Lavender Leigh
The CBB -> Book Discussions
#1: Lavender Leigh Author: Josie, Location: London PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2005 12:32 pm

Please discuss Lavender here...

 

#2:  Author: Polly, Location: Essex PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2005 1:57 pm

Well....it's a small purple flower with a nice smell and relaxing properties!!! Wink

 

#3:  Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2005 10:58 pm

*lol* Polly. Very good!

 

#4:  Author: Pat, Location: Doncaster PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2005 11:24 pm

We have some growing outside our front door.

 

#5:  Author: Nicci, Location: UK PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 2:26 am

*sighs*

Well if none of you can be sensible...

I've never been the hugest fan of Lavender. Partly, I suspect, because she is one of EBD's 'typical' characters. ie, you can how the character will develop from the first page.
The only remotely interesting part of her character comes (IMHO) when she makes up with Joy/Joyce/whoever (note how interested I was) and frankly, even then, Joy/Joyce/whoever was the more fascinating person because she really believed that Lavender would blackmail her.

Just read over that and it seems a lot harsher than I meant it. But it's 2.30am and I can't be bothered to change it.

 

#6:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:50 am

From the paperbacks, it seems, Lavender isn't really a typical EBD character because she never *really* makes good--never becomes stunningly beautiful or becomes a prefect or is really discussed much ever again.

Nor does it seem that her aunt becomes sensible. I think in Peggy, Lavender has just left, and Miss Annersley says something like, "Lavender has been an uncertain quantity the last term or two" (all books are in my new house; I am in my old house, hence my not looking it up). I have no idea what Lavender's being an uncertain quantity actually means, but it just sounds like they could never really rely on her to not be a complete flake, and as soon as the war was well over and her aunt could pull her out to go jaunting around the world, she did.

I like early Lavender, because she is so clueless and she knocks Bride's glasses off. Yes, Bride is one of my favorite characters, but except for her fight with Bride and the fight they have in Island re: Impertinent Questions, there is a sad lack of catfights in the Chalet School.

Lavender also has a wicked sense of humor re: hitting someone with a hockey stick and laughing at them. I think that if I were at the CS and forced to play games, I would think of doing this because the Games Prefect would yell at me so much, but would never have the nerve to do it. Lavender does; therefore, she's cool.

The name, however? Horrible.

Probably NOT in the running for Head Girl anymore,
Chang

 

#7:  Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 6:54 am

I think the uncertain quality reference is probably that Lavender's aunt gave warning in lieu of official notice that she might be removing Lavender from the school. We know from Island that a term's notice must be given, and presumably otherwise the school will charge for the term, even if the girl isn't there, so Sylvia Leigh was protecting herself from this.

And I hardly think it's a sense of humour that prompts Lavender to laugh at Anne when she (Lavender) hits her with the hockey stick.

 

#8:  Author: Ruth, Location: Physically: Lincolnshire, England. Inwardly: The Scottish Highlands PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 8:54 am

Lavender is a pig. I cannot stand her! On the front of the paperback - her hair?! Would any schoolgirl have hair like that. Having said that, I think her stupid aunt is to blame, it is enough to cause a kid to behave like that having a series of travel books written about them!

 

#9:  Author: Rosie, Location: Huntingdonshire/Bangor PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:23 am

Changnoi, your post had me in fits of giggles!

I actually like Lavender, but this is more because it is in my favourite period more than anything else.
I can't remember much about it off-hand though....

 

#10:  Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:38 am

I remember thinking that having a series of books written about you would be rather exciting but she turned out to be just a girl who happened to travel with her aunt rather than having adventures which was a disappointment.

It's not a book I'd pick up to read out of order.

I think it was an experiment on EBDs part. She did tend to hang a storyline on a 'New Girl' makes good/saves the day/has trouble fitting in/etc. and Lavender seemed a good idea at the time. She's just another transient character.

Changnoi's comment about the lack of cat fights is so true. If they had a fight, it was usually a killing affair - stone in a snowball and bookend come to mind.

 

#11:  Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:55 pm

Lavender is not one of my favourite characters. She is another EBD person from a difficult background who disappears after her own book. She was what her aunt made her unfortunatley. I would have like dto have seen more of her to see if she changed much.

 

#12:  Author: Changnoi, Location: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 2:04 pm

KB wrote:
I think the uncertain quality reference is probably that Lavender's aunt gave warning in lieu of official notice that she might be removing Lavender from the school. We know from Island that a term's notice must be given, and presumably otherwise the school will charge for the term, even if the girl isn't there, so Sylvia Leigh was protecting herself from this.


Thanks, KB, I hadn't thought of this.

Quote:
And I hardly think it's a sense of humour that prompts Lavender to laugh at Anne when she (Lavender) hits her with the hockey stick.


This, alas, is very true. She is written as having lost her temper, and it's certainly not done in fun. I think I say she has a "wicked sense of humor" initially because she seems so much more purposeful in her anger than most CS people.

What catches me is the intentional way in which Lavender makes the hockey stick incident tie back to what she's angry about. She's angry that Monica criticized her when the ball (ball? puck? I know it's not ice hockey, but are there still pucks?) hit her, as well as for other offenses, and so she's going to hit someone else really hard and then criticize them.

So often, in the CS world, when characters finally lose their tempers, they do something completely random to express their anger. Diana trashes a study because she had to apologize and feels insulted; Margot flings a bookend because her tooth hurts and feels put-upon. I think EBD generally tries to show being angry as completely unreasonable, and so her characters who are angry do unreasonable things. They become berserker-like and will do almost anything to express their anger. However, since their expressions of anger rarely bear any connection to what they are angry about, it becomes a futile way of communicating emotion.

This is where Lavender is very refreshing. Although her attack (physical and verbal) on Anne is inappropriate social behavior, she's communicating what she's angry about! She has perceived an unfairness in Monica, and since the prefect system doesn't allow her to communicate that perceived unfairness directly, she's going to emulate and exaggerate the behavior to try to show its unfairness. I don't say that she is necessarily doing this consciously, though if she had some insight into her own behavior, I feel that this is something she might realize.

...I'm not entirely sure where I'm trying to go here, and perhaps I'm forgetting other CS characters who behave this way in portraying Lavender as rare.

Chang

 

#13:  Author: Pado, Location: Connecticut, USA PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2005 3:35 am

And then there's the magically civilizing influence of Lilimani... Rolling Eyes

 

#14:  Author: Kirstie, Location: Ayrshire PostPosted: Sat May 21, 2005 3:52 am

Lavender is yet another one of EBD's characters that have a book written about them and then are hardly mentioned again. Although luckier than Lilamani who has only a chapter and a paragraph. Why is Lavender spoken about in Peggy (I think) as being sixth year when in her orgiginal book she is in Bride's class?

 

#15:  Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Sat May 21, 2005 5:01 am

Probably because Lavender is several years older than Bride and, with a decent education, would be likely to move ahead. Bride was also given a promotion but ended up with people of her own age, so she was likely to repeat a year somewhere, increasing the gap between them. (Lavender is 13 in Lavender and Peggy is only 11 (and yes, I know that Peggy is then 'about 14' in Gay).)

 

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