rakes
Posted by Lynn on May 11, 1998 at 07:56:35:
In response to Rakes, written by Linden on May 07, 1998 at 18:21:49
] Does anybody have a soft spot for a rake? The cads and seducers that provide much of the plot in so many novels (including JA's)?
] I notice on the S&S board that some people have come out and confessed that they like Willoughby. What about the others like Henry Crawford and Wickham?
] My thoughts are that JA does not really handle them well: she doesn't make them charming enough: and presumably they must be charming, or they couldn't be very successful rakes.
] Some later writers - yes, including those from the Harlequin/Mills & Boon stable - manage them better: they are a serious temptation to the heroine. Sometimes, if they cease to be rakes, they get the girl ("A reformed rake makes the best husband" was the saying.) I'm thinking of Charlotte Bronte's Mr Rochester, or Georgette Heyer's Demerel in "Venetia".
] In JA, however, either they don't seriously attract the heroine (eg Wickham, Mr Elliot, Henry Crawford), or if they do (Willoughby) it's because she doesn't know that he's a rake.
] Thoughts, anyone?
I don't really like ony of the rakes in JA books. I beleive you're right about her not making them charming enough. I have sometimes read books that even though I know someone is the "bad guy" I can't help but want things to turn out well for them.
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