[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Catlady

This is a book that seems to need a female-centric retelling--especially Milady's story. Suppose the story she tells Felton is largely true. Suppose she's being persecuted not for anything evil she's done, but merely because she's fought back against cruel and stupid men. Why can't she be the heroine? Why can't there be a version of the story where she triumphs?

Let's not forget how Milady is branded--by the revenge-seeking brother of her seduced priest, whose name escapes me. Allegedly the brand is for theft--but she wears it due to revenge. She's branded as a felon, even though she's never spent time in prison. (Remember, the fleur-de-lis means, you're a CONVICT.) She's not a murderess, at this point in time; she's simply a girl-child (after all, at the time of TTM, she's all of what, 22?) who seduces a priest, convinces him to abscond and take the chalices or whatever. Now, for this, mind you, basically, Athos HANGS HER. Because she's branded a thief. Tough divorce. Nobody can tell me that this is anything but his wounded pride, taking angry revenge. It's certainly a far cry from anything remotely resembling justice.

Let us also not forget that throughout the entire book, the "romantic" comings and goings of the boys are great merriment, are they not? Isn't it just hilarious, how they betray their lovers, get them to steal for them, fool them into thinking that they're well-loved, but are merely used and discarded, sans any thought of consequence? It's just such a kick, right? Ho-ho-ho, so clever of Porthos, to fool his simpering, foolish mistress into stealing those jewels! (or whatever it was, can't remember now).

So, Milady deserves to be branded, to be hung, for basically doing the same thing--having an affair with a priest, whom she convinces to steal the chalices--while the lads are heroes and jolly good fellows, boys being boys, for doing exactly the same rollicking, fun things???? "Hale fellow, well met, let's go string up the b**ch!"

I think the main reason Constance had to be killed off was not that she was married (it would've been easy enough to have her husband conk out), but to show one clear crime that could be attributed to Milady and thereby justify her execution. We have only secondhand reports of her perfidy otherwise, I think.

She's imprisoned by deWinter, because he suspects that she poisoned his brother, and his justification for this is that he's been informed that Athos is alive, which renders her marriage to Sheffield invalid, and the child a bastard, for all intents and purposes. He takes the law into his own hands--because he has sweet FA for any type of proof--and tosses her in the clink. Again, Milady is adjudged to be eeeeeevvvvvviiiiiillllllll, sans any type of actual court, evidence, etc. But he suspects her, so, sure, what the hell, imprison her! After all--she's evil, and a man has told him so!

Sure, she kills Constance. No argument. She deserves to die for that. But in terms of the rest? She's living in a time frame when a woman's choices in life were marriage, convent, prostitution. She's doing what she can, to stay alive and NOT be a street prossy. I don't approve of her killing of poor Constance, of course--but she definitely gets the short end of the stick, throughout, repeatedly, and D'artagnan is hardly blameless in this.

I don't think that there's a way to write a female-centric retelling that gets Milady off the hook on the Constance angle--I don't see a "Mists of Avalon" version of TTM emerging anytime soon. Unless you significantly change the boys themselves, and turn them into decent human beings--which is, let's face it, more than a "retelling," and show Constance's alleged poisoning to be something else, NOT at the feed of LdW, which is not possible without just throwing over the book completely...you can't get there from here. By this time, any shreds of humanity remaining in LdW are pretty thoroughly stamped out. She does murder Constance in cold blood, just to revenge herself upon D'Artagnan. That is unforgiveable, in any environment. But I suspect that most people, having been dealt the cards that Milady was dealt, might be pretty damn blackhearted by that point, too.

Oh, well. Back to work, for me. Enough fun yammering about the 4 Sociopaths and their "pranks."

Hitch