You know who I’m talking about. She refers to her daughters or daughters-in-law routinely as “whores”, she refers to their children as “bastards”, she threatens continually to “ruin them all”. She has no sense of humor (unless an evil cackle counts), no personal history, and no apparent interest in anything other than showing up when the plot requires it and insulting our heroine or hero. She’s unbelievable on paper, and we would laugh in her face in real life, yet she makes our favorite characters quake in their boots, controlling their lives with but a sharp word or the crook of a finger.
This is a book review and discussion blog written by a philosophy professor who reads across the genres and has special interests in ethics and gender theory.
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