Evil Heroines: The wicked stepmother’s raging ambition
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:35The success of wicked stepmothers on screen is not surprising. Because more than just bad mothers, it is the stepmothers that we always love to hate – and not only in the movies, either…
There was the one who spawned Carrie, the dangerous fanatic, responsible for the destruction of her daughter’s mind. There was also Mary Jones, sociopath completely unmoved by the sexual and physical abuse going on in the movie Precious. Yet, even more striking than the bad mother, is the stepmother with her uninhibited ambitions. Such as Lady Tremaine of Cinderella, or Mrs Finchi in famous French novel Les Malheures de Sophie (Sophie’s Misfortune), where she summarizes her rules of upbringing in one cold, simple line – “Do not spoil her; correct her without mercy.”
For psychoanalyst Katia Denard, the success of wicked stepmothers not surprising. “Doesn’t the little girl that we once were want her father to herself? By proxy, these stories allow us to live our Oedipus complex without any guilt. Not only because these vixens are not “real” mums but, moreover, we are allowed to hate them.”
READ MORE from OUR REPORT “WHY DO WE PREFER THE VILLAINS?”
The femme fatale brings men to their knees
The madwoman draws us in with fear
The manipulative one boosts our ego
The excessively dramatic one who awakens our savage side
Glenn Close, the invincible villain
The 5 most evil heroines we love to hate!
Josephine LEBARD
