Heroines that Bite Back | Vengeance According to Your Gothic Archetype
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
What each TLL muse watches when revenge calls
Revenge is more than a plot device, its a mirror. It reflects grief sharpened into resolve, heartbreak lacquered into performance and injustice alchemized into art.
Each The Lace Ledger gothic archetype wears vengeance a little differently with the Widow, for example, cloaking it in mourning while the Brat smears it in eyeliner and late nights.
Each film or series remind us that vengeance is not always cruel; sometimes, it’s cathartic, sometimes it’s survival and sometimes, frankly, it’s the only language that power understands.
The Romantic Goth
Photo Credit: Movie Nation (The Dressmaker)
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) – A gothic southern elegy where nature itself testifies, and silence becomes survival.
The Dressmaker (2015) – Couture as vengeance: heartbreak sewn into gowns, redemption walked down a dusty catwalk.
Cruella (2021) – A revenge origin story where cruelty transforms into camp, creativity and couture. The making of a monster.
The Widow
Gone Girl (2014) – Widowhood faked, power reclaimed, vengeance sharpened like a blade.
Fatal Attraction (1987) – Desire dismissed becomes punishment too sharp to contain.
Notes on a Scandal (2006) – Reputation wielded as a weapon, intimacy turned lethal.
The Heiress
Photo Credit: Screen Rant (1923)
1923 (2022-2025) – Gilded ranch wars where legacy is carved in bloodlines and betrayal wears pearls
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) – Envy polished to a shine, elegance turned lethal.
House of Gucci (2021) – Fashion’s throne room becomes a battlefield where betrayal is stitched in silk.
The Corp Goth
Molly’s Game (2017) – A woman reclaims power after the system betrays her, running the game on her own terms.
Widows (2018) – Strategy, survival and a boardroom’s worth of blood and betrayal.
Blue Jasmine (2013) – Corporate downfall and the slow, merciless revenge of disgrace.
The Oracle
Thoroughbreds (2017) – Calculated vengeance disguised as foresight, executed with eerie calm.
Dead to Me (2019–2022) – Destiny in disguise: grief morphs into friendship, then into vengeance.
Side Effects (2013) – A revenge plot as cold and clinical as a diagnosis.
The Brat
Photo Credit: Wonderland (Euphoria)
Euphoria (2019–ongoing) – Glitter bombs of revenge, teenage heartbreak as performance art.
Shameless (2011–2021) – Petty, messy, delicious vengeance in the name of survival.
Magic City (2012–2013) – Petulant rebellion meets mob ties in Miami’s noir heat.
The Vamp
Basic Instinct (1992) – A femme fatale who makes vengeance indistinguishable from desire.
Gypsy (2017) – Subtle revenge dressed in satin psychology.
Unfaithful (2002) – Seduction as weapon, betrayal as consequence.
The Siren
Barry (2018–2023) – Violence and longing collide in one man’s doomed escape from the cycle.
Animal Kingdom (2016–2022) – Family ties drown in saltwater betrayals.
Killing Eve (2018–2022) – Desire as bloodsport, seduction as revenge.
The Dark Academic
Photo Credit: Howard for Film (Death on the Nile)
Dead Poets Society (1989) – Inspiration turns insurgent, and young minds learn that rebellion extracts a price.
Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – A locked-room puzzle of intellect and vengeance, where every polished alibi is inked in guilt.
Death on the Nile (2022) – A glittering holiday among scholars and sophisticates, where jealousy seeps into champagne and murder hides beneath the sun.
The Whimsy Goth
Yellowstone (2018-2023) – Ranchland dynasties clash in open skies, vengeance grazing every fence line.
Revolutionary Road (2008) – Domestic dreams implode, revenge written in despair.
American Rust (2021–2022) – A small-town tale where quiet vengeance simmers beneath the soil.
The Pinup
Photo Credit: Prime Video (Why Women Kill)
Why Women Kill (2019–2021) – Three timelines of karmic retribution, styled in technicolor perfection.
The Last Showgirl (2024) – Aging doesn’t dull her claws — vengeance comes rhinestoned and unapologetic.
Pam & Tommy (2022) – Revenge porn becomes revolution, exposing power in the sexiest of scandals.***
***Disclaimer
Pam & Tommy is included here not as entertainment at Pamela Anderson’s expense, but as a cautionary tale of exploitation, media cruelty, and stolen privacy.At The Lace Ledger, we are firmly team Pam — her story is a reminder that what was once treated as scandal was, in truth, a violation of consent and humanity. This inclusion is meant to honour her resilience, and to frame the series as a critique of the systems that enabled her suffering, rather than an endorsement of it.
To indulge in vengeance on screen is to honor the shadow of ourselves – the part that refuses to be silenced, the part that insists on balance.
For every archetype, these stories offer not just spectacle but strategy: how to survive betrayal, how to dress your wounds, how to overcome pain.
