generally run into girls who are mean but more women who are despicable. Ten was a bit of a reach, so I came up with four.
1. Mrs Danvers the creepy housekeeper from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
2. Mrs Schmitz from The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I know she tried to redeem herself in the end, but there are some crimes that are just too heinous . . .
3. Mildred the waffling anemic girlfriend from Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.
4. Mrs. Reed the mean old aunt from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
Previous Top Tens:
~Bookish Peeves
~Books That Should Be Made Into Movies
~Favorite Places to Read
21 comments:
I certainly agree with Mrs Danvers and Mrs Reed - I'd add Mrs Norris from Mansfield Park and Nurse Ratchett from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
I found this difficult too and I used to be a YA reader. A fair few of my list are from classics including Mrs Danvers. I forgot about Mrs Reed from Jane Eyre.
Good choices. I was trying to think of more, but it's way too early and I've only had one cup of coffee so far...LOL
Yes, it was tricky this week - I thought I'd have no problem finding ten but in fact it took me ages to come up with some. Mrs Reed was a good choice.
http://sophiasbookblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-mean-girls-in-books.html
tracy - I haven't read either of those, but when I do I'll be looking out for their despicableness.
karen - the classics have some good ones, don't they?
diane - I threw this together last night and thought I'd come up with a few more by morning. I'm still waiting for inspiration . . . More coffee might help ;)
sophia - well I'm glad to hear other people were having trouble too. I thought it was just me and my poor memory. I'll probably be reminded of more as I check out other lists.
Mrs. Danvers is a good one. I forgot about her!
I decided to interpret "girls" in the widest meaning of the word so I could include bitchy women as well.
I forgot about Mrs. Danvers! And Rebecca herself could be included. Great picks - I'm loving reading everyone's lists!
anne - it's probably because I just recently read the book so she is still fresh in my mind.
bibliophile - yes, bitchy women are just mean girls all grown up.
sarah - so true about Rebecca. I've seen her mentioned several times.
You listed good!
Check out my bad girls in my Top Ten post!
I didn't think about it before, but I think you're right that YA fans probably had an easier time with this topic! I didn't even think about Mrs. Reed but she's so awful!
Thanks for stopping by! Mrs. Reed would have easily made my honorable mention list! Have a great week!
I've really got to re-read Rebecca. I read it so many years ago I can barely recall the details. I've seen the book on all kinds of lists and reviews. I loved your list and thanks for stopping by today. Kaye—the road goes ever ever on
Most of my list didn't come from YA. Austen's works are full of literary b*%@$#s.
This was hard, mine was more just plain evil characters than mean.Lol.
I totally forgot about Mrs. Reed, gosh I hated her!
hmmm, I thought i was following you, well, i am now. i think i'm going to join this meme. sound fun.
Thanks for stopping by my Top Ten. I haven't read any of these except Jane Eyre. The Reeds were quite despicable!
Fabulous list. I so agree. Mrs. Reed is extra awful.
gautami - thanks! I'll be over to see your picks soon.
red - I was thinking they would probably have an advantage, but the classics haven't done so badly either.
bibliomaniacs - Mrs Reed was an easy choice lol.
kaye - I had a hard time remembering some worthy characters just because it had been years since I read them. Seeing other people's lists has really jogged my memory.
loni - yes, true. It took me a little while, but they're coming back to me now.
skye - I had to rethink 'mean' to be more 'unlikeable'. 'Bitchy' is an appropriate term too lol.
sidne - yeah, I thought I was too. Hmm I wonder what happened? I'll have to come over and re-follow you.
kathy - you're welcome. Yes, Jane Eyre was good, and I would recommend Rebecca too.
alexis - she was, wasn't she? Totally evil.
Ugh, Mildred. I always get so mad at Philip for crawling back to her - she's unbelievable!
Yep! Definitely agree with Mrs Danvers and Mrs Reed! But I don't think Hannah Schmitz was really mean. Sure, she committed crimes and they were heinous, but I never thought of her as mean.
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