In Downton Abbey, O'Brien and Thomas conspire and connive to turn various characters against each other. I both love and loathe connivers. In life, they make me nervous, of course, but in a rather tepid episode of DA, they liven things up. Of course, they always stand in the way of true love.
In Julius Caesar, Cassius convinces Brutus to participate in a conspiracy. I think there are probably connivers in most of Shakespeare's plays.
In crime fiction, are there any famous connivers? Surely there must be.
10 comments:
But doesn't it drive you nuts how easily she manipulates Cora? She really thought she'd get the cook in trouble for feeding poor veterans?
At least O'Brien has a little bit of humanity. Thomas has none, at least none that we've ever seen.
Jeff M.
He is evil incarnate. Are we to blame it on his homosexuality? They need to develop him more fully. This is the problem when there are so many characters. None really jump off the screen.
I'm not a DA fan, having seen "Upstairs, Downstairs" 30 years ago and figuring I've already seen it (they even have a scullery maid named Daisy in DA!). However, as for connivers there are plenty. Iago springs to mind--how quickly he persuades Othello of the evil intentions of others. In England there's a term, a "stirrer," for one who stirs things up. Remember in "Hard Day's Night," Paul's grandfather is referred to as a "stirrer" and he certainly does all he can to stir up trouble between the boys.
Not a big fan of it either but we are trying to stay with it. Too much like UPSTAIRS for me.
Compared with the "new" Upstairs Downstairs this is far, far better. Maggie Smith doesn't have enough to do this season but we're still enjoying it.
Jeff M.
That's because there are so many characters. It must be the largest cast I have ever seen.
Stirrer is hard to say, isn't it? Maybe you need the British accent to say it properly.
In the novels of Elmore Leonard you'll find connivers galore. Maybe in Dickens, too.
Trampas in THE VIRGINIAN is a good example; always making trouble and never quite succeeding, but does a lot of damage along the way until he gets his due.
Phyllis Nirdlinger, DOUBLE INDEMNITY by James M Cain
And of course, the pair in THE POSTMAN too.
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