Title: The Flame and the FlowerAuthor: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Genre/Subgenre: Historical Romance
Part of a Series? No
Though The Flame and the Flower was published in the 1970s, which is when the Second Wave of feminism hit (or so I understand), the attitude of the author regarding the role of women in this novel more closely matches the stereotypical attitude of the 1950s. I feel that this is the type of romance novel that leads people to believe that all romance novels are anti-feminist -- it is a story with a patriarchal hero and a drooping "flower" of a heroine, who is in the end so grateful for safety and a child that she forgets that her husband repeatedly raped her and subjected her to months of verbal abuse and humiliation. The "manly" condescension of Brandon does not go away because in the end his love and respect for the heroine is only for her "womanly" attributes, not for her as a person. He's not a good man wearing a bastard's mask whose admirable qualities are slowly revealed -- he's a bastard and we are just expected to be won by his swarthy good looks and ability to keep from bedding his wife for the nine months she is pregnant in a bizarre attempt to punish her. Sorry, Woodiwiss -- I'm not biting. Despite what I have said about wanting an unrepentant bad hero, I find this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
At first I thought The Flame and the Flower was very similar to a Jennifer Blake novel, and I was excited because I once read a novel with a wonderful pirate altercation scene, and I suspected that this was the one. However, while I admit that Blake's novels have a lot of the traits that are characteristic of the more stereotypical formula romances, I have never felt as shocked and incredulous at the blatant gender stereotypes of any romance novel as I was while reading The Flame and the Flower. I guess I should have been tipped off by the title -- flames are active, powerful, and potentially dangerous, and flowers are beautiful but delicate, ornamental, and passive. This describes the gender gap in this novel very well.
N.B. - This is not the cover of the version of the book I read -- I read a 1972 hardcover version I found at the library. However, even Ebay didn't have the exact version I read, and I thought this 1995 cover was much more accurate, considering the tone of the novel itself. Look at the way he's grabbing her, and the rather diabolical cast to his features. It seems the publishers wanted to emphasize the very things I found repulsive about this novel. Fascinating. Of course, in most contexts I do enjoy devilish, forceful heroes, and perhaps this cover just caters to that common preference.
1 comment:
poo on you.
Post a Comment