Literary Figures Who Deserve a Slap.

dreamdaisy

I've been sat here watching Pride and Prejudice (the version with Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen) wishing I could give Mrs Bennet a resounding slap. Another Jane Austen character to whom I would administer the same treatment is Emma's father, the self-centred, pathetic, mewling hypochondriac. This has set me thinking. Dickens created a fair few who irk, peeve and annoy, as did Eliot and Hardy. Do you have any candidates? DD

Megrose489

[Plot spoiler for The Woodlanders]

I know Giles Winterborne is the hero of Hardy's 'The Woodlanders', but I feel he deserves not only a slap, but a good shake when he insists on sleeping outside in the rain, because it's 'not done' to be in the same house as his unworthy ex-girlfriend. Of course he gets his comeuppance for being such an idiot and dies.

Meg

dreamdaisy

Ooooh, nice one Megrose. When far younger I was irritated by Noddy and Toad, the former for being such a goody-two-shoes and the latter for being a twerp. In my teens the cast was endless and now, well, I don't know - too many candidates perhaps? Maybe our tempers shorten as we age? I think one of the greater skillls of a writer is the ability to create a loathsome character - Obadiah Slope springs to mind. DD

stickywicket

I always detested wet women such as David Copperfield's beloved Dora. Not so much a slap as a good shake.

As for teenage years - virtually all the 'heros' of my French A-level text books. All they did was agonise.

Noddy You'll have to answer to Mr Plod, you know :roll:

mig

Uriah Heep,Scarlett Ohara.

dreamdaisy

Ooooh, Scarlett O'Hara - good call, Mig, I'd forgotten about her. DD

stickywicket

Beth in Little Women. Too sodding perfect.