From Broken to Villian
Loading...
Authors
Elwarner, Hailey
Issue Date
2025-04-03
Type
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
The topics I am looking at for my capstone is my growth as an actor from when I started acting
to today, understanding a character fully, as well as integrating my interests in history and the
mythology of the Universal Monsters. The things I have learned during this process is that it can
be difficult to flesh out a character, let alone a female villain. It was hard to choose different
monologues that show her strength yet defiance against society and their rules for women. We
normally think of the female villain as this sexy yet intelligent creatures that usually seduce the
male protagonist.
It's my job to make this female character have some of those qualities, yet have her grow from
being broken and not knowing her place into being a villain in order to survive in the setting. I
did some research about feminism in the 1950s, and found out that for over 15 years, our society
tells women that their only fulfillment in life is to be wives and mothers and to look down on
those who were “unfeminine”, which would probably mean women who were pursuing a career
rather than a family. Additionally, by the end of the decade, the average marriage age for women
dropped to down to about 20 years of age, the engagement age was 17 years old.
Another thing that was difficult was figuring out the setting of this monologue scene. Knowing
that I wanted to have this character grow into this sort of villain that people can sympathize with.
I was bouncing between ideas when my professor gave me the idea of a 1950s mental
institution’s padded cell. That was perfect for what I envisioned. Another thing she told me was that this scene was supposed to be a sort of “limbo” or “purgatory” for her. So, in layman’s
terms, I am delving into her brain and her thought process in these moments. With the history
influences attached, I thought “Well, since we are in the 1950s? What event in American history
was during this decade?”, and then it hit. The Red Scare, which was a fear of Communist spies
infiltrating the US government and taking over.
Now, I bet you’re wondering how does the mythology of the Universal Monsters fit into this?
Well, the broken aspect is connected to the Bride of Frankenstein and her questioning of why she
made and what was her purpose in life? The villain aspect is connected to Dracula. He is a villain
in most eyes because he drains people of blood. He actually does this because he needs to
survive, so that what he needs to do in order to live. With my character, she realizes that her
fighting for her own voice in society is what she needs to survive this hellhole, no matter if
people see her as a villain.