#devil's cub

[di-falsecolours]

Devil's cub by Georgette Heyer

artwork @di-falsecolours

[psychidion]

the 'abduction as romance' trope and heyer's devil's cub

A while ago I watched a video discussing the ‘abduction as romance' trope, and it obviously got me thinking about Devil’s Cub because despite the fact that it looks like it fits within this trope, I actually think it circumvents it in interesting ways.

Sure, Vidal is very much a scoundrel, and exhibits all the questionable behavior that many of the men within these narratives also exhibit, but the rest of the story departs drastically from the expected set up and I think that makes all the difference.

First is the woman. I love Mary so deeply and sincerely. She is not a damsel in distress, but she is not the overly feisty, 'demanding to be put in her place' character that is so commonly present in these narratives. She is cool, calm, collected, very rational and logical.

And it is through this characterization that she actually retains a sense of power throughout the majority of the story. Yes, Vidal is awful to her after she reveals herself and parades in the farce, but that sense of overweening power is short lived, because as soon as they have another moment alone together, she fully incapacitates him, which is also something that is not typically present in similar narratives.

Mary shows through her actions and thought processes that even though she may be thrown off by Vidal’s responses, and may occasionally underestimate his anger, she is never completely thrown off balance, and is never without a sense of personal agency for long. She dictates what’s going on much more than she is dictated to, and that’s the first interesting subversion of this type of narrative.

Plus, she is already head over heels with Vidal when this happens, and actually is familiar with who he is, having seen past the façade very early in their ‘relationship.’ I find it so funny that she just sees him as a spoiled child and acts like she’s just steamrolling over a child’s tantrum and not being threatened by a grown man. I'm not sure whether to call her mindset delusional or brilliant. Honestly, it's perhaps both (which is relatable).

Second is the situation/ environment. Vidal does not intend to abduct Mary. He was intending on taking her sister, who was accompanying him willingly, and Mary tricked him out of this, and it is only when she enrages him during the reveal that it truly becomes an abduction.

And that’s pretty much the last time Vidal has any bit of power in the story, because he has it in the beginning, but his personal power is very much deposed by his father’s overwhelming sense of control. He does get it back for a bit but when they land in France, Mary shoots him and completely incapacitates him, and simultaneously he realizes the crux of the matter, which throws him further off balance as it shoves him into a worse situation, as abducting a straight-laced middle class woman who has no intention of becoming his mistress is not a good situation for either of them.

But she is not as obviously thrown off by this situation as he is. She persists in her desire to not marry him, and she does not willingly fall in line with any of his ideas. And so he has to beg her, beg her, to listen to him. And she still persists, to his utter aggravation.

In addition, when they reach France, she is no longer alone with him. She is deliberately placed into the care of others by him and then is much less dictated by what he judges to be the right thing to do.

So, even though this narrative is an abduction that leads to a romance between the two, Mary being who she is, does not allow herself to lose control and that removes Vidal as a true threat to her safety.

Also the story and the romance relies entirely on Mary’s perception of things. Vidal is capable of bad things, that is clear to the reader, but Mary is not really afraid of him. She honestly seems to be more afraid that she’ll just give in because she’s besotted with him and she does not want to give in, for his sake not hers. 

[ceylinerguvan]

every time I read this book I can't stop thinking about it

[izzythehutt]

Underrated aspect of Mary Challoner: the fact that she's got a massive crush on Vidal the entire book despite also being completely aware that he's a degenerate psycho. I love a girl with self-consciously terrible taste in men.

[teabooksandsweets]

— These Old Shades

— Devil's Cub

[ambivalens999]

today's historical romance authors would never 🤭

[abandoned-as-mustard]

Most romance novels: omg he's such a rake!! *he winked at you once, he touched your shoulder, he may have slept with that servant girl*

Georgette Heyer writing Devil's Cub: he's KILLED, he's been to ORGIES, he's an ALCOHOLIC, he brings his GUNS to the GAMING HALL, he leaves a criminal's corpse in THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, he ABDUCTS a girl while he FLEES the country. And you're gonna LOVE him.

[icebluecyanide]

That scene in Devil's Cub where Vidal bursts into the hotel room ready to murder any guy standing between him and Mary and it turns out to be his dad who's just like 'do feel free to close the door in your own time' lmao