I finished The Count of Monte Cristo and all I can think about is the Eugénie Danglares and Louise D'armilly romance. What do you mean? Can someone tell me, is there already a fandom for this ship?
[p.s: spoilers] Furthermore, Dumas makes several references to Eugénie, the fact that she doesn't like men, that she is always paying attention to the beauty of other women in the plot (Haydée, for example), among several other conversations about women in the plot that are revealing. Let's be honest, she is compared to the Greco-Roman goddesses Diana (Artemis) and Minerva (Athena), she is compared to an Amazon too if I remember correctly.
They say she is very beautiful, but has something that is not at all feminine and acts in a way that is unusual for her "sex" to be. Her closeness to Louise is revealing. Eugénie is described as strong too (the opposite of Louise, who is described as being "very feminine" and "delicate").
But nothing could have prepared me for the ending, I thought it would remain just subtext, but it wasn't. I almost couldn't believe it when they have their happy ending. Like, Eugénie dresses "in men's clothes", looks even better in them than before, and jokes with Louise as if their complicit escape was similar to a very well-consummated "bride kidnapping"? Really?
I swear, I didn't expect that. And I loved it. And they are caught in the same hotel room, people gossip and talk badly about it (homophobia), and Eugénie despises the inconvenience of the gossip. But the important thing is that she and her beloved have a happy ending together.
And I was like: really? It's a book from 1846! They should be something like a queer icon, but I've never heard of them why??????
Their romance and that of Valentine and Maximilien were the only ones I liked in this book.
Absolutely adore the way the Count doesn't comment anything on Euénie's love interest. This man excuses eternal desire of revenge and urge to hurt people in unimaginable ways but draws the line at homophobia