So, we have a sweet young girl in a peasant’s blouse and a beautiful Queen in great capes. Think about it, which would you rather be? I choose to be the Queen anyday. Perhaps she was just misunderstood, poor woman. As she got older, she began to get a few wrinkles, and her young step daughter got all the cat calls. Could it be that she was just feeling left out?

As the years go by, there have been many women who have been as misunderstood, if not even more so. Take for instance Cleopatra. We think of her as the temptress of Mark Antony and Julius Caesar, causing the fall of empires. Well, it is doubtful that she had time to plan such downfalls, due to the little known fact that she had a bunch of children. Knowing that she had a group of rowdy kids to keep an eye on, how could she even have time to coil her hair?

Another name we shudder at is Lucretia Borja. Rumor has it that she kept bottles on her boudoir with perfume to seduce and poison to kill. Sure, that is the typical set up for any femme fatale, but Lucretia’s story is much different. She was forced into a marriage with a man she depised. Her father set this match up to ensure his own power. Both Lucretia and her husband were not pleased by this arrangement. Her lovely husband soon spread false stories that his wife engaged in incest and partook in murder.

Well, he got what he wanted, an annulment, while she became infamous for her treachery. Poor Lucretia, after falling in love with her second husband, she lost him by the hand of one of her brothers. This murder freed her to marry another powerful man so her family could gain higher standing.

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry to VIII is remembered for bewitching the king with her powers. Henry fell in love with this beautiful temptress, only to be disappointed she did not produce him a son. Accusing Anne of infidelity, he said she was also a witch who trapped him involuntarily into marriage. So, Anne was sent off to the tower to be beheaded. her cries are still heard throughout the castle.

When we think of frivolous women, one of the first names that comes to mind is Marie Antoinette. This Austrian princess came to France as a mere child (fifteen years old!) to marry Louis the XVI. She had nobody to guide her when she arrived and found court formalities to be ever so boring. So, off she went to party. News spread of her lavish spending, in a time when France could not afford such excess. Anger arose and the natives found it especially easy to blame a foreigner. Marie was never shown to the other side of life, the one full of poverty and starvation. To her, being Queen meant fun and games.

It was her fault that she never looked at the poor, but she had to escape her sorrows of being so far from home. As we all know, Marie was put to the guillotine, dying young and lovely.

Even though she is a fictional character, Scarlett O’Hara has as much personality as the above ladies. In fact, she seems to be larger than life. A flirt, she drew in the men and married quite a few. She could not help but be so full of life. Scarlett is the typical Aries woman; strong, determined, and going after what she wants, not aware of what goes down around her until it has fallen. Poor Rett, he just could not keep up with her.

Lastly, Saint Joan of Arc. It is true that she is not seen as a misunderstood femme fatale today, but in her life, she was extremely mistreated. Whatever drove her to put on her armor and take control of the men (hmmmmm...) is still a mystery. At the time she was hunted down and labeled a witch. As she burned, the crowd cried out and proclaimed her a martyr. If only they had come to their sense a bit sooner. But, this way we can never forget her.

Sometimes history distorts the truth and forgets little details that either explain or alter what is written in the books. What is interesting about these women is that everyone remembers them because of their wrong doings. Honestly, if Marie Antoinette had not uttered "let them eat cake", would she have gone down in history? Probably not. As this tale of the misunderstood ends, think back to the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Sure, the Princess Aurora has a great name, but the Witch Malificent in the Disney version gets a great headpiece. Plus, Malificent had every reason to be furious at not being invited to the christening party, don’t you think?