Again Jane Austen is brilliant at writing antagonists that are infuriating yet so human and so familiar and on some level understandable (but not excusable!)
In Mansfield Park, Mrs. Norris is the oldest of her three sisters and marries decently but not amazingly like the second sister who becomes Lady Bertram, wife of a rich baronet.
She fails at two* main aspirations in her life as a regency woman: marrying rich and having kids. (*By the end, three aspirations)
All the money she saved for future kids turned into miserly hoarding while bragging about how generous she is. (She's not.)
She tries to establish herself as the de facto woman of the house at Mansfield Park since her sister is indolent and hates going out. She takes over the social upbringing of her two nieces and secures an engagement for Maria to Mr. Rushworth, the wealthy estate owner with 12,000 pounds a year.
She's nosy. She gossips. She's always criticizing. She tries to boss the servants and housekeeper around about how things should be done. (But they don't listen to her.) She's injuring* the fire that the butler already prepared. (*Jane Austen's wording. LOL)
When Sir Thomas leaves for months on the dangerous sea voyage to check on his plantations in Antigua, she's constantly and vocally catastrophizing the worst case scenarios of what could happen.
She's eager to be the first one to hear of his safe return or his horrific death. She doesn't care which; she just wants to be the first one to proclaim it to the whole household!
She's always praising her nieces Maria and Julia about their "natural" superiorities and verbally tearing down her other niece Fanny, saying that since they took her in and away from her poor family, that she should be forever grateful but always lower, always less worthy than her brilliant and beautiful older cousins. (Projecting much, Mrs. Norris?)
I think I get her! She's trying to matter. She's trying to find purpose and importance in a world where she has nothing to show for all her efforts. She has very little power so she's scrambling for what little she can get*.
(*Actually she manages to get a lot! Including free cream cheese, and pheasant eggs!)
But she's doing it so horribly! And so annoyingly! In a modern AU, she'd be the worst person in your neighborhood HOA. She's the virtue-signalling influencer who verbally abuses her assistant. She's the coworker at the coffee shop where you work, who tells you you're making the drinks wrong and acting like a manager when she's just a fellow barista!
She pours out so much hate and frustration and unfair criticism and blame on poor Fanny Price just to make herself feel a little bit bigger and little bit more superior.
And she's there in the middle of Mansfield Park, as an ever-present authority figure in the family. There to shape so much of Fanny's crushing upbringing and influence the paths of her other nieces. There to teach Maria and Julia that marrying rich was the most important thing and to teach them to think that they could do no wrong, while teaching them no real goodness or principles.
She's such a fascinating character and such an infuriating presence in Fanny's journey as the protagonist. I hate her. I think she's brilliantly written. And I love her comeuppance at the end. When people read everything that Mrs. Norris says and does, I don't know why everyone doesn't love Fanny and want to defend her at all costs.
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Writing Problem: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil
Problem: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil
Solution: Villains require just as much character development as the novel's heroes, protagonists, and perspective characters. Effective villainy incorporates consequential decision making, relatable character motivations, believable perspectives and experiences, and most important, intention. When a writer diversifies these facets of a so-named villain's free will, humanity, personal interests, and relationship with the story's main conflict, one is better-positioned to craft a more diverse and more engaging villain.
Writing Resources:
How Your Character's Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth (Writers Helping Writers)
Good Character Flaws: Create Complex Antagonists (Now Novel)
50 Questions to Ask Your Antagonist (Alyssa Hollingsworth)
Antagonist Starts Good, Becomes Drunk With Power (related, master list) (Writing Questions Answered; ahbwrites)
16 Villain Archetypes (Chosen by the Planet; ahbwrites)
How to Give Your Antagonist a Little Humanity (Fiction Writing Tips; ahbwrites)
How to Write the Perfect Villain (Jericho Writers)
How to Build an Antagonist (How to Fight Write)
Negative Trait Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)
Theme and Symbolism Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)
❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)
