Marisa Coulter
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| Marisa Coulter | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Northern Lights/The Golden Compass |
| Last appearance | The Amber Spyglass |
| Created by | Phillip Pullman |
| Portrayed by | Nicole Kidman |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Spouse(s) | Mr Edward Coulter, Lord Asriel (lover), Lord Boreal (lover) |
| Children | Lyra Belacqua |
Marisa Coulter is a fictional character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. As with her lover, Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter (as she is usually called) undergoes several transformations during the series.
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[edit] Role in story
Though Mrs. Coulter seems very charming, it is quickly revealed that she has a darker, sinister side. Her dæmon is a golden furred and black-faced monkey with a cruel streak. He is unnamed in Pullman's trilogy but named Ozymandias in the BBC Radio drama.
Mrs. Coulter is the head of a particular faction of the Church known as the General Oblation Board (also known as "The Gobblers" among gyptians and street urchins). Under Mrs. Coulter's guidance, The Oblation Board has been secretly kidnapping children from Lyra's world, and then proceeding to use them as "lab rats" for their experiments at their laboratory in Bolvangar. The Oblation Board thinks that by cutting away the child's dæmon (which is equivalent to disconnecting their souls from their bodies), they can prevent the child from knowing sin. When Mrs Coulter visits Bolvangar, Lyra is in the midst of the intercision process, but Mrs. Coulter comes in just the nick of time to save her daughter.
She had originally planned to build a larger laboratory on Svalbard, kingdom of the armoured-bears. To do this, she secretly had Iorek Byrnison (the current heir to the throne at that time) thrown out of favour, allowing another bear, Iofur Raknison, to take his place as he would have been more willing to support her plans than Iorek. Eventually, she intended to use the bears to guard the new laboratory, however her plans were ruined when Iofur was killed by Iorek in single combat, resulting in Iorek becoming king of the bears.
Mrs. Coulter is a widow who works for the Oxford colleges and the Magisterium, thought by many to be based on the Catholic Church. Her husband, Edward Coulter, is described by Lord Faa as having been a rising politician. However, Mrs. Coulter had an affair with Lord Asriel while she was married. It is revealed some way into the first book of the trilogy that the protagonist of the series, Lyra Belacqua, is in fact the daughter of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel. It is Lord Asriel who kills Edward Coulter in defence of the infant Lyra.
Later in the series, Mrs. Coulter discovers the Church's true intentions: to kill Lyra. By then, she claims to have grown to love the girl, so she kidnaps her and takes refuge in a cave. However, by that time, Lyra had long begun to hate and mistrust her.
Near the conclusion of The Amber Spyglass, Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel give their lives to kill the Regent Metatron and save their daughter (Lyra) so that she may safely fulfill the prophecy and free the multiverse from the oppression of The Authority.
[edit] Other notes
Mrs. Coulter is described as being 35 years old at the time of her death in The Amber Spyglass.
She is described as being 'beautiful and young' with 'sleek black hair' that 'framed her cheeks' [1]. Given that the details of characters' physical appearances are not often given in His Dark Materials' ('for example, it is a long time before it is mentioned that the protagonist, Lyra, is blonde), this is an unusual attention to physical detail. However, Philip Pullman did not disapprove of the physical change made in the film adaptation of Northern Lights/The Golden Compass, claiming to regret not making Mrs. Coulter blonde in the first place.
There is a reference in Lyra's Oxford to Mrs. Coulter having written an academic work called 'The Bronze Clocks of Benin'
[edit] Adaptations
- Emma Fielding played Mrs Coulter in the BBC version of His Dark Materials.
- Alison Dowling plays her in the Chivers Children's Audio Books version. Author Philip Pullman narrates the latter with a full cast.
- Patricia Hodge played Marisa Coulter in the first run of the National Theatre play, and Lesley Manville played her in the second run.[2]
- Nicole Kidman plays Mrs. Coulter in the film adaptation, The Golden Compass, with Daniel Craig joining her as Lord Asriel. Pullman had previously indicated that he would like to see Kidman play the role, although he had no role in the casting procedure.[3]
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Pullman, 1995, p.66
- ^ Marisa Coulter at Srafopedia hisdarkrmaterials.org (Accessed 13 November 2007)
- ^ His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (2007) IMDb (Accessed 18 July 2006)
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