The subject of the 'damsel in distress' or persecuted maiden is a classic theme in world literature, art and film. She is almost inevitably a young, nubile woman, who has been placed in a dire predicament by a
villain or a
monster and who requires a
hero to dash to her rescue. She has became a
stock character of fiction, particularly of
melodrama.
The term "damsel", similar to French
Mademoiselle - a completely archaic term, not used in contemporary English except for effect or in expressions such as this - testifies to its origin with the
knight errant of Medieval songs and tales, who regarded the saving of such women an essential part of his raison d'etre.
Some claim the popularity of the damsel in distress is perhaps in large measure because her predicaments sometimes contain hints of
BDSM fantasy. The helplessness of the damsel in distress, who can be portrayed as foolish and ineffectual to the point of naïvete, along with her need for others to rescue her, has made the
stereotype the target of
feminist criticism.
History
The first usage of damsels in distress
The damsel in distress goes far back into history.
Greek mythology, while featuring a large retinue of competent
goddesses, also has its share of helpless maidens who are sacrificed or threatened to be sacrificed. One famous example would be
Andromeda, whose mother offended
Poseidon. Poseidon sent a beast to ravage the land, and Andromeda's parents fastened her to a rock in the sea to appease him. The hero
Perseus slew the beast, however, and thus saved Andromeda. He then married her. Andromeda's plight, chained naked to a rock, became a favorite theme of later painters. This theme of the
Princess and dragon is also pursued in the myth of
St George.
Damsels in distress in the Middle Ages
European
fairy tales frequently features damsels in distress. Evil witches trapped
Rapunzel in a tower, cursed the princess to die in ''
Sleeping Beauty'', and ensorcelled
Snow White into a magical sleep. In all of these fairy tales, a valorous prince comes to the maiden's aid, saves her, and marries her.
The damsel in distress was an archetypal character of medieval romances, where typically she was rescued from imprisonment in a tower of a castle by a knight-errant.
Chaucer's ''
Clerk's Tale'' of the repeated trials and bizarre torments of patient Griselda was drawn from
Petrarch. The
Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (founded 1399) was a
chivalric order with the express purpose of protecting oppressed ladies.
Damsels in distress in a changing world
She makes her debut in the modern novel as the title character of
Samuel Richardson's ''
Clarissa'' (1748), where she is menaced by the wicked seducer Lovelace.
Reprising her medieval role, the damsel in distress is a staple character of
Gothic literature, where she is typically incarcerated in a castle or monastery and menaced by a sadistic nobleman, or members of the religious orders. Early examples in this genre include Matilda in
Horace Walpole's ''
The Castle of Otranto'', Emily in
Anne Radcliffe's ''
The Mysteries of Udolpho'' and Antonia in
Matthew Lewis's ''
The Monk''.
The perils faced by this Gothic heroine were taken to an extreme by the
Marquis de Sade in ''
Justine'', who, arguably, exposed the
pornographic subtext which lay behind the damsel in distress scenario.
One exploration of the theme of the persecuted maiden is the fate of Gretchen in
Goethe's Faust. According to the philosopher
Schopenhauer:
:The great Goethe has given us a distinct and visible description of this denial of the will, brought about by great misfortune and by the despair of all deliverance, in his immortal masterpiece Faust, in the story of the sufferings of Gretchen. I know of no other description in poetry. It is a perfect specimen of the second path, which leads to the denial of the will not, like the first, through the mere knowledge of the suffering of the whole world which one acquires voluntarily, but through the excessive pain felt in one’s own person. It is true that many tragedies bring their violently willing heroes ultimately to this point of complete resignation, and then the will-to-live and its phenomenon usually end at the same time. But no description known to me brings to us the essential point of that conversion so distinctly and so free from everything extraneous as the one mentioned in Faust. (
The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, §68)
Damsels in distress in Victorian England
The misadventures of the damsel in distress of the Gothic continued in a somewhat caricatured form in Victorian
melodrama. Such melodrama influenced the silent cinema, where the damsel in distress faced new perils provided by the industrial revolution and catering to the new medium's need for visual spectacle. Here we find cliches such as the heroine tied to a railway track, often by a sleazy villain with trademark waxed curly moustache. Sawmills were another stereotypical danger of the industrial age:
=== Damsels in distress in
Hollywood ===
The damsel-in-distress archetype survived well into the 20th century in the fledgling film, television, and comics industries.
Ann Darrow from the movie ''
King Kong'' is perhaps one of the more famous damsels in distress, with a giant ape capturing and holding her.
Jane Porter in both the novel and movie versions of ''
Tarzan'' required constant rescuing.
Lois Lane is eternally getting into trouble and needs to be rescued by
Superman,
Mary Jane Watson is in need of rescue countless times in the
Spider-Man franchise, and
Olive Oyl is in a near-constant state of
kidnap, requiring her to be saved by
Popeye.
Slightly more modern examples might include
Daphne Blake from the ''
Scooby-doo'' series (to the point where she has earned the nickname "Danger-Prone Daphne"),
Gosalyn Mallard from the Disney animated series, ''
Darkwing Duck'', and
April O'Neil from ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''.
Modern-era damsels in distress
Today damsels in distress are not used nearly as often as they were previously, and current depictions of the stock character usually play the role as
camp, although
video games still feature the occasional old-style damsel. Early video games often used a kidnapped damsel in distress as the main reason for the heroes to venture out and defeat the villains.
Princess Peach (and earlier,
Pauline in ''
Donkey Kong'') has required rescuing by
Mario from the evil clutches of
Bowser in most games of the
''Mario Bros.'' franchise (although other villains have kidnapped her, as well). Likewise,
Princess Zelda has found herself kidnapped by
Ganon in the vast majority of entries in the
''Legend of Zelda'' series, although she often takes a more active role than merely waiting to be rescued by
Link. In the
Sonic the Hedgehog series,
Amy Rose, or, more recently,
Cream the Rabbit, have sometimes been kidnapped by
Dr. Eggman to lure
Sonic into traps. A more recent example of a damsel in distress is
Rinoa Heartilly from the video game ''
Final Fantasy VIII'', who required to be rescued by
Squall a total of six times during the course of the entire game. Some modern-era damsels in distress are actually very strong and capable women who happen to end up in such perdicament by irony, typically while undertaking important and dangerous tasks. For example, in '', mercenary Tanya Adams, despite her proven prowess in combat, ironically ended up captured by the Soviets as she tend to be given high-risk missions, requiring the player to rescue her by infiltrating a spy into the Soviet base. Similarly, in '', Captain Rachel Parker was briefly a damsel in distress by irony as she and her men were captured by the Chimera while undertaking a highly-important mission that would eventually tip the balance of power in favor of the human resistance. She was held in the Conversion Center at Grimbsy, until Sergeant Nathan Hale rescues her. Other notorious example is
Princess Leia.
In
Shrek the Third, the idea of the damsel in distress is spoofed when
Princess Fiona, along with her mother Queen Lilian, and three friends,
Snow White,
Cinderella, and
Sleeping Beauty, is captured and imprisoned by
Prince Charming. Fiona suggests that they try to escape, but the others think it would be better for the prince to come and save them (sticking to the traditional damsel in distress plot). Fiona tells them it would be more rewarding to rescue themselves. The others are reluctant, but agree to follow Fiona.
The damsel in distress did undergo a revival of sorts in ''
Halloween'', ''
Friday the 13th'', and other
slasher films of the
1980s. Here, though, she was played with a twist: there were several young women characters, most of whom (often those who had been sexually active or
promiscuous) were killed by the
serial killer villain, but one survived to defeat him. The young woman survivor herself became a stock character, the
final girl, embodied in characters such as
Ellen Ripley in the ''
Alien'' series.
Sarah Connor, a damsel in distress in ''
The Terminator'', became the effective survivor type in ''.
Today's damsels in distress can even become villains as a result of lacking rescue or a betrayal which landed them in that particular circumstance, which causes them to become spiteful, or are in fact villains who are complex enough to act damsel in distress, only to show their true colors at some point. In ''
The World Is Not Enough'',
Elektra King, who was kidnapped by
Renard, was denied deliverance by
M and her father. As a result, she became spiteful of the two, and becoming Renard's co-conspirator (some say even the main villain) in their plans to control world oil supply. Elektra is even wily enough to pretend to remain a damsel in distress in front of James Bond, but she underestimated 007, who managed to see through her act and eventually killed her. Another example of damsel in distress turning villain can be found in
Sarah Kerrigan from ''
StarCraft'', who was abandoned by
Arcturus Mengsk to the
Zerg. Kerrigan was transformed not only by the Zerg infestation, but her outright hatred Mengsk as well, becoming the dreaded and manipulating Queen of Blades which managed to take control of the entire Zerg race at the end of ''Brood Wars''. Disillusioned and disgusted by the full extent of Kerrigan's transformation,
Jim Raynor, who was once in love with Kerrigan (to the point of being the only one who attempted to rescue her), vowed to kill her.
Another variation of today's damsels in distress are former villains or minions of a villain who find themselves in need of rescue as they faced the wrath of the main villain for their betrayal.
Pussy Galore in ''
Goldfinger'' is a classic example.
Critical and theoretical responses
Damsels in distress have been cited as an example of differential treatment of genders in literature, film, and works of art. Feminist criticism of art,
film, and
literature has often examined gender-oriented characterization and plot, including the common "damsel in distress" trope.
[1] Many modern writers, such as
Angela Carter and
Jane Yolen, have revisited classic
fairy tales and "damsel in distress" stories or collected and anthologized stories and
folk tales that break the "damsel in distress" pattern.
[2] Often, such stories reverse the gender disparity by empowering the "damsel," or by placing boys or men in distress to be rescued by the damsel.
Whilst late twentieth century feminist criticism may have highlighted alternatives to the damsel stereotype, the origins of some alternatives are to be found elsewhere.
Joseph Campbell's work on comparative mythology has provided a theoretical model for heroes throughout the history of literature, drama and film, which has been further developed by
dramaturgical writers such as
Christopher Vogler. These theories suggest that within the underlying story arc of every hero is found an episode known as the
ordeal, where the character is almost destroyed. By surviving fear, danger or torture the hero proves he or she has special qualities and ultimately emerges re-born to progress to ultimate victory. Within this theory the empowered "damsel" can be a female hero rendered powerless and imperiled during her heroic ordeal but who ultimately emerges as a strong figure who claims victory.
Examples can be found in films that date back to the early days of movie making. One of the films most often associated with the stereotype of the damsel in distress, ''
The Perils of Pauline'' (1914), in fact provides at least a partial counter example. Pauline, as played by
Pearl White, is a strong character who decides against early marriage in favour of seeking adventure and becoming an author. Despite common belief, the film does not feature scenes with Pauline tied to a railroad track and threatened by a buzzsaw, although such scenes were incorporated into later re-makes and were also featured in other films made in the period around 1914. Academic Ben Singer has contested the idea that these "serial-queen melodramas" were male fantasies and has observed that they were marketed heavily at women.
[3] These remakes often attempted to portray the concept of women's rights as a one-way road to trouble, not unlike
William Shakespeare's play, ''
The Taming of the Shrew''.
Empowered damsels were a feature of the serials made in the 1930s and 1940s by studios such as
Republic Pictures. The "cliffhanger" scenes at the end of episodes provide many examples of female heroines bound and helpless and facing fiendish death traps. But those heroines, as played by actresses such as
Linda Stirling and
Kay Aldridge, were often strong, assertive women who ultimately played an active part in vanquishing the villains.
In the 1960s Ann Boyd's 1967 book ''The Devil With James Bond'' compared
James Bond with an updating of the legend of
St George and the
Princess and dragon genre particulary with
Dr No's dragon tank. The female spy
Emma Peel in the British television series ''
The Avengers'' was often seen in "damsel in distress" situations. However the character and her reactions, as portrayed by actress
Diana Rigg, differentiated theses scenes from others in movies and television where women were similarly imperiled as pure victims or pawns in the plot. A scene with Emma Peel bound and threatened with a death ray in the episode ''
From Venus with Love'' is a direct parallel to James Bond's confrontation with a laser in the film ''
Goldfinger''.
[4] Both are examples of the classic hero's ordeal as described by Campbell and Vogler. The serial heroines and Emma Peel are cited as providing inspiration for the creators of strong heroines in more recent times, ranging from Joan Wilder in ''
Romancing the Stone'' and
Princess Leia in ''
Star Wars'' to "post feminist" icons such as
Buffy Summers in ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and
Sydney Bristow in ''
Alias''.
References
1. See, e.g., Alison Lurie, "Fairy Tale Liberation," ''The New York Review of Books'', v. 15, n. 11 (Dec. 17, 1970) (germinal work in the field); Donald Haase, "Feminist Fairy-Tale Scholarship: A Critical Survey and Bibliography," Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies v.14, n.1 (2000).
2. See Jane Yolen, "This Book Is For You," Marvels & Tales, v. 14, n. 1 (2000) (essay); Yolen, ''Not One Damsel in Distress: World folktales for Strong Girls'' (anthology); Jack Zipes, ''Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Fairy Tales in North America and England'', Routledge: New York, 1986 (anthology).
3. "Female Power in the Serial-Queen Melodrama: The Etiology of An Anomaly" in ''Silent Film'', , Ben, Singer, Continuum International Publishing Group - Athlone, ,
4. ''Visitor Reviews: From Venus With Love''
Bibliography
★
Mario Praz (1970) ''The Romantic Agony'' Chapter 3: 'The Shadow of the Divine Marquis'.
See also
★
Princess and dragon
★
Feminist film theory
★
Final girl
★
Femme fatale
★
Pearl White
★
Ingenue
★
Scream queen
★
Missing white woman syndrome
★
Feminist science fiction
★
Feminist literary criticism
★
Didcap
★
Target girl
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