Mad Maudlin

Maudlin is the main antagonist of my novel but she is in no way a villain, I do not wish for her to be seen as evil, though she does things that would consist of that. Maudlin is a mirror image of Angelique, both start out as fierce warrior women, who act like and are the equals of men in their society, both break the boundary between the sexes, Maudlin breaking the patrilineal line to become Queen of Opis and Angelique becoming a sort of Joan of Arc character. However both branch off in different directions, Maudlin becomes so strong she becomes unfeeling, and unable to feel empathy she does horrible things and remains untouchable. Angelique however allows herself to become weak and vunerable and is betrayed for it, her resolution to overcome the terrible things that happened to her make her stronger than Maudlin and in the end she prevails.

I think that this is my brains way of telling me that, after what happened to me, I chose to remain a kind and feeling person, rather than become someone cruel and unfeeling even though I knew I would be hurt again in the future.

However Maudlin's character is in no way wrong, in fact she is a vessel through which I pour out my own anger at the sexist things that have happened to me and the utter revulsion I feel about the idea that all girls are so kind and sweet. There is nothing feminine about her, nor is she the epitome of masculinity, she exists to break the female sterotype and Rana the male.