Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture Number 9 Roguery & (Sub)Versions Article 3 12-30-2019 Of Grim Witches and Showy Lady-Devils: Wealthy Women in Literature and Film Veronika Schuchter University of Oxford Follow this and additional works at: https://digijournals.uni.lodz.pl/textmatters Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Schuchter, Veronika. "Of Grim Witches and Showy Lady-Devils: Wealthy Women in Literature and Film." Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture, no.9, 2020, pp. 50-65, doi:10.18778/ 2083-2931.09.03 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Humanities Journals at University of Lodz Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture by an authorized editor of University of Lodz Research Online. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Text Matters, Number 9, 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.09.03 Veronika Schuchter University of Oxford Of Grim Witches and Showy Lady-Devils: Wealthy Women in Literature and Film A BSTR A CT Imagining super rich women in the real and fictional world has long been a struggle. Those few depictions that do exist are scattered across time periods and literary genres, reflecting the legal restrictions that, at different points in time, would not allow women to accumulate assets independent of the patriarchal forces in their lives. The scarcity of extremely wealthy women in literature and film is confirmed by Forbes magazine’s list of the fifteen richest fictional characters that features forty different fictional men and only nine women, with never more than two female characters nominated in a single year.