30 Women: Susan Pevensie.
DAY THREE: A CHARACTER YOU DISLIKED
BUT GREW TO LOVE
I know, I know! I rant about her so much you'd have thought I always loved her. I didn't.
First of all, here's a great online resource to give you a bit of background on Susan.
So. I didn't like Susan as a child because, frankly, I found her boring. I adored Lucy and Susan was always moaning and being sensible (I despised sensible characters as a child). It wasn't until I played her in a kid's stage adaptation of the book that I realised how awesome she is. I remember one of the casting ladies taking me aside and explaining though I auditioned for Lucy, Susan was pretty cool too. From that moment on, Susan became the one I identified with.
So let's have a look at her in the books. Although she has her good points, she's portrayed pretty negatively, especially in Prince Caspian. When she gives sensible advice she is shot down and spoken nastily to. She herself snaps quickly at her siblings and is portrayed as bossy and overbearing (incidentally, adjectives my mother frequently used to describe me as a child!). When looking back at the books now it doesn't seem so shocking that she wasn't allowed back into Narnia in The Last Battle. She starts losing her faith pretty early on. However, I never saw any hints of her being shallow, vain and superficial, as she is described in TLB. As a child, I was very upset at finding out she can never return. My mother ranted about it for ages, saying Lewis was being anti-feminist (ah, my mother :D).
But enough about this! I talk about it plenty in my essay, which I'll give a link to later. Here's what I said about her in halfamoon 's unpopular women post...
- She is sensible. This will become her downfall in Lewis' eyes, as she chooses rationality over belief (in Prince Caspian she chooses the more sensible route instead of blindly following Lucy's dream of where Aslan wanted them to go). I believe this is also why she loses faith later on - as what sensible (and sane) person still believes in a fantasy world they played in as children (just my interpretation, that she had to deny this to remain sane, but she's still awesome even if you think different).
- She is intelligent.
- She is a brilliant shot with a bow and arrow, I think the best we encounter in all the Narnia books.
- She is brave and will fight if necessary.
- She is gentle and empathetic.
- She is loyal and protective of her family.
- She is beautiful.
- She is aware of who she is.
- She is strong.
- She is humble.
So yeah. Awesome character there. I think she's been portrayed brilliantly in the films too - they managed to retain her character and flaws without portraying her as negatively as Lewis does.
Finally, let's have my interpretation of the character. Susan is by nature sensible. She believes what she sees. She has a fantastic adventure with her siblings, growing up in another world. She returns home only to be reduced to a child again (that alone would fuck anyone up). Just when she's adjusted herself to her normal life, learned to accept the grey horrible world we live in, she is wrenched back into Narnia. There we meet a changed Susan - the stress of returning not only to her fantasy world, but a fantasy that has forgotten her, takes its toll. Soon she accepts it and enjoys her time there (falling for Caspian?). But she is forced back home, told she can never return. The grief of this and her confusion of reality really messes with her mind, affecting her subconciously. After acting out, she seeks theraputic help, which only confuses her further. Finally, she realises that she has to deny everything that happened to her to stay sane. When looked at logically it's clear: she was weak and got too involved in a game they played as children. To accept anything else would be insane. So she gets on with her life, finds her niche, and thrives. She becomes part of high society in America, mixing with intelligent and influential people. Sometimes she dreams of Narnia, but she accepts that's all it can ever be to her: a beautiful dream.
I think that's about enough of my ramblings for now! So have a rec list!
Rec List
Ramble On
This song was playing on shuffle, and I realised that the lyrics actually go with my interpretation of Susan. Just ignore the Lord of the Rings lyrics! :P
Susan icons
Some icons I did :D
Fanmix
A great mix for both Susan and Lucy by snacky (no LJ user link in case my journal fucks up again).
Essay
An examination of the role of women in Narnia, with Susan as a pivotal focus. Published in my student paper :D
The Queen of all our dreams.
My original Susan fic, coming soon!
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Ok, so that's about it from me for now! I believe I have a sexy little Farscape episode lined up, so stay tuned for squeeage thoughts later on!
~Lili