Proper Lady: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Emma in ''[[Victorian Romance Emma]]'' starts as a poor peasant girl, becomes a flower girl, a maid, and ends up becoming a gentleman's sweetheart. While her background technically prevents her from becoming a true lady in the society's eyes, her angel-like disposition, good education, eventual marriage (although with [[Nouveau Riche]]) and careful grooming should make her one in all but name.

** William's mother Aurelia is a weird case. She has the status and loveable nature of a Proper Lady, but also lacks the social and entertaining skills she would have needed to appeal to the London society. Despite everything, she is content to attend social life with her husband to make him appear the best he could even while she silently hates the whole thing. A wearying life filled with social obligations, combined with the strain of having children, made Aurelia physically ill. She is saved from the standard tragic death, but has to leave London and basically abandon her family in order to save their face.

* A few girls in ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' are this. The series plays around with this trope a lot. Also, Utena's not one, but once tries to act like one after Touga defeats her and she temporarily loses Anthy.

 

* The lady addressed/discussed in Coventry Patmore's 1854 poem ''The Angel in the House''. This work [[Trope Namer|named the ideal]] for the Victorian era.

* Melanie Wilkes in ''[[Gone with the Wind]]''. Even the feisty Scarlett who originally disliked her comes to love and miss her. Rhett Butler claims to respect Melanie deeply.

* Esme Cullen from ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'', also the [[Team Mom]] and [[Hot Mom]].

 

* Lady Marjorie in ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' is adored by her husband and servants, and a Proper Lady through and through. Her saintlikeness is tarnished only by a short affair she was quick to regret. Also gets a tragic death. Of course, after she dies, everything starts to slowly fall to pieces.

*** Hazel Bellamy is a steel core lady, very refined and composed, although not of genteel pedigree. A rare example of a Proper Lady who has ever actually done working class work.

** The matriarch of the family, Ursula Iguaran. subverts it. She is very devoted to her family, but also extremely stubborn and more than capable of standing up to her husband/children/descendants, even if she has to hit them (as she did to Arcadio) or mouth them off roughly (to both Jose Arcadio Buendia or Colonel Aureliano).

 

* Tom Jones' ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIfxBthfFkg She's a Lady]'' seems to describe this sort of woman.

 

* The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] concept of ''arete'' (virtue/excellence) as applied to women matches all the values of the Proper Lady, making this [[Older Than Feudalism]]. Odysseus' wife Penelope from the ancient epic ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'' was presented as the [[Ur Example]].

** The [[wikipedia:Hera|Goddess Hera/Juno]] is the Greek patron deity of women and marriage, so she's supposed to be this; however, considering [[Clingy Jealous Girl|her]] [[Woman Scorned|behavior]] whenever [[Handsome Lech|Zeus]] cheats on her (and man, [[Really Gets Around|does he cheat on her]]), she comes off as a [[Yandere]] instead. Her sister [[wikipedia:Hestia|Hestia/Vesta]], [[Virgin Power|virgin]] goddess of households and families, seems to be more of the real deal.

** Also Queen [[Alcestis]], the only one brave and loving enough to offer ''her own life'' in exchange for her husband Admetus'. Luckily for her, Admetus happened to have an old friend named [[World's Strongest Man|Heracles]], who offered to bring her back from the Underworld... and did so [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|by wrestling]] [[The Grim Reaper]].

 

* ''[[Pygmalion]]'' and the later version ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' are about attempting to groom a poor girl into a lady. It works rather well—except that the girl also gains enough dignity and self-respect that she walks out. In ''Pygmalion'', she never comes back.

* Tzeitel from [[Fiddler on the Roof]].

 

* [[Final Fantasy IX]] gives us Princess Garnet Til Alexandros, AKA Dagger, whose a demure little princess when she's not being a not a [[Rebellious Princess|rebellious one]].

* Schala in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', and Riddel in both ''[[Radical Dreamers]]'' and its [[Spiritual Successor]] ''[[Chrono Cross]]''.

** Also Marthia, who crosses it with [[Shrinking Violet]].

 

* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', Perrault disbelieves November because such [[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|a refined young lady could hardly come through]] [[The Lost Woods]] untouched.

 

* Victoria from ''[[Corpse Bride]]'' is a rare clean-cut modern example without parody or deconstruction. With the [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]], you just know how devoted a wife she will be for lucky, lucky Victor.

* Sally from ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' fits this trope pretty well. She has the modest, feminine personality and attire, and is domestic and sensible. It's kind of subverted by how she's a leaf-filled [[Robot Girl|patchwork doll]] with stitches all over her body and puts deadly nightshade in her creator's food and drink to get out of the house.

 

* [[wikipedia:Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918)|Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine]], the beautiful and pious sister-in-law to Czar Nicholas II. When her husband Sergei was brutally assassinated, she didn't hold a grudge to his killers and pardoned them publicly before becoming a nun and selling all of her jewellery to use the money on charity. But after the Russian Revolution... [[Family-Unfriendly Death|her tale]] [[Buried Alive|didn't end well.]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]

[[Category:Always Female]]

[[Category:Femininity Tropes]]

[[Category:An Index of Ladies and Gentlemen]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Purity Personified]]

[[Category:Steampunk Index]]

[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]