Worst of Blyton's school girls.

[MJE]

Angela was cruel. I voted for Gwen simply because I feel that Gwen playing nasty pranks (I only call them pranks as I can't think of another word to describe them :)) on Mary Lou was far more cruel. Isn't it really low down to pretend to be friendly with somebody and then be mean to them behind their back?

     You may be right - I haven't read the books for a while and I don't remember lots of detail now, and I can't back up my vote with lots of detail or reasoning. It gets quite difficult to decide the relative size of differing acts of meanness or cruelty.
     There is one factor that (possibly) may lead to Gwen getting a bit more sympathy than Angela: we get the whole epic saga of Gwen over 6 books, and almost begin to think of her from a mental-health point of view, which could lead to one almost making excuses for her behaviour - whereas we don't seem to get that amount of background on Angela, whose cruelty just seems to come out of the blue, just done because she felt like it and with no reason visible for it - which perhaps makes her come across less sympathetically.
     That may have influenced my vote.

Regards, Michael.

[Yak]

Remember too that Angela was at least seventeen when we see her unpleasant actions whereas Gwen's tricks on Mary Lou, although highly unpleasant, were carried out when she was twelve. Not that she gets that much better over the series but she does not seem to do anything quite as blatantly awful again.

[mynameisdumbnuts]

Hello, all, first-time poster here. *waves*

I voted for Prudence because there's no indication she learned her lesson. Plus, she combines the worst traits of a few of those girls -- snobby like Angela, obsequious like Gwen, spineless like Erica. She was very calculating, too. She really campaigned against Carlotta, what with shadowing her and then going to the circus camp on her own to ferret out more information. Then at the end, she's a gibbering wreck and sorry it happened to her, not sorry she caused all that trouble.

[Miss Potts]

For me, Prudence is the worst character because of the same reasons mynameisdumbnuts has mentioned - -there is nothing which explains or excuses her spoilt character. She is the only girl who didn`t show the slightest sign of insight. And the way she manipulated and forced Pam Boardman to do as she wanted her to do, after she trapped her offering her "friendly" to make friends with her and using her that way is disgusting.

My second one is Angela, because she is cold and seems to be free of a conscience. She doesn`t care what is good and what is bad so she acts as she likes because she is the beautiful rich Honourable standing high above everybody else and seems to believe that this is her legitimation.
Gwen also does nasty things, but she sometimes has her "light" moments when she speaks for Zerelda or makes a remark about Alicia`s hardness in book 2, which hits the nail on the head.Or her rarely noticed attempt to behave nicer and more reasonable at the beginning of the Fifth.
When the familiar background of both girls is compared, fhe fussy mother and house- mistress of Gwen have more of my understanding than the spoilt and snobby mother of Angela`s. Mrs Lacey and Miss Winter show much more affection than Lady Favorleigh who was afraid that hugging her daughter would spoil her dress.
So in Gwen there is to guess that she can develop into the better. This I can`t see with Angela.

[Yak]

Angela DID show signs of change once, in book four, and then annoying the next tiem we see her in book five she is as bad as ever. Dunno what all that was about.


Prudence was said to be beginning to learn her lesson after being told she was being expelled. Ominously, though, Blyton notes that Prudence was 'her own worst enemy - and always would be'

[SuperHeeeeeeeey]

poor gwen she had no friends but that is understandable considering some of the things she did. like smash mary lous pen in the first form

[mynameisdumbnuts]

Yes, I can't really fault the girls for not being receptive toward Gwen's efforts of friendliness in the fifth form. And they must have had some liking for her, because when she returns to school late, they greet her when she enters the dining hall and quickly fill her in about the pantomime.

Anyway, Gwen's efforts don't last long, because she's back to her unpleasantness in the sixth....

[7upromana01]

I chose Gwendoline becuase she is a horrible snob! She is so mean! I find it funny how Belinda has a book of her scowls.

[Moonraker]

Gwen is a product of her parentage. Can you blame the apple if the tree is rotten?

[7upromana01]

I suppose not Nigel. But she still does expect everyone to be nice to her.

[mynameisdumbnuts]

Gwen is a product of her parentage. Can you blame the apple if the tree is rotten?

You're right. Her mum is a nightmare and her dad seems fed up and shut himself off, rightly or wrongly, from his troublesome family. Plus, he was outnumbered by Mrs. Lacey, Miss Winter and then Gwen himself.

[Ming]

Gwen is a product of her parentage. Can you blame the apple if the tree is rotten?

That really doesn't excuse Gwendoline's behavior - she is mean, selfish, lazy, amongst other vices. It may explain her attitude but it certainly doesn't excuse it or make it right.

She deliberately smashed Mary-Lou's pen - that's wrong whether you're the daughter of an arsonist or a wealthy businessman. I'm sure Mr and Mrs Lacey didn't teach her to be mean and selfish - but I suppose she might have picked those up through observation. Still doesn't excuse her - rather it puts both generations to blame.

[Katharine]

I know she's only a fictional character, but a lax upbringing isn't necessarily an excuse for bad behaviour. She had plenty of opportunities to observe the way the other girls behaved and try to improve herself.

[MARKTAYLORUK]

Angela surely had nothing to worry about in that she was rich beautiful and well-connected She did show signs of embarrassment at her mother .
I'm rather surprised that she put up with Hilary having a go at her rather than telling her
- second word off!

[Irene Malory Towers]

I thought Erica was the worst from what I remember. She only confessed to Margery after she had been saved by her. She really set out to destroy Margery. Gwendeline was terrible in the first year but after that she was more of an embarrassment to herself.