Rose Madder: Difference between revisions

A 1995 novel by [[Stephen King]], and the final part of what some fans call "the abused wife trilogy" and some others call "that phase in the 1990s where King became preoccupied with misogyny and feminism".

 

Rose Daniels walks out of her marriage after years of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. She arrives in a new city and slowly begins a newer, better, more hopeful life. Only this is a Stephen King novel and her husband, Norm, is not going to let her go as easy as that. And is also befitting King, there's also a mysterious portrait of a woman in a [[Title Drop|rose madder]] dress...

{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Girl]]: Gertrude Kinshaw. She even manages to fight off Norm, who is much stronger, is a reasonably skilled fighter, is armed with an electroshock weapon, and IS UTTERLY BUGSHIT PSYCHOTIC.

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: [[A Wizard Did It|A wizard seems to be doing it.]] For example, as Norman is being possessed by the Erinyes he happens to see a kid with a bull mask that he steals for a disguise.

* [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]: {{spoiler|Peter Slowik and Anna Stevenson are bitten to death by Norman. In the end, Norman gets one of these when Rose Madder talks to him up close.}}

* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: Norman may be a homophobic bastard, but he does rub a guy off to get information about where Rosie is. {{spoiler|It's also implied that he ''bit off'' Peter Slowik's penis.}}

* [[Dirty Cop]]: Norm and, to a lesser extent, his partner. (It says something about Norm that this "lesser extent" includes rape.) After her life with Norman, Rose thinks that ''all'' cops are like this, but eventually realizes that it isn't so. A police detective working Norman's attacks specifically tells her that he hates cops like Norman above and beyond "ordinary" criminals because they have betrayed the public's trust in them, and make the job for honest cops that much harder.

* [[Does Not Like Men]]: surprisingly most women from the shelter avert this. Rose Madder, however, thinks all men are beasts and at best can be tamed.

* [[Domestic Abuser]]: Norman is an example turned [[Up to Eleven]].

* [[Doppelganger]]: Rose Madder looks awfully similar to Rose Daniels.

* [[The Fair Folk]]: Rose Madder herself-she's never ''called'' a fairy, but she has the traits.

* [[Freudian Excuse]]: Norman was beaten and sexually molested by his father.

* [[Portal Picture]].

* [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone]]: Rosie and Norman have psychic dreams, about each other and the future. These are not always recognized.

* [[Spooky Painting]]: Before the Rose Madder painting becomes a [[Portal Picture]], it is also this.

* [[Sassy Black Woman]]: Gertrude Kinshaw.

* [[Scry vs. Scry]]: Rosie and Norman spend a lot of the first half of the book doing this to each other. Especially notable since neither character is aware they're doing it. Rosie is just getting promptings from her instincts that save her without knowing it and Norman doesn't believe his detective skills are supernatural. See [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone]].

* [[Time Abyss]]: Implied for Dorcas, almost certainly for Rose Madder.

* [[World Tree]]: one of them anyway, the Tree of Death. Rose Madder makes Rosie plant a new one in her world to replace the one that died. Since this is Stephen King, it shouldn't be surprising that the [[Cosmic Keystone]] isn't exactly nice.

 

{{reflist}}