TMC
12-11-2022, 12:44 AM
https://www.looper.com/1133195/your-favorite-yellowstone-character-is-officially-the-villain-of-the-story/
BY KIM BELL/DEC. 9, 2022 10:29 PM EST
Of all the many melodramatic elements that drive the western powerhouse that is Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone," its Strong Female Character — Kelly Reilly's acerbic and developmentally arrested Beth Dutton — is the one the series relies on most. Part man-eater, part princess of the show's essential fairytale, and part perfect cowboy wife fantasy, she's both the daughter of Kevin Costner's John Dutton and the latest in a long linea of dangerous women in literary tradition. And like so many male-conjured Belladonnas, her one-dimensional strength and superficial agency are proving to be her downfall. As these stories tell us, this is what happens when you fly too close to the sun. Unlike Icarus, however, Beth's literary ancestors aren't punished for the sin of hubris, but for the sin of influencing — or having the same strong will, sexual prowess, and fearlessness as — their celebrated male counterparts.
If the historical and sociological events and ideologies that birthed her character are complex, Beth's motivations are less so. (For example, it took centuries for Eve to transform from the serpent's innocent victim into, if not the serpent itself, a lustful temptress in enthusiastic cahoots with it, per Bettany Hughes' exploration in "The Daughters of Eve.") Beth's mission is to serve her father, a mission she uses to justify taking her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) out of the equation. For herself, she wants only the one thing that was taken from her. It's the driving force behind her hatred for Jamie and a desire that, most recently, saw her cross a line from which she may never return.
BY KIM BELL/DEC. 9, 2022 10:29 PM EST
Of all the many melodramatic elements that drive the western powerhouse that is Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone," its Strong Female Character — Kelly Reilly's acerbic and developmentally arrested Beth Dutton — is the one the series relies on most. Part man-eater, part princess of the show's essential fairytale, and part perfect cowboy wife fantasy, she's both the daughter of Kevin Costner's John Dutton and the latest in a long linea of dangerous women in literary tradition. And like so many male-conjured Belladonnas, her one-dimensional strength and superficial agency are proving to be her downfall. As these stories tell us, this is what happens when you fly too close to the sun. Unlike Icarus, however, Beth's literary ancestors aren't punished for the sin of hubris, but for the sin of influencing — or having the same strong will, sexual prowess, and fearlessness as — their celebrated male counterparts.
If the historical and sociological events and ideologies that birthed her character are complex, Beth's motivations are less so. (For example, it took centuries for Eve to transform from the serpent's innocent victim into, if not the serpent itself, a lustful temptress in enthusiastic cahoots with it, per Bettany Hughes' exploration in "The Daughters of Eve.") Beth's mission is to serve her father, a mission she uses to justify taking her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) out of the equation. For herself, she wants only the one thing that was taken from her. It's the driving force behind her hatred for Jamie and a desire that, most recently, saw her cross a line from which she may never return.