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Jun. 1st, 2012 12:10 pmSo for me the process of reading Georgette Heyer's The Spanish Bride went something like this:
BECCA: I have just read half a dozen post-apocalyptic novels and I am super stressed and have finals due and I REALLY DESPERATELY need something light and fluffy that I am guaranteed to enjoy!
THE SPANISH BRIDE: I am a stealth Georgette Heyer that you have never read, lurking in the back of your bookshelf!
BECCA: Perfect! Come to me, sweet and hijinks-filled Regency romance full of witty banter and ridiculous slang!
THE SPANISH BRIDE: I may have forgotten to mention that I am Georgette Heyer's attempt at a realistic historical novel. Now let's start off with a description of British soldiers looting, raping and plundering a defenseless city during the Napoleonic Wars! :D :D
BECCA: . . . . wait what.
HARRY: I am the hero of this book! I am a valiant twentysomething officer destined for heroism.
JUANA: And I am the heroine! I am a fourteen-year-old refugee.
HARRY: A SEXY fourteen-year-old refugee. Baby, let's get married!
JUANA: OKAY. >:D
BECCA: @______________@
THE SPANISH BRIDE: And then they weather the hardships of war together while she thinks about how her husband is the only important thing in her life and she will die if he does! It's very romantic.
BECCA: That's . . . that's not what . . .
THE SPANISH BRIDE: NONSENSE. True love is great! They have a tempestuous passion!
BECCA: Fourteen-year-olds are often pretty tempestuous! BECAUSE THEY'RE BABIES.
THE SPANISH BRIDE: Also, look, Juana is totally fine with never seeing her family again or having any female friends, and all the dudes love her and think of her as a mascot. She's so uncomplaining and plucky! SEE, I'M FEMINIST.
BECCA: I don't . . . that's not . . . THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED TO BE READING!
BUT I FINISHED IT ANYWAY. Mostly out of stubbornness. It is officially at the bottom of my Heyer list. Please don't try to be realistic, Georgette Heyer! IT IS NOT YOUR FORTE.
(PS: Juana and Harry were real people! It is Based on a True Story, etc. And, you know what, that true story about Juana the teenager who rode on campaign through the Napoleonic Wars would have been really incredibly interesting -- if it was not such a textbook example of a female character's awesome qualities being framed by -- ugh, I don't want to say 'the patriarchy' because then I will sound like a self-parody, but man! Georgette Heyer wants you to know that Juana is great because she's not squeamish or finicky like other women! She's not annoying to have around on campaign! She understands when the men are talking Men Talk! It doesn't matter if Harry comes back gross from battle, she always understands his ~needs~ and is totally willing to have sex!
I don't like the term Mary Sue for a lot of reasons, because I think it is too often used as a sledgehammer to beat down female characters for unfair reasons. I don't want to be annoyed by female characters for being too awesome or special or anything, because holy double standards, Batman! But I really do not like the way Juana is written in this book, and I think I do want a word for writing where women are explicitly being awesome by male standards, for male convenience, and not for themselves, because it's SUPER FRUSTRATING.)
BECCA: I have just read half a dozen post-apocalyptic novels and I am super stressed and have finals due and I REALLY DESPERATELY need something light and fluffy that I am guaranteed to enjoy!
THE SPANISH BRIDE: I am a stealth Georgette Heyer that you have never read, lurking in the back of your bookshelf!
BECCA: Perfect! Come to me, sweet and hijinks-filled Regency romance full of witty banter and ridiculous slang!
THE SPANISH BRIDE: I may have forgotten to mention that I am Georgette Heyer's attempt at a realistic historical novel. Now let's start off with a description of British soldiers looting, raping and plundering a defenseless city during the Napoleonic Wars! :D :D
BECCA: . . . . wait what.
HARRY: I am the hero of this book! I am a valiant twentysomething officer destined for heroism.
JUANA: And I am the heroine! I am a fourteen-year-old refugee.
HARRY: A SEXY fourteen-year-old refugee. Baby, let's get married!
JUANA: OKAY. >:D
BECCA: @______________@
THE SPANISH BRIDE: And then they weather the hardships of war together while she thinks about how her husband is the only important thing in her life and she will die if he does! It's very romantic.
BECCA: That's . . . that's not what . . .
THE SPANISH BRIDE: NONSENSE. True love is great! They have a tempestuous passion!
BECCA: Fourteen-year-olds are often pretty tempestuous! BECAUSE THEY'RE BABIES.
THE SPANISH BRIDE: Also, look, Juana is totally fine with never seeing her family again or having any female friends, and all the dudes love her and think of her as a mascot. She's so uncomplaining and plucky! SEE, I'M FEMINIST.
BECCA: I don't . . . that's not . . . THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED TO BE READING!
BUT I FINISHED IT ANYWAY. Mostly out of stubbornness. It is officially at the bottom of my Heyer list. Please don't try to be realistic, Georgette Heyer! IT IS NOT YOUR FORTE.
(PS: Juana and Harry were real people! It is Based on a True Story, etc. And, you know what, that true story about Juana the teenager who rode on campaign through the Napoleonic Wars would have been really incredibly interesting -- if it was not such a textbook example of a female character's awesome qualities being framed by -- ugh, I don't want to say 'the patriarchy' because then I will sound like a self-parody, but man! Georgette Heyer wants you to know that Juana is great because she's not squeamish or finicky like other women! She's not annoying to have around on campaign! She understands when the men are talking Men Talk! It doesn't matter if Harry comes back gross from battle, she always understands his ~needs~ and is totally willing to have sex!
I don't like the term Mary Sue for a lot of reasons, because I think it is too often used as a sledgehammer to beat down female characters for unfair reasons. I don't want to be annoyed by female characters for being too awesome or special or anything, because holy double standards, Batman! But I really do not like the way Juana is written in this book, and I think I do want a word for writing where women are explicitly being awesome by male standards, for male convenience, and not for themselves, because it's SUPER FRUSTRATING.)
