The Modern Rake

I thought our class discussion about the emergence of the seduction tale and the changing makeup of society was very interesting. It makes sense that people became increasingly fearful when they were no longer able to discern another’s character easily (by knowing their breeding and history) and when strangers became a figure in communities. Even today, it is a very alarming prospect for young women that we cannot judge a man’s character easily, and instead must take him to be as he presents himself. That is why the rake is such a disturbing archetypal figure, and such a prominent one.

I found a great example of a rake in a novel- that though it is not contemporary literature, it is a book that is often read today. Willoughby in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is the epitome of a rake. Like Florio in our seduction narrative, he is a gentleman who uses he appearance and manners to give the false impression of his worth. Willoughby is a selfish character that lacks virtue, which is typical or a libertine. He flirts shamelessly with the heroine Marianne, making her believe he loves her and even leading her to believe he will propose. However, when financial circumstances are hard he abandons her and marries a wealthy woman. He admits that he was playing with Marianne’s feelings in order to flatter his own ego. Even worse, Willoughby one ran away with a young lady, got her pregnant, and abandoned her. After that, he immediately tried to attach himself to Marianne. Willoughby is able to attract these young women because of his good looks, his flirtatious manner, and his status as a gentleman. In reality, his fortune is very small due to gambling debts, and his flirting often sets aside propriety. Near the end of the novel, he does express some remorse and admits that he has been a libertine. But then he falls back into bad habits. The novel was written in the early 1800s, so it is near seduction tales in the time of its composition. However, the novel seems more accessible to the modern reader. The texts to do not seem so foreign as the seduction texts.

When I think of a modern day rake, I think of Sebastian from the movie Cruel Intentions. The movie is an adaptation of a classic French novel, Les Liaisons Dangereux, which was written in the 1700s (strangely close to the seduction narratives). In the movie, Sebastian is a wealthy Manhattan socialite who derives pleasure from seducing and bedding young women. Growing bored with all the easy conquests, he looks for a challenge. His step-sister/twisted object of his desire, makes a bet with him that he can’t seduce the headmaster’s virginal daughter. If he fails to bed her, he has to give up his car to his stepsister. If he wins the bet, he gets to have kinky/almost incestuous sex with her. Anyways, Sebastian spends most of the movie in pursuit of the virginal character (played by Reese Witherspoon). He also seduces and sleeps with other women in order to fulfill his desires and as a form of revenge on others. Like other rakes, Sebastian is handsome, well-dressed and smooth talking. He knows exactly what to say to draw in a woman’s heart, and then turns cold after he has had her. This combination of insincere motives but outward charm makes his a horrible combination. Of course, he is reformed at the end of the movie. This is where the modern rake tends to differ from those of old. Many modern rakes are seen as redeemable if they meet the “right woman.” However, this gives them no excuse to treat the other women who were not “right” for them like crap. The rake is still a prominent figure in our current entertainment pieces because he is both alluring and alarming- he seems like a great deal but is a walking disaster.