Ranking The Characters of ‘The Serpent’

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10. Monique/Marie Andrée (Jenna Coleman)

Monique/Marie-Andrée only makes it onto the ranking for the sake of her clothes. Exquisitely glamorous and beautiful, I expect to see an uptick in over-sized sunglasses this summer thanks to her influence alone. However, though there may be some internalised misogyny at play here, I found her even more repulsive than her partner. Her weird compulsion to constantly mention Charles “putting a baby inside of her” is vomit-inducing, especially when it’s in reference to her uterine cancer. “It is in my womb, the cancer. Where I once hoped there’d be a child”, she says. Gross. I suppose Sobhraj comes across as barely human, whereas there are elements of Monique/Marie which some of us could recognise in ourselves. However, watching her stay loyal to Charles, despite both his awful crimes and his awful treatment of her, is frustrating and disturbing viewing. Plus, with Charles lacking any real charm, there seems very little reason to stick around as she does. I like to think that women would be less likely to put up with this abuse now. Perhaps Monique/Marie’s choices and outlook can be explained, if not excused, by the era she is from, which I suppose I can understand, if I push myself. That’s not to say there isn’t some real satisfaction in watching her life crumble around her—the scene where she spots herself on the front page of every magazine at the tabac and the ensuing panic is hilarious. But ultimately one is left thinking: what a waste of what could have been a normal, well-dressed life. 

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