Take a look at Shakespeare (whatever film versions you like): Macbeth Iago/Othello Richard III Or for evil heroines, in Shakespearean, ancient Greek, and modern European theatre: Lady Macbeth Medea Hedda Gabler Evil heroines also appear in some films: Carrie the lady vampires in THE HUNGER But I agree that most films with evil characters are melodramas, with the evil one as villain, while the plays listed above are tragedies, with protagonists who are both good and evil. mp Mark Pizzato Asst. Professor Dept. of Dance and Theatre Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC 28223 Phone: (704) 547-4488 FAX: 704-547-3795 > ---------- > From: Evan Rosenfield > Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 10:47 PM > Subject: Evil heroes? > > mike frank wrote: > > "at a quick guess, we'll find many fewer evil heroes than > evil heroines . . . and if that's the case it ought to tell us > something about ourselves that we need -- but don't want > to -- know . . ." > > > Isn't an evil hero impossible? I've always found the non-evilness of > protagonists to be one of the most intriguing points of identification for > me. At most I've found some heroes morally ambiguous. But evil? Its tough > to > call the person you are identifying with evil. Maybe bad, but evil? > > > ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]