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Hello, and welcome to this week's Top 5 Wednesday post! This week, we are focussing on some of the female book characters, or more specifically, my top 5 favourite female villains, or, to put it properly, my top 5 favourite villainesses. I have taken a wide interpretation of the lexis villainess, taking it to mean a female involved in or devoted to crime, wickedness and anything which would go against the norms and values of society. I feel like I have some good books on this week's list, though, with some of my newest reads! Let's get straight into this week's post.
1. Witness For The Prosecution by Agatha Christie
This is a great book by the queen of crime herself and one which I have particularly enjoyed not only having recently read the book but also having recently gone to see the play Witness for The Prosecution at London's County Hall, which is definitely worth watching! But in this book, Mr Vole is accused of murder, and essentially, Mrs Vole in the court portrays herself as a lier, saying that her marriage with Mr Vole was void as she was already married, that she did not love Mr Vole and that it was indeed Mr Vole who committed the murder. One could easily say that this is evidently very wicked! Mrs Vole could actually be seen as a bit of a Femme Fetale herself! It then comes to light that Mrs Vole wrote letters to a man behind Mr Vole's back saying how Mr Vole was innocent, but she wanted to make him seem guilty so she could spend more time with this man. I won't spoil the plot anymore by sharing some of the biggest plot twists; I would very much advise you to read the book yourself because the plot twist is something you don't see coming and is very intelligent. Ultimately, from the information discussed above, Mrs Vole may be said to be the very definition of an evil villainess.
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
We next travel to Maycomb, Alabama in the United States of America to meet the characters from To Kill A Mockingbird. When I say my favourite villainess in this book, I don't mean I like this person; they are just a very prominent character who highlights bigger issues in society, especially American society at the time the book was written with the social-historical context. The character I am thinking of is Myella Ewell, who falsely accuses a black man, Tom Robinson, of beating and raping her. It is terrible, in my opinion, that people can make false accusations which make it to the court of some of the most serious crimes, such as rape, and sadly this is not fiction, as it does happen in real life and continues to happen.
That part of the story is relevant, but beyond the point I am going to make today, Myella accused Tom of beating and raping her purely because of his skin colour. This shows how ingrained racism was at the time, and Lee, in my opinion, somewhat makes the reader dislike Myella for all the consequences of her actions, including the death of Tom and really makes the reader think about whether this is the kind of world we should be living in, where people of different skin colour should be treated as different. The simple answer is no; they should not. One of the recent cases I alluded to above, back in 2017, involved false accusations of rape against a white man.
3. The Suspect by Rob Rinder
This is another one of my more recent reads, which is going to be published on the 20th of June, 2024. It could be argued that there are two villainesses in this book, but obviously, I must pick one! I am stuck between the victim, Jessica and her friend, Lily. I am going to say that my favourite villainess in this book is Lily because she again causes the reader to dislike her because of concealing key information and to some extent, blackmailing the accused to save herself. She used both emotional and psychological manipulation and abuse to make the accused say he did it in a less direct way, promising that it was for the best. Jessica is not really much better by the sounds of it in this book, but I very much recommend that you read this book when it is published and form your own opinion. Rinder does not fail to entertain!
4. Phoenix by Elli Simms
This is one of those less pleasant reads once again, and if I remember correctly, it brought many tears to my eyes. My favourite villainess here is also the main character, Briana. Briana deserves both sympathy due to the situation she finds herself in and praise for sticking together with her friend and helping each other through it. However, Briana also deserves the readers' disliking after she kills her friend. Yes, she may have been under duress to an extent, but this was a very upsetting ending and really strange how she would rather live the life she has been forced to live than die with her friend. This book really does feature loyalty and betrayal.
5. An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
Finally, we go back in time to Edwardian Britain, where the bourgeoisie often exploited the proletariat. Talking of which, my favourite villainess from this book is Mrs Birling who was part of the bourgeoisie because of her actions and views on "girls like Eva" who were part of the proletariat. Mrs Birling did not think very highly of Eva and did not want to offer Eva any support when she needed it the most, so like in Phoenix, its another example of just letting someone from your own gender suffer more than is necessary. This character did, however, highlight the unfair differences between the upper classes and working classes, although whether things have improved in the present day some may argue is up for debate.
That's all for this week, but I hope you look forward to reading next week's post just as much as I look forward to writing it! As always, it would be lovely to hear from you, so please share your favourite villainess in the comments below! Please also feel free to check out my previous Top 5 Wednesday blog posts as well as my book reviews, which are all available on this blog. Who knows, you may find your next read! I look forward to next time; thank you!
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