| 1 | [[quoteright:204:[[Magazine/{{Punch}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GrandeDame.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:204:"[[Theatre/AnimalCrackers Why, you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen and that's not saying much for you!]]"]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"We are not amused."'' |
| 5 | -->-- [[BeamMeUpScotty Erroneously attributed]] to '''UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | The Grande Dame is the stately older woman -- usually of wealth and [[BlueBlood rank]], though often enough only wishing to appear so -- who is very often [[BigBeautifulWoman a large woman of ample physique]], uptight, [[NoSenseOfHumor humorless]], and the butt of jokes. The ''Grande Dame'' is usually a spinster or widow, in which case she is likely to become an OldMaid or an AbhorrentAdmirer; if she ''is'' married, it will usually be to a HenpeckedHusband (very often an UnclePennybags), whom she will drag to operas (where she will also look down on people who wear the wrong style of HighClassGloves) and ballets because MenAreUncultured, though she will more often be a patroness of the arts than ThePrimaDonna herself. She will also quite often have some sort of spoilt and pampered (and very often overweight) child or pet, a Persian or a [[MisterMuffykins Pomeranian]] or a parrot, on whom the rest of her dependents must dance attendance. In most cases, any attempt at frivolity will draw from her either a frigid stare of disapproval or sheer, blank incomprehension. Nevertheless, she will ''occasionally'' turn out to be a sympathetic character as well -- ''very'' occasionally she will turn out to have a screwball or eccentric streak herself. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | As she sinks down toward the cynical end of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism, she will on uncommon occasions become a DeadpanSnarker, though if she goes too far, she may turn into the RichBitch; as she rises toward the idealistic end, she may become the more friendly MaidenAunt -- in very rare cases (like [[Film/GoneWithTheWind Ellen O'Hara]]) she may become the saintly ProperLady. Both extremes are uncommon, however, as in general she preserves the ''status quo'' as a MoralGuardian -- she may well have started out as an ApronMatron -- and her watchword is "Respectability." If she loses this and begins to hit the bottle, there is a good chance she will turn into LadyDrunk. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The trope is most commonly a [[ComedyTropes Comedy Trope]], associated particularly with the Comedy of Manners; as such, it serves as a useful device for mocking social pretensions and dates back to the ancient Roman plays of Creator/{{Plautus}} and Terence, where the ''Grande Dame'' appeared as the ''Matrona''. She was not used much in the uninhibited [[TheMiddleAges Middle Ages]], but made a comeback as the humorless, self-important ''dueña'' of the 16th and 17th-century Spanish theater (SmallNameBigEgo Doña Rodríguez is the only one character stupid enough in all the novel to believe that Literature/DonQuixote is a real KnightErrant). The prude and bluestocking of the Restoration (such as [[Creator/{{Moliere}} Molière's]] [[Theatre/TheMisanthrope Arsinoé]] and his ''Précieuses ridicules'') and Sentimental comedies (for instance, Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's ''Theatre/TheRivals'') also have some affinities with the type, insofar as they made pretensions to virtue and culture. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | However, it was only with the [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian]] age that the great era of the ''Grande Dame'' opened. Here, with her [[ErmineCapeEffect fur stole]] and her ancestral [[HighClassGlass lorgnette]] in hand, the ''Grande Dame'' quashed social climbers, sought advantageous marriages for her daughters and repelled impossible matches for her sons, and maintained the natural order of Society with frigid hauteur for a good hundred years and more. In England, she was generally in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrett%27s Debrett]] and was called "Lady" something ("Countess" was a particularly imposing title); in the US, she was one of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Brahmin Brahmins]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_McAllister the Four Hundred]] or the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_families_of_virginia FFV]] and was called "Mrs. Van" Whoozis or Miss Firstname. She will still turn up occasionally, to preside over banquets, and to be aghast at the excesses of [[StrawFeminist Feminism]] or the [[TeensAreMonsters Youth movement]] and to wonder why [[YeGoodeOldeDays no young ladies bother to go to the cotillion any more]]. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Her plot function will usually be as an obstruction to the plans of the protagonist, though she will occasionally convert to his side -- more rarely, she may assist from the first. |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!Examples |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 22 | * In ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', the Witch of the Waste acts like this for the first half of the movie, but later on karma bites her in the butt and puts a stop to it. |
| 23 | * A straight example occurs in Meowth’s backstory in ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries''. Meowth was a stray kitten, taken in by a Persian who was the leader of a group of Meowth street thieves. He fell in love with a Meowth owned by a lady fitting this trope and learned to speak in an effort to impress her. After learning how to speak, Meowth returned to find his crush dumped on the street after her master lost all her money, and she had been taken in by the Persian who took Meowth in earlier and had fallen in love with him. Meowth’s jealousy at this became the reason he grew to hate Persians so much. |
| 24 | * In ''Manga/UQHolder'', Dana is an enormous woman who dresses in extravagant clothing and calls herself "young and beautiful". She is also [[TheDreaded an ancient High Daywalker vampire]] known as [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds "The Witch of the Rift"]], responsible for training Evangeline and later Touta. While [[TrainingFromHell effective]], her regiment [[TheWonka has odd requirements that seem more focused on aesthetics than anything else]], like demanding that immortals strike a pose while regenerating. |
| 25 | [[/folder]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 28 | * Used to be a reliable comedic StockCharacter in comic papers such as ''Magazine/{{Punch}}'' (whence the page image). |
| 29 | [[/folder]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 32 | * The ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'' story “The Butcher’s Basement” involves a villainous dowager who made her fortune through a slaughterhouse chain and attempts to carry herself like this. Unfortunately, her insecurities due to having grown up a commoner turn her into a cruel and vindictive noblewoman, and she develops a reputation for regularly mistreating anyone of lower status than her. |
| 33 | * The Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal introduces Joan Sanderson-Reeves, a respectable lady from the upper-middle classes, who has a comfortable career as a teacher, specifically in manners, etiquette, deportment and Domestic Science. She also has a discreet sideline as a freelance unlicenced Assassin specialising in killing people through the medium of tainted food and drink. Tracked down by the Watch and the Guild and sentenced to graduate as a late-entry Licenced Assassin or to die trying[[note]]A different sort of Angel offered by Vetinari, who notes [[WifeBasherBasher she only murders people whose actions have caused grave upset and offence]]. Vetinari also sees a potentially useful person[[/note]], she graduates. At the current point in the timeline, her previous life as a freelance non-Guild killer has been forgiven to the point where she is now Dame Joan, the Deputy Guild Mistress, and a constant source of worry to Lord Downey, who recognises a better poisoner than he is. And she's his Deputy. She also teachers valuable skills to Guild students, who are universally terrified of her. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 37 | * [[LastofHerKind Baylene the Brachiosaurus]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' appears to act like one of these. |
| 38 | * [[HenpeckedHusband John]]'s wife Killjoy Margaret from ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000''. |
| 39 | * The Wardrobe from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' is a subversion: she looks the part but she's very cheerful and even cracks a slightly ribald joke ("Let's see what I've got in my drawers!") during her first meeting with Belle. |
| 40 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Wu is somewhere between this, EvilMatriarch, and a IronLady. She's old, very dignified, sets impossibly high standards, and insists absolutely that things be done according to custom. On the other hand, she isn't evil, just rigid and old-fashioned in her view of life. However, she's also surprisingly open-minded: [[spoiler:when all the Lee women gather on the astral plane, Wu is the first to acknowledge that Mei has a right to make her own choice about her panda spirit.]] |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 44 | %%* UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa of Austria in ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006''. |
| 45 | * Mrs. Rittenhouse in ''Theatre/AnimalCrackers'', Mrs. Teasdale in ''Film/DuckSoup'', Mrs. Claypool in ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'' and other similar roles in various Creator/TheMarxBrothers films were gloriously sustained by Margaret Dumont, who may be considered the TropeCodifier ''and'' the best example of this trope. |
| 46 | ** Especially because many reports paint her exactly this way ''off stage''. (''But see ''RealLife'', below.'') |
| 47 | ** There is also Mrs. Claypool's spiritual successor, Lillian Oglethorpe (Nancy Marchand), in the 1992 remake of ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'', ''Film/BrainDonors''. |
| 48 | * Nora Charles' formidable Aunt Katherine in ''Film/AfterTheThinMan'', who is appalled that Nora has married someone as common as a former detective. |
| 49 | * In the movie ''Film/{{Arthur 1981}}'', Arthur's grandmother Martha Bach demands that he marry Susan Johnson or she will cut off all his money. |
| 50 | * Mrs. Hamilton in ''Film/TheBishopsWife'', a very rich and very haughty widow. Rev. Brougham is hitting her up for funds to build a new cathedral, but Mrs. Hamilton is being difficult, demanding that if it's not built as a gaudy memorial to her late husband, it won't be built at all. The ending reveals that she's really being driven by guilt because she never loved her husband. |
| 51 | * Elizabeth Random, Susan Vance's aunt, in ''Film/BringingUpBaby'', who displays little tolerance for David Huxtable, but who is eccentric enough to want her own leopard. |
| 52 | * Lady St. Edmund in Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/{{Candleshoe}}'' is the sympathetic rich widow version; her butler hides the fact that she is an ImpoverishedPatrician for fear it would break her heart. However, she's ObfuscatingStupidity and is actually a grandmotherly type who's enjoying the game. |
| 53 | * The eponymous Daisy Werthan of ''Film/DrivingMissDaisy'' appears to begin the movie as a cynical version of this trope and move over towards the idealistic by the end. |
| 54 | * "Mother" in Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Film/TheHappiestMillionaire'' is related to the type. |
| 55 | * The Countess of Trentham, played toward the cynical end of the scale by Dame Creator/MaggieSmith in ''Film/GosfordPark'' |
| 56 | * "Mother" Baldwin in ''Film/HisGirlFriday'' is close to this type. |
| 57 | * Creator/JudiDench sometimes seems to have cornered the market in playing a steely and capable version of the type: |
| 58 | ** As Queen Elizabeth I in ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'', the ''Grandest'' of Grand Dames, perpetually cloaked in finery and perpetually cutting down any fools foolish enough to enter her orbit with deadpan wit. "But I know something of a woman in a man's position. Yes, by God, ''I do know about that."''[[note]][[WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh "Great job, Judi - have all the Oscars." (An air-cannon then fires a torrent of Oscars at her.)]][[/note]] |
| 59 | ** Her version of M in the new ''Film/JamesBond'' films (''e.g., Film/CasinoRoyale2006'') is downright dangerous: |
| 60 | --->'''Bond:''' I always thought M was a randomly assigned initial; I had no idea it stood for--\ |
| 61 | '''M:''' Utter one more syllable and I'll have you killed. |
| 62 | ** And again in the recent film version of ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest''. |
| 63 | ** And again in ''Film/MrsHendersonPresents''. |
| 64 | * Mia's grandmother in ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' is on the more intelligent end of this trope. |
| 65 | * Mrs. Van Hopper, played by Florence Bates, in Daphne du Maurier's ''Film/{{Rebecca|1940}}'' is a full-fledged RichBitch. |
| 66 | * Inverted in ''Film/TheRebelSet'' by the rich, snobby woman who desperately wants to be a Beatnik. |
| 67 | * Very common in Film/TheThreeStooges (often played by Symona Boniface or Bess Flowers), as for instance, "Termites of 1938" in which Muriel Allen (played by Flowers) needs an escort to Alice Preston's dinner party, and her maid mistakenly places a telephone call to Acme Exterminators instead of Acme Escorts; HilarityEnsues. |
| 68 | * The faded actress Miss Luther in ''Film/StageDoor'' -- and, indeed, most parts played by Constance Collier. |
| 69 | * In ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' Rose's mother is a tragic variation on the character, while "Molly" Brown is a subversion. |
| 70 | * Mrs. Van Hoskins in 1972's ''Film/WhatsUpDoc''. |
| 71 | * The elderly noblewoman who summons the brothers Grimm in ''Film/EverAfter'' is identified in the end credits as "Grande Dame," though she avoids all of the negative aspects of the trope. Her exact title (or name, for that matter) is unclear, except that she is a direct descendant of the French royal family according to her ending narration. |
| 72 | * The Comtesse de Tournay in ''Film/{{The Scarlet Pimpernel|1934}}'' is a stiffly dignified old lady. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 76 | * Creator/PGWodehouse (very likely under the inspiration of Creator/WSGilbert, whose works he adored) and his collection of "aunts" may well claim to be the literary patron saints of this trope, on which for well over sixty years he rang the changes of every possible variation imaginable, from the lovable Aunt Dahlia in ''Right Ho, Jeeves!'' to the truly horrible Heloïse, Princess von und zu Dwornitzchek, in ''Summer Moonshine'', a RichBitch who is not even funny. Perhaps the most typical is the formidable Lady Constance (she is, of course, the sister of the many-sistered Lord Emsworth in the "Literature/BlandingsCastle" saga), but the most famous is probably [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Bertie Wooster's]] Aunt Agatha, who "chews broken bottles and kills rats with her teeth." Aunt Julia in the ''Literature/{{Ukridge}}'' stories is an interesting variation in that she doesn't look the part, being a half-sized kitten-like woman, but she more than qualifies mentally. |
| 77 | * Creator/EvelynWaugh also enjoyed this trope, ''e.g.'', Lady Circumference in ''Decline and Fall''. |
| 78 | * Mrs. Proudie, in Creator/AnthonyTrollope's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfBarsetshire'', is an example of the social-climbing type. |
| 79 | * In Trollope's Literature/{{Palliser}} novels: Glencora's aunts, the Countess of Midlothian and the Marchioness of Auld Reekie. |
| 80 | * Helen, Duchess of Denver is a humourless ''young'' woman in Creator/DorothyLSayers' ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' novels; Lady Hermione Creethorpe, in "The Queen's Square," is a more typical elderly example. |
| 81 | * Hector Hugh Munro, aka Creator/{{Saki}}, was very fond of this type, both in the humourless, unintelligent version (for instance, the mothers in "Morlvera" and "The Schartz-Metterklume Method" and Hortensia, Lady Bevel, in ''The Watched Pot'') and also in its DeadpanSnarker variant (for instance, Lady Caroline Benaresq in ''The Unbearable Bassington''). |
| 82 | * Pretty much the whole female cast of ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', besides Sybil Vane and her mother, is portrayed in this way. |
| 83 | * Creator/JaneAusten features the arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', who, though she does not seem entirely unaware, is rather humorless. |
| 84 | * Mrs. Van Hopper in Daphne du Maurier's ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}''; du Maurier may have been inspired by her father, George du Maurier, who was fond of portraying the type in his cartoons for the English humour magazine ''Magazine/{{Punch}}''. |
| 85 | * The Comtesse de Tournay in ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' is a stiffly dignified old lady, implacably opposed to Marguerite -- but forced by the Prince Regent to acknowledge her nonetheless. |
| 86 | * Lady Shrapnell in Connie Wills' ''Literature/ToSayNothingOfTheDog'' is a direct allusion to [[Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest Lady Bracknell]]. |
| 87 | * William Makepeace Thackeray displayed a number of haughty, humorless old ladies in ''Literature/VanityFair'' -- for instance, Miss Pinkerton, Lady Bareacres, and Lady Southdown. |
| 88 | * In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Lady Alys Vorpatril is an example of the heroic Grande Dame. As chief social mover and shaker of the planet Barrayar, '''very''' insistent on Things Being Done Properly and a stickler for Protocol, but definitely on the side of the good guys. Villains tend to disregard her because she has no official political power, only to learn to their regret that she has a lot of behind-the-scenes power, due to the fact that she's been the chief social mover and shaker of Barrayar for thirty years, and as a direct result of this knows '''everybody'''. |
| 89 | --> '''Miles:''' Richars Vorrutyer sat right there and informed me that Lady Alys held no vote in Council. The fact that she has spent more years in the Vorbarr Sultana political scene than all of us here put together seemed to escape him. |
| 90 | * Bujold's ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion'' has the Dowager Provincara. She's a positive and helpful character, though her intense practicality prevents her from properly understanding the mystical nature of the ills plaguing both Chalion and her own daughter Ista. |
| 91 | * The Queen of England in ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' is another example of the more heroic version of the character. |
| 92 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 93 | ** Lady Sybil Vimes is the heroic type, though she's a good deal younger than is typical for this trope, and not all that hung up on Respectability either. And her pampered pets are [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]! |
| 94 | ** In ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'', Nanny claims to be "a ''grande dame'' or 'big woman' as we would say here". About the only aspects that apply are the age and, as her translation suggests, the physique. She's also the matriarch (there isn't a patriarch; one book mentions that she's had several husbands, and some of them were even hers) of the Ogg clan, all of whom do her bidding, generally because they're scared to death of her. |
| 95 | ** Lady Keepsake in ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'' is a rather snobby old harridan who seems rather cruel to her daughter Letitia. Then subverted when she bumps into an old friend from the city, who "lets slip" in public that Lady Keepsake used to be a risqué burlesque dancer. This prompts her to lighten up for the rest of the book. |
| 96 | * Uppah-uppah crust Englishwoman Lady Costanza Lorridale in ''Literature/LittleLordFauntleroy'' is the kindlier version of this. |
| 97 | * The Dowager Duchess of Dovedale in ''The Literature/PinkCarnation'' series. |
| 98 | * ''UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria'' (Vicky), as portrayed by Flashman in the Flashman series of novels by George [=McDonald=] Frasier. |
| 99 | * Abundant in the ''Literature/VillageTales'' series. So far, we've seen the Duke of Taunton's [[NoSenseOfHumor humorless]] sister-in-law Lady Crispin, who is finally old enough to qualify; Lady Agatha Prothero-Fane ("[[MaidenAunt Cousin Agatha]]"), who chooses to live "in the wilds beyond Builth Wells to keep an eye on the Royal Welsh Show" and "emerges at intervals to dispense advise, whether one wants it or not"; and the [[spoiler:late]] Caroline, Lady Douty, who did good works in the villages "in such a way as to make virtue more repugnant than vice." And none of them is on the level of Flora, Countess Dowager of Freuchie, in ''Literature/{{Evensong}}'': |
| 100 | --> '''To Lady Crispin, who is outraged by something her son said regarding her behavior at [[spoiler:Lord Crispin's funeral]]:''' "He oughtn't to have done anything of the sort. [Lady Crispin feels vindicated, for three seconds, until Lady Freuchie goes on:] What he ought to have done – what ''I'' should have done – was to have boxed your ears. You're making a Judy of yourself, Constance: indeed, a complete exhibition. It's beneath contempt." |
| 101 | * Miss Havisham from ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' definitely qualifies; however, she is also completely insane, having deliberately frozen her life around the exact minute and day that her heart was broken. Astonishingly, she still receives the occasional visitor, and her upbringing of Estella certainly qualifies her for this trope. |
| 102 | * The Reverend Mother in ''Literature/{{Dune}}''. Also the Fremen tribal elderwomen. |
| 103 | * ''Literature/HisOnlyWife'': Aunty Faustina Ganyo is a very powerful and wealthy woman in the village of Ho, Ghana. She pays for the schooling of 50 children and offers feasts that benefit the entire community. She loves to be very generous towards others... as long as they worship her and don’t stand up to her. She orders her sons to get rid of girlfriends she disapproves of. |
| 104 | * Augusta Longbottom and Madame Maxine in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. Minerva [=McGonagall=] would qualify to an extent, if she weren't a teacher and has a [[DeadpanSnarker wicked sense of humour]]. |
| 105 | * SmallNameBigEgo Dueña Doña Rodríguez is the only one character stupid enough in all the novel (and InUniverse, ''in all Spain'') to sincerely believe that Literature/DonQuixote is a real KnightErrant. |
| 106 | * Jamison Rook's mother in the Series/{{Castle|2009}} tie-in novels is referred to as the "Grande [[{{Pun}} Damn]]". |
| 107 | * The stories in ''Literature/TheMysteriousMrQuin'' by Creator/AgathaChristie include several examples, as the protagonist moves in posh social circles. |
| 108 | ** Princess Dragomiroff in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'' would also count. |
| 109 | [[/folder]] |
| 110 | |
| 111 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 112 | * ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Mrs. Grabar in "Madison Country Club". Mr. Conklin intends to squeeze money out of the rich dowager so he can redecorate his office. When she arrives, he plans on staging quite a show of poverty, complete with the staff dressed like hobos. Miss Brooks and company have other plans. HilarityEnsues. |
| 113 | * Hyacinth Bucket in ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'' is a glorious example of the pretentious social climbing version of this trope, complete with HenpeckedHusband Richard. |
| 114 | ** "[[PretentiousPronunciation It's pronounced]] ''[[PretentiousPronunciation Bouquet!]]''" |
| 115 | * T'Pau (played by Celia Lovsky), a clan elder in Spock's family in the ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episode, "Amok Time." Unlike other examples here, T'Pau is in no way comic, but rather a deeply commanding figure of respect with unquestioned authority. For instance, she makes sure Kirk does not get into trouble diverting to Vulcan to get Spock for the ceremony. |
| 116 | ** A funnier (but occasionally serious) version in [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration the Next Generation]]: Lwaxana Troi, daughter of the Fifth House of Betazed, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed, who spent her visits to the Enterprise sticking her nose into ship's workings in a stately manner, trying to marry off her daughter and flirting with Picard, to his chagrin. |
| 117 | ** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has Lady Sirella, Mistress of the House of Martok, as the ProudWarriorRace version of this trope. A stickler for tradition and protocol, she has veto power over who can marry into the House, and judges [[FantasticRacism non-Klingon Jadzia]] harshly on her worthiness as a potential wife for Worf. |
| 118 | * Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, on ''Series/DowntonAbbey''. Appropriately enough, she is played by an actual Dame, Creator/MaggieSmith. |
| 119 | ** Also Martha Levinson, Cora's mother (played by Creator/ShirleyMacLaine). An American example -- specifically, a millionaire dry-goods merchant's widow, with an eye to fashion; the Dowager Countess doesn't care for her one whit. Dame-to-Dame combat ensues. |
| 120 | ** Also Mrs Miranda Pelham, mother of Bertie Pelham, with a particular emphasis on moral propriety. While being the wife of a somewhat impoverished distant cousin of a marquess doesn’t seem to be the greatest basis for this, as it turns out [[spoiler:her son was next in line for the marquessate and she intends to use her position as mother of the marquess to make the family seat a center of proper virtue]]. |
| 121 | * On ''Series/MadMen'': |
| 122 | ** Roger Sterling's first wife Mona in her appearances was an archetypal midcentury "Mrs. Van Whoozis" defending propriety and trying to marry her daughter off. |
| 123 | ** Henry Francis's mother in season 4 is an even more archetypal guardian of Westchester County propriety, to the tremendous annoyance of her step-granddaughter Sally Draper. |
| 124 | * Lucille Bluth from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' |
| 125 | * ''Series/LancelotLinkSecretChimp'' had the Duchess, who was part of the evil organization CHUMP. |
| 126 | * Delenn in her widowhood in ''Series/BabylonFive''. Notably when she is snarking at would-be revisionist historians. |
| 127 | ** Side note: in the DVD commentary for the episode Interludes and Examinations, as Delenn descends a staircase Bruce Boxleitner says 'here's the Grande Dame'. |
| 128 | * Lady Anavere Damodred in the second season of ''Series/TheWheelOfTime''. |
| 129 | * Mrs. Slocombe of ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'' attempted to affect this demeanor, but she almost always backslid to her working-class roots in language and attitude when angry or upset. |
| 130 | * In ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' Shada, the mother of Mike Franks's daughter in law, is an Arab style Grande Dame who ruled her tribe after all the men had died in battle. She carries a [[IronLady ferocious and atavistic]] air to her and no one would ever want to mess with her except Mike Franks. |
| 131 | * Lavinia Cremone in ''Series/DancingOnTheEdge''. |
| 132 | * Evelyn Harper from ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' has shades of this (she certainly seems to ''think of herself'' as this). |
| 133 | * Creator/DianaRigg as Olenna Tyrell in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. There are shades of this in the book, but it's Rigg's performance (which has been repeatedly compared to Dame Creator/MaggieSmith's aforementioned turn as the Dowager Countess on ''Downton Abbey'') that brings the character definitively into this trope, though she is not humorless. |
| 134 | * Diana Rigg embraces conservative Grande Dame-dom as the Duchess of Buccleuch in ''Series/{{Victoria}}'' -- quite the feat in a series set in the court of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. (In this one, she's TheComicallySerious.) |
| 135 | * Margaret Tilden, owner of the Washington Herald in ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' gives every indication of being the prim and proper Grande Dame, until ''that'' joke. |
| 136 | * ''Series/CallTheMidwife'': Being set in 1950s-60s Britain, these make the occasional appearance: |
| 137 | ** Lady Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne, Chummy's mother, is the spitting image of a Grande Dame of the last era of their dominance. Made even more typical by virtue of being married to a former India Office official (Chummy was born [[UsefulNotes/TheRaj there]], and apparently the only lullabies she knows are in Hindi!) and very religious to boot. |
| 138 | ** There are moments when Sister Monica Joan (who was clearly born to a wealthy family) gives every indication she ''would'' be a Grande Dame were she not a nun in an order that puts GodBeforeDogma -- particularly when she complains about food ("And we are faced with ginger nuts ''again''! ''Ginger nuts''!" "I cannot excite myself about a fatless sponge."). Oh, and she is increasingly senile, but that's another matter... |
| 139 | * Peggy's landlady in ''Series/AgentCarter'' is a very mannered, genteel older lady who has no compunctions about imposing her notions of propriety and respectability on her female tenants -- enforced through eviction if necessary. |
| 140 | * ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': Phryne's Aunt Prudence is a stout, elderly society lady of considerable means. A pillar of Melbourne Society, she's quite prim and reputation-conscious, but often reveals herself to be kind-hearted and an outright MamaBear whenever children or the disadvantaged are involved -- public opinion doesn't stop her from taking in a destitute girl who'd gotten pregnant out of wedlock when the need arises. |
| 141 | * ''Series/TheGildedAge'' revels in this trope: |
| 142 | ** Agnes van Rhijn (née Brook) is a literal "Mrs. van Whoozis" (her late husband being a scion of an old Dutch dynasty) and an ardent and imperious defender of "Old" New York propriety. She strictly regulates (and regularly intervenes in) her family's social relations. Well, her female family's -- she has absolutely no control over her son Oscar, who seems to be the only person in New York who doesn't care what she thinks about him. |
| 143 | ** Mrs. van Rhijn's new neighbor Bertha Russell, while definitely [[NouveauRiche "New" New York]] and a frightful social climber, has cultivated the air of imperious propriety ''almost'' perfectly. One does ''not'' simply stand in her way. However, she is clearly still a bit rough around the edges, given her willingness to use her husband's immense wealth and power to substitute for her lack of social standing. |
| 144 | ** Several historical ''grandes dames'' of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Hundred_(Gilded_Age) the Four Hundred]] make appearances; Caroline Astor and Mamie Fish in particular are recurring characters. |
| 145 | ** Peggy Scott's mother Dorothy is mostly shown as a kindly mother to her daughter, but her ProperLady tendencies and age shade into the 19th-century Black version of this. (It seems Creator/JulianFellowes cannot resist writing an older well-off woman without imparting some ''grande dame'' tendencies.) |
| 146 | [[/folder]] |
| 147 | |
| 148 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 149 | * Mrs. Peacock in ''[[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} Clue(do)]]''. |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 153 | * The ''matrona'' parts in the plays of the Roman playwrights Creator/{{Plautus}} and Terence (''possibly'' taken from the Greek Menander) are the UrExample of this trope, which ''may'' ultimately have been suggested by the goddess Hera/Juno. The character as developed certainly seems more Roman than Greek. |
| 154 | * As a natural corollary of the previous entry, "Domina" of ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'' is a direct adaptation of the Roman original. |
| 155 | * Thomas William Robertson's "epoch-making" (according to Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw) play ''Caste'' appeared in 1867, featuring the character of the Marquise de St. Maur, who forbids the marriage of her son to the lower-class heroine. |
| 156 | * [[Creator/WilliamGilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert]] was ''extremely'' fond of this type, as, for instance Lady Sangazure in ''Theatre/TheSorcerer'', Lady Jane in ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'', Lady Blanche in ''Theatre/PrincessIda'', Katisha in ''Theatre/TheMikado'', and the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in ''Theatre/TheGondoliers''. |
| 157 | * Lady Bracknell in Creator/OscarWilde's ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'' is one of the grandest -- and one of the ''dame''-dest. Subverted in that she has common origins and married up. |
| 158 | -->'''Lady Bracknell:''' But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When I married Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way. |
| 159 | * Madame Armfeldt in ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn in ''Film/TheMusicMan'', and most other parts played by Hermione Gingold, including Mrs. Bennet in ''First Impressions'', a musical version of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. |
| 160 | * Parthenia Hawks in ''Theatre/ShowBoat'' (played on-stage by Edna May Oliver and in film by Helen Westley and Creator/AgnesMoorehead) |
| 161 | * Miss Jones, Mr. Biggly's secretary in ''Film/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying'', has some affinities with the type. |
| 162 | * Baba the Turk in ''The Rake's Progress'' is one of the few Grande Dames with a beard. |
| 163 | * The Countess de Lage in ''Film/TheWomen''. |
| 164 | * Madame Pernelle in Creator/{{Moliere}}'s ''Theatre/{{Tartuffe}}'', as well as Arsinoé in his ''Theatre/TheMisanthrope'', as mentioned above. |
| 165 | * ''Albert Herring'' has Lady Billows, a fiercely Puritanical and exacting old solon who sings in florid Handelian coloratura. |
| 166 | * Marya Dmitriyevna Ahkrosimova from ''Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812''. The lyrics of the prologue even say so! |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 170 | %%(ZCE)* The "Lady Smith" splicers in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' invoke this trope: part Creator/ElizabethTaylor in ''Theatre/WhosAfraidOfVirginiaWoolf'', part Creator/KatharineHepburn. There is a remarkable synergy with the horror setting. It is a credit to the voice actress that the trope is palpable even when the splicers can't be seen. |
| 171 | %%(ZCE)* Gertrude Dijon in ''[[VideoGame/LauraBow The Colonel's Bequest]]''. |
| 172 | %%(ZCE)* The "Elegant Lady", Emma, in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick''. |
| 173 | * Kebabu in ''VideoGame/TheMagicOfScheherazade'' tests your moral fiber by asking if you'd pick up a girl in a hamburger shop. |
| 174 | * Dowager Lady Mantillon in the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series is basically the shadowy puppetmaster behind all things in the Orlesian Empire. She is an elderly noble lady, a former mistress of the late Emperor (whom she is rumored to have had assassinated and replaced with his niece), and only those who have her favor can ever hope to rise to the highest ranks of the modern Orlesian society. |
| 175 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 176 | ** Madame Aroma from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' is a benevolent example. Though her husband Dotour is the mayor of Clock Town, she is the one who organizes the festivities scheduled for the Carnival of Time and is implied to have more power over the town's committee members than him. |
| 177 | ** The BigBad of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTriForceHeroes'' is Lady Maud, the witch of the Drablands who cursed Princess Styla into a leotard that she's [[ClingyCostume unable to remove]]. When you meet her about halfway through the game, you find out that she's not a stereotypical WickedWitch, but a smug ActionFashionista who looks to be in her sixties or seventies, but still considers herself nothing less than the pinnacle of the sartorial world -- and she [[RegalRuff dresses]] [[SunglassesAtNight the]] [[MinidressOfPower part]], [[AgeInappropriateDress too]]! |
| 178 | * Madame Broode from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' is a rabbit-flavored version of this trope, seeing as how she's a massively tall and obese woman who wears a fancy dress and hat, is the fearsome head of a violent wedding planner firm, and has a cutesy-named "Chain Chompikins" that she sics on Mario for annoying her. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 182 | * Cecania's mother from ''Webcomic/SoreThumbs'' is well on her way to becoming LadyDrunk. |
| 183 | * In possibly the most hilariously entertaining subversion in all of TV Tropedom, ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' presents, starring in this role ... [[spoiler:[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080425 Mamma Gkika]]]]. |
| 184 | [[/folder]] |
| 185 | |
| 186 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 187 | * Elizabeth II was depicted in this manner once on ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': |
| 188 | -->'''Queen Elizabeth II:''' We are ''not'' amused.\ |
| 189 | '''Yakko, Wakko, and Dot:''' But we are! |
| 190 | * In several WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts, Madame Clara Cluck (herself a parody of noted operatic contralto [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Butt Dame Clara Butt]]) was able to [[{{Pun}} pullet]] off. |
| 191 | * Lady Richington from ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'', whose catchphrase is "[[OtherStockPhrases Well, I never...!]]" is a Grande Dame. |
| 192 | * A recurring character displaying most of the classic characteristics of the type appears on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''; Martha Quimby and Lady Bouvier also show similarities to this type. [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight Krusty]] identified her as the "Wealthy Dowager" in the Clown College episode: |
| 193 | -->'''Krusty:''' Now! When the wealthy dowager comes in, the party's over, right? Wrong!\ |
| 194 | (''Krusty throws a pie in her face so hard she gets embedded in the wall'')\ |
| 195 | '''Homer:''' ''(taking notes)'' ...Kill...wealthy...dowager... |
| 196 | * Eleanor Sherman from ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' |
| 197 | * ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': |
| 198 | ** One appeared in the episode "Best of Buster", in the segment "Compromising Principals", as the principal of Miss Conduct's Advanced School of Immaculate Manners, assessing the performance and good behavior of students in the Acme Looniversity to determine whether or not Yosemite Sam can transfer to become Vice Principal of her school. Babs, Buster, and Plucky try everything they can to mess up the Grande Dame's examinations beneath Yosemite Sam's notice, often leading to AmusingInjuries for the unwitting mustached man. The abuses continue up until they BodySwap her with a potato, breaking her composure and causing Sam to lose the promotion he so desired. |
| 199 | ** In the episode "New Class Day", the segment "A Night in Kokomo" is a Marx Brothers pastiche, in which a similar character design is used for Ms. Writtenhouse, the Margaret Dumont character. |
| 200 | * Mrs. Astor from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Even ''nitroglycerine'' is intimidated by her. |
| 201 | -->'''Zoidberg:''' Where's the exploding?\ |
| 202 | '''Hobsy:''' One does not explode in Mrs. Astor's face. |
| 203 | * Wormaline Wiggler from ''WesternAnimation/{{Mirthworms}}''. |
| 204 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Pearl Slaghoople (Wilma's mother) likes to think of herself as one of these, but as far as Fred is concerned, she's just another [[ObnoxiousInLaws "battle axe" mother-in-law]] that often appears in sitcoms of the time. |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 208 | * Socialist Liverpudlian MP Elizabeth Margaret ("Battling Bessie") Braddock (who bore a striking resemblance to the page picture) was the heroine of a famous passage-of-arms with DeadpanSnarker UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill: |
| 209 | -->'''Bessie Braddock:''' Winston, you are drunk, and what's more, you are disgustingly drunk. |
| 210 | -->'''Winston Churchill:''' Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what's more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly. |
| 211 | ** This exchange was confirmed to Richard Langworth by Ronald Golding, a bodyguard present on the occasion as Churchill was leaving the House of Commons in 1946. (Note that in the 1934 movie ''Film/ItsAGift'', Creator/WCFields' character, when told he is drunk, responds, "Yeah, and you're crazy. But I'll be sober tomorrow and you'll be crazy the rest of your life.") |
| 212 | * The actresses [[http://im.in.com/connect/images/profile/oct2009/Florence_Bates_300.jpg Florence Bates]], [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f5/Symona.jpg/200px-Symona.jpg Symona Boniface]], [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Constance_Collier_in_Rope_trailer.jpg Constance Collier]], [[http://www.cyranos.ch/spcoope.jpg Gladys Cooper]], [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Rs53-MPsJaI/SYaDVKEx3cI/AAAAAAAALa8/ym6z6ubrNOw/s400/dinner-at-8-marie-dressler.jpg Marie Dressler]], [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_madyzqmHA2o/SPStIQ2NAyI/AAAAAAAAB2E/gW4Q4ZhcxQo/s400/Margaret+Dumont.jpg Margaret Dumont]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbIu8lRlWw Edith Evans]], [[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2893514748_20e51238b3.jpg?v=0 Hermione Gingold]], [[http://www.myprideandprejudice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Lady-Catherine-de-Bourgh-played-by-Edna-May-Oliver-in-Pride-and-Prejudice-1940.jpg Edna May Oliver]], and [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Helen_Westley_in_Roberta_(1935)_trailer.jpg Helen Westley]] specialized in this sort of role, but in most cases the actresses themselves were noted for having a keen sense of humor. |
| 213 | ** It was claimed by Groucho Marx throughout most of their lives that Margaret Dumont never understood what was supposed to be funny about the Creator/TheMarxBrothers' comedy; however, Dumont was a long-time veteran of the comedy stage herself, and well understood that the more unamused she herself seemed, the funnier the jokes would be for the audience. |
| 214 | ** Margaret had married a millionaire and was this in real life. She commuted to the studio by air from her mansions in Palm Springs and Paris (back when air travel was for the very rich only). |
| 215 | %%* Creator/DameEdnaEverage |
| 216 | * UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria is generally portrayed this way. The page quote is said (on rather slim evidence) to have been provoked by the Hon. Alexander Grantham ("Alick") Yorke, one of her grooms-in-waiting, who had a reputation as a funny man among the Queen's retainers, and, when commanded by Her Majesty to demonstrate, either told a risqué anecdote or performed an imitation of Victoria herself. Queens UsefulNotes/ElizabethI and Elizabeth II, and other queens such as UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat, are also occasionally depicted in this manner, with rather less justification.[[note]]Namely, Elizabeth I was very savvy and was known to be cool with Shakespeare's bawdy sense of humour; Elizabeth II, although the very model of propriety, is also the very model of the CoolOldLady; and Catherine the Great was...well...she was Catherine the Great. Read her page.[[/note]] |
| 217 | ** According to someone who was there, it was a risqué-bordering-on-crude anecdote told in a roomful of prepubescent girls. Victoria had good cause not to be amused. |
| 218 | ** Incidentally, there are more photographs of Queen Victoria laughing than there are of all nine of her children laughing ''combined''. She could, however, be a Grande Dame when necessary; her genius was knowing when that was. |
| 219 | * Creator/BertrandRussell's parents died young, and he was [[RaisedByGrandparents raised by his grandfather and grandmother]], the [[UsefulNotes/EarlRussell Earl and Countess Russell]]. Because the Earl was near death and died two years after Bertrand's parents, he spent the longest time under the rule of his grandmother, who, although quite broadminded and indulgent, was also famously formidable and insisted -- against her deceased son's wishes -- on raising the children as devout Presbyterians. (It didn't stick.) |
| 220 | * Among some tribal societies in the rural Philippines, women have a traditional role as clan diplomats. Naturally one who gains a great reputation in this field would be considered a Grande Dame and would likely act like it. |
| 221 | * [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-life-and-crimes-of-old-mother-mandelbaum-71693582/ Frederika "Marm"/"Old Mother" Mandlebaum]] was an approximately 6'/1.83M, 250lb/114.4KG German immigrant who spoke only when absolutely necessary, dressed simply (except for her hats), and whose mantra was "it takes brains to be a real lady". Starting out as a peddler sometimes making only $6 a week, during the Panic of 1857 she began building a criminal network of theives and pickpockets acting as a fence through which much of the stolen property of late 1800s New York would eventually pass. In the end, it's estimated that she handled somewhere between $1M and $5M worth of goods at the time which is equivalent to about $23M - $118M in 2022. |
| 222 | [[/folder]] |
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