I really dislike Mrs Weasley.

[cockneysalad]

She is an awful character, she seems to prefer Harry to Ron and is mean to Fleur. She is also a bit of a stereotype, the apron, the knitting, the homemaker etc. Which literary characters annoy you and why?

@SarahAndQuack Thank you for saying that about Dumbledore! I've never liked him and think exactly the same as you but thought I may get lynched or something because so many people love him

@DdraigGoch oh so it's ok to make fun of someone behind their back? and the fact that she goes on to lecture people to not do something she did too makes her a two faced hypocrite. She has a mean girl streak but never gets called out for it and gets put on this precious pedestal by the people around her and nearly the entire fandom

Diana from Anne of Green Gables bugs the hell out of me!

Yellow Hats .Agree wholeheartedly! Mrs W is a slightly old fashioned kind of girl ,who has a large family and they are at the centre of her life .Cant really imagine her working in a Call Centre or M and S really!

Peter Pan - selfish, narcissistic, creepy, stupid outfit.

Daddy Hare in Guess how much I love you?
Competitive fucker. Just cant let his little kid win. Ohh no always has to go that little bit further.

Absolutely. I hate that book. The few times DC insisted on it being read to them I had to add in snarky bits after each of his lines to describe how unpleasantly competitive he is.

@Spanishcove Oh yes, Hagrid: I knew there was another much-revered character whom I disliked. One reason for it was back in 2001, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing life size cardboard cut-outs of him and the trio; he wasn't pleasant to look at that close.

Anastasia Steele is surely the worst female character written in recent years.

I know the entire book series is awful, but she is just a horrific character. The films are of course worse.

I completely disagree - the films are ten times better because you don’t have to listen to Anastasia’s horrendous first person ‘inner goddess’ monologues and narration. I only got through the first 100 pages of that, but managed to watch all the films

To be fair wizards dont seem to go to school until they are 11 so ginny is at home full time in the first book. Mrs weasley must have has a child at home full time from when the eldest was born until ginny went to school. After that career reak it would be very difficult to re-enter the workplace.

Yes, that’s fair. But she did manage to kill Bellatrix Lestrange although she was probably a bit out of practice, despite Bellatrix definitely not out being out of practice - Dumbledore should have recognised her hidden talents and recruited her as a Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher (although I’m sure her kids would not have been impressed).

@PotholeParadise - oh yes, Augusta fucking Longbottom! That dreadful, heartbreaking scene in St Mungo's, where Alice hands Neville the sweet wrapper, clearly as a Christmas present (her mind has been tortured out of her) and Augusta tells him to 'throw it away'. I know Alice wasn't her daughter, that Frank was her son, but really? Would it have been too much to be kind to poor tortured Alice and traumatised Neville (who has always been one of my favourite characters and deserves a lot more character exposition than the poor bugger ever got).

The Weasleys are not working class - more impoverished nobility. They are on the Pure Blood list etc. That's what annoys the Malfroys so much, they should be grasping their "inheritance" and exploiting people like the other rich powerful Wizzards - like the Malfroys or Blacks. I think they are quite closely related to the Blacks.
They are supposed to be seen as a family who choose principles over money. But they are pathetic.
I did know a mother a bit like Molly, she had a daughter but then only had sons, and kept on having more babies as she desperately wanted another daughter she could "enjoy". And as a vague friend of her daughter even I knew this. So it must be very toxic in the Weasley household - everyone know Ron wasn't wanted, and the twins are the only ones who have any sympathy for him and they aren't exactly the most empathetic (or the ones you'd want to cheer you up).

@longwayoff I read Forever Amber years ago and read it again only recently. I think she comes across as being determined rather than devious, and agree she's hard to dislike for all her faults.

Now Beatrice Lacey from Philippa Gregory's Wideacre series is just plain evil..

Every character in The Time Travellers Wife. Horrendous weirdos.

Emma Woodhouse. She is written to be dreadful I know, but I can't tell you how relieved I was that she was dreadful in the recent film. I was very worried they'd somehow do a 'this is the heroine, we have to like her' makeover and make her charmingly hilarious.

Romeo and Juliet.

Frieda Klein in the Nicki French books. She has a lovely group of friends and family but she talks to them like they are shit. Also she doesn’t eat. And she takes her bf on a walking tour of London and dumps him mid way through banging on about a river as an afterthought.

Now Beatrice Lacey from Philippa Gregory's Wideacre series is just plain evil...

PG used to write a lot of fun characters like this - they were awful people, but entertaining.
Her writing has become so ‘sensible’ now, I don’t know what’s happened to her. ‘Tidelands’ was ok - I was convinced PG was going back to her roots with one and would make something shocking happen, but alas no.
I just listened to ‘The Kingmaker’s Daughter’ audiobook - what a snooze fest.

Am fond of Amber, it's a long time since I read it but I think you're right. Determined, certainly! Philippa Gregory? I've read most of her Tudor novels but haven't the patience for the rest of her writing. Just reminded me, I've got a copy of Tidelands somewhere around here, got a few chapters in before March but zzzz. Had dropped right out of my consciousness, not convinced I'll return to it.

GlendaSugarbeanIsJudgingYou

Lady mary in Downton abbey hells bells ...
Jo march and I was listening on sense and sensibility ths other night hated both the female.leads and the mother

Yes to any Hardy - Angel Clare is a grade a twat.

No to Anne Elliot. How dare you!

Yes to Diana in Anne of GG. She's just so passive and blah and easy.

I too hate Dumbledore. So manipulative of basically everyone. I am also troubled by some of the other teachers - the house bias is dreadful especially the anti slytherin views. No wonder so many go bad when they are told they are evil from the age of 11 by their own headmaster and deputy head. Just because they think before they act.

I do agree that Dobby is an arsehole as is Hagrid. Yesterday my pre teen asked me how Hagrids parents did it due to the size challenges. I had no answer.

Agree Win is awful. Blatantly treats women as objects. Films them.

The Chalet School: Both Joey and Mary-Lou have been nominated. I’m going to add the Robin. Mind-bogglingly annoying. And I’m sure she became a nun of the most sadistic variety - looking angelic as she terrorised.

I totally agree with the film version of Frodo. The book makes it much clearer that the mental strain of carrying the ring turns him into the personality twin of Gollum towards the end. Love Samwise. He should have got way more credit. Stupid class based issue as Frodo was a landowner type and he was a gardener.

I disagree about Wuthering Heights. The whole point is that they have no redeeming characteristics apart from their obsession for the other. Also the first generation including Nelly as supposed to be weak, spiteful, cruel, manipulative etc. Edgar is AWFUL. But the second generation through their love for each other correct the issues of their characters to live in harmony.

I also disagree about Ginny. The girl in the films had no character. The book girl had so much more...like blazing rows with her brother's controlling attitudes. I forgave her for her hostility to Cho. She only split up with her much-loved boyfriend (who she'd loved for years without him noticing her once) so she wouldn't be used as a pawn against him, he swans off no contact for nearly a year and then his ex (for mercenary reasons clearly) wants to be alone with him? Go away, Cho

Also Luna. She was weird in the books but they went too far in the films...she was normal enough to console Harry after Cedric's death. She was also motherless and left with her weird dad, isolated from others at Hogwarts...in the books, I'm sure Ginny defends her when someone calls her Loony.

I agree Beatrice Lacey is evil but I like her. I can't stand Harry's wife. Especially in the second book.

Totally agree with Dumbledore over lack of explanation!

Holden Caulfield. What a whiny, self-centred little twat.

Absolutely this. Loathed that book and fail to see what it's such a revered classic....

@TheExterminatingAngel

Emma. Why TF did nice Mr Knightley marry her?

Money. She was going to inherit - with her sister - a large estate on the death of her father. Knighley was a man of his time and marriage was a business deal.

And how the hell was Snape allowed to get away with his blatent favouritism of his own house students?

But yes, if Dumbledore had knocked all that 'let's go into the pensieve and see what we can see' nonsense on the head and just sat Harry down and told him what's what - the series would have been at least a book shorter.

I love the whole thing, but Deathly Hallows (book) goes on far too long with far too much wandering up and down and not knowing what to do. If Dumbledore had just TOLD Harry what to do when the shit hit the fan... but I think Dumbledore was manipulative and a bit too fond of having the upper hand!