For this month, Robin has asked us to describe a flawed or evil character we have or might use in a story. How did they become so flawed? What part will they play in the story and what will happen to them?
I always have trouble creating evil characters. I
would say that most have mine have been flawed in some way rather than truly
evil. Except for, maybe, Sir Peregrine Styles in my first Regency romance, His
Dark Enchantress. Sir Peregrine was very much a depraved character,
particularly in the satisfaction he derived from causing pain or trouble to
others. He was a narcissist, manipulator, and opportunist all rolled into one
character but none of that was greatly surprising given the era and the mores of the strata of society
he grew up in.
People being people, and our characters are people if
only in our minds and books, good and bad can come from anywhere. The best of
families could have one bad apple. A family in the poorest area of town may
have a dad with a heart of gold and a mum who will do anything for her children
first and her neighbours after that.
People can and do change. Rose of Sharon in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath spring to mind.
As authors, building the backstory for a flawed or
evil character is as intriguing and circuitous as those of our main characters
and, dare I say, might take a bit more of a psychological twist. Writing
historical fiction means dipping into the social history of the period whether,
in my case, it is the Regency or Edwardian eras. The class structure was pretty
much adhered to. People ‘knew their place.’ But within that structure, the mores
of the Regency became stricter through the Victorian era and began to ease
again in the Edwardian era, especially the La Belle Epoch era in Europe which dated
from the early 1870s up until the outbreak of World War 1.
Regency characters who held ambitions to rise above
their place in society might be referred to as ‘mushrooms.’ The term ‘nabob,’
originally denoting an official under the Mughal Empire, came to be used
somewhat derisively for a pretentious person, especially one growing his own
wealth rather than inheriting it. After all, the definition of a gentleman then was someone who did not work for his living but off the wealth generated by his estates.
My current ‘baddie’ is one Ruby Baker in the third book, Phoebe Fisher, in my series Those Regency Belles. Ruby is a barmaid with took my hero’s promises to heart. In a drunken moment as an eighteen-year-old and about to embark on his first voyage, Andrew promised to bring her jewels from India. Ten years later, Ruby arrives on his doorstep to collect them. Why such a time span? Well, a voyage to India could take a minimum of four months. Depending on what happened during the voyage, pirates, storms, being blown off course, it could take a year. And then you turned around and possibly faced the same problems on the return journey. That was without any other detours. However, now Andrew has inherited a title and gained a wife. What will Ruby do? I’m still working on that.
Visit my fellow authors listed here and see what they are working on.
Anne
Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
Dr.
Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2ue
Connie
Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Skye
Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Marci
Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com
It seems to be a kind of trend with our group . . . trouble creating evil characters. LOL I wonder what that says about us? Your comment about how even upstanding families can have bad apples. The way each child responds to a situation is often completely different from their siblings. So, it’s all about how we internalize whatever happens in our lives. I think that’s why it’s so fun to write and create these different characters. We get to see the inner workings of how someone came to be who they are while not actually being that person.
ReplyDeleteThis post was thought-provoking. Thanks for the early morning philosophy. 😊
Maybe we are all too well brought up to be 'good' people to create real villains!
DeleteHi Victoria, I, too, write in the Regency period and sometimes I struggle with the social mores - particularly the idea of any other person - slave, indentured servant, wife, child, sister, mother - as the possession of someone else or nearest male relative. I do see collective evil in society norms. Maybe it's not necessary to demonstrate it in a single character. anne
ReplyDeleteI agree. Writing about servants/slaves and the necessity of having a husband are so alien to us now. I think that's why my Regency heroines are a bit out there.
DeleteThat was quite a carrot you dangled out there - what will Ruby do now? She sounds like an intriguing character. Flawed characters are so much more intriguing than pure and innocent.
ReplyDeleteI actually feel sorry for her! Young and impressionable, she believed Andrew's promise of jewels from India. She lived her life while he was sailing backwards and forwards to England and other countries, but she always had those jewels in mind, especially 'a ruby as big as a pigeon's egg, just for you.' To not be presented with that after waiting ten years was a bitter pill to swallow!
DeleteI'm intrigued by Ruby, your current baddie. I like her already!
ReplyDeleteVictoria I agree that, perhaps, we were too well brought up to create evil characters. Since I was an introvert as a child and seldom spoke in class, I was used a a buffer. I was always sitting next to, or across from the 'problem child' in the classroom. How on earth did that poor soul manage to make such a mess of things?
ReplyDeleteDefinitions of good, bad, saintly, and evil differ greatly from person to person, but we all recognize it in writing. Good post,
ReplyDeleteVictorica!