Why We Are Drawn to Beautifully Dangerous Characters

 

Good evening, friends. How are you all this evening? Can you believe that it is August already? Aren’t the months flying by? I’ve been hiding away in the Scriptorium adding the final edits to book 9.

Mouse and Lady Cora Cat are investigating rumour of a large fish covered in catnip, so we won’t disturb them.

Have you ever wondered why we are drawn to beautifully dangerous characters?

This evening let’s sit back and relax as we discuss dangerous characters and we are drawn to them.

Beauty with Teeth

It’s no secret that I adore gothic literature. Particularly, stories with a bite, a combination of beauty with teeth.

The characters that I write are intense, complicated, very handsome and they have teeth. Very sharp teeth.

The vampyre, by John Polidori, is considered the first story where the character was seductively handsome and irresistible to mortals. That set the bar for future writings where the gothic character was incredibly beautiful and dangerous.

Gothic literature is full of amazing characters that are exquisitely tortured and beautifully broken.

The Fantasy of Being the One Who Changes Them

In fantasy and gothic novels, the characters are usually damaged. The protagonist is a walking red flag but the love interest despite their better judgement decides that they will be the one to change our broken hero.

My character Emile has so much baggage and he admits that he is a walking red flag and doesn’t seek redemption. He carries his danger proudly.

In other books of the gothic themes, one stands out to me, and that’s Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. He is almost the blueprint for the tortured antagonist. Brooding, dangerous and broken. Isabella thought that with her gentleness and her love that she could save Heathcliff. But she couldn’t because he wanted to be driven insane by his love for Cathy.

We Know They Are Dangerous. We Look Anyway.

We know when we pick up a novel that characters like Lord Ruthven, Emile or Heathcliff are dangerous. With Emile being a vampire, and the very nature of his immortality, you know that he is a very dangerous man. He charms with a smile, and he seduces with his intellect. But if you cross him, it’s all over.

Heathcliff on the other hand, is threatening in a different way. His, is the obsessive love that he feels for Cathy and woe to anyone who comes between them.

Is that why we look anyway? The danger that these fictional men, or ladies have, is actually their seduction.

Perhaps We Were Never Looking for Safety

So, what makes these dangerous characters so appealing? Is it because they are fictional that is the aphrodisiac?

Or perhaps, we were never looking for safety. Our lives are protected by surrounding ourselves with those we love and who in turn loves us unconditionally. While reading these volatile characters it fills a need, a desire?

That’s one of the reasons that I love reading, and writing, gothic stories. They are full of psychological and terrifying atmospheres and depictions.

I find when I read a gothic novel, be it a classic or a modern book, I am on the edge of my seat. Your heart is pounding, there’s a dangerous excitement as you are transported inside the story and you share the emotions and feelings of the protagonist.

So, my lovely friends, reading books about beautifully dangerous characters gives us the adrenaline rush that you get when you are watching a Grand Prix race, your heart is in your mouth. But then when you finish the story, you also feel a certain sadness that you won’t see these characters again, unless you reread, and let’s face it, when you reread a favourite book, you get to know the characters on a deeper level.

Thank you for sharing this bank holiday Monday with me. Happy reading.

Until next time.

Anna