Matron Chaperone: Difference between revisions

The duenna (or chaperone) is a [[Stock Character]] whose main purpose is to provide an obstacle to the male [[Love Interest]]. Almost always a comedy character, she is older than her charge and intent on protecting her from the debauched hordes of unmarried men who (according to the chaperone) are waiting around every corner. Needless to say, said young ladies are as anxious to get rid of her as her suitors. May also be an [[Old Retainer]].

{{quote| '''Hephylie:''' "What would you know of men, you who've led such a chaste and devout existence?"<br />

* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' episode "[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)/Recap/S2 /E10 The Dauphin|The Dauphin]]": Salia, the future queen of Daled IV, is accompanied by her governess Anya, who is very protective of her. When Wesley is attracted to Salia and they get together, Anya turns into a giant monster and breaks into Wesley's cabin to stop them.

* Dot Matrix from ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'' has this as one of her functions, even if she's actually not older than Princess Vespa.

{{quote| '''Dot:''' That was my Virgin Alarm. It's programmed to go off before you do! }}

* Done as a [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Robin Hood Men in Tights|Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'', which has Maid Marian's guardian, Broomhilde, repeatedly foil Robin's attempts to score with Marian. One instance has Robin blow a kiss, but Broomhilde promptly snatches it out of the air before it can reach Marian. And this one:

{{quote| Broomhilde appears suddenly and prevents a kiss between Robin and Marian.<br />

'''Broomhilde:''' "Ah-ah!"<br />

'''Robin''' and '''Marian''' sigh and roll eyes.<br />

* Marianne for Sophie in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier (Theatre)|Der Rosenkavalier]]''.

* [[Wonder Woman|Diana Prince]] performed this role during her [[Brought Down to Normal]] period when [[Batman]] asked her to step in as a duenna for an issue of ''[[The Brave and Thethe Bold]]''. The young lady was in considerable danger from criminals, and a duenna who happens to also be a kickass martial artist makes a good bodyguard.

* The Nurse from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.

* In [[William Hope Hodgson (Creator)|William Hope Hodgson]]'s ''[[Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder]]'' short story "The Horse of the Invisible", while Beaumont and his fiancee Miss Hisgins are together, they're chaperoned by her aunt.

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', Alicia Lohmeyer's role seems to be less to protect Nunnally's virginity (Nunnally is blind and in a wheelchair and hasn't started dating yet) than to keep her from getting too far out of line politically. She appears to be a [[Shout-Out]] to Miss Rottenmeier from ''[[Heidi Girl of the Alps (Anime)|Heidi, Girl of the Alps]]''.

* In ''[[Heidi (Literature)|Heidi]]'', Fräulein Rottenmeier's role seems to prevent the title character (who is a rather adventurous 5-year-old) from having ''too much'' influence on her ward Klara, who is very frail.

* In ''[[Drow TalesDrowtales]]'', [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20160306175012/http://drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=307 Lady Ariel's slave Vaelia assigns herself the role of Duenna] (Ariel is a shapeshifter). Also played with in that [[Attempted Rape|Ariel doesn't exactly want the attentions of her male suitor either]], and is too young to really understand what he's trying to do to her.

* Rose's mother Ruth in ''[[Titanic (Film)|Titanic]]''.