Personality Summary. (Developed with the assistance of character writer 3.1)
Alyse is a strange mixture of naivety and opportunism. Intellectually gifted her high expectations of life are unfulfilled and she slowly becomes a cynical bitter opportunist.Alyse tries to attain control. Purposeful and wilful, she believes that she can manipulate anyone to her point of view and that in the end whatever is good for her will be good for everyone. She does a deal with Ximene to impersonate Ximene after her escape believing that this will provide her with contacts with powerful men. At this level, she has immense amounts of self-confidence. Alyse is brutally honest, and will do almost anything to advance her cause.
Those who are not too close to her admire her decisiveness and perseverance. The flaw in her approach is that her wilfulness doesn’t always take into consideration the needs of those around her, steamrollering them, overpowering them, and relying heavily on her ability to control them. Control is a real issue for her. She expects other people to stand up for themselves. Alyse is uncomfortable with relationships were she does not have control, but when her softer side surfaces, it gives her that much-needed third dimension.
Character Arc.
Alyse psychologically changes imperceptibly toward a more unhealthy condition. Two failed relationships and the fact that Ximene outmanoeuvres her makes her dominating and destructive. Not being people oriented, she becomes destructive to those close at hand, the people she considers weak. In the process, she becomes more isolated which raises the anxiety level, creating reckless behaviour and a lack of personal control, which becomes her Achilles heel.
Application of the Character Arc.
Alyse never really knew who her mother was. She was told and she suspected that she and her twin brother Juan were born to Maria De Padilla and King Pedro of Spain when they were both only 14 years old. The two young children passed through a number of homes before lady Eleanor, Alyse’s Great Aunt took them under her wing. This meant that Alyse took on the role of protector. In order to look after herself and her brother Alyse had to grow up fast. By the time Lady Eleanor took responsibility Alyse had to adjust to the loss of the family leadership role. As an adult, she always tries to compensate by attempting to take the leadership role in every situation, learning that this is the way obtain the outcomes she wants. This controlling nature may have driven away followers, leaving her a little lonely. She compensates by turning to study becoming an outstanding scholar and a broad based artiste of considerable talent. Despite the fact that she is close to being Ximene’s twin she acquires a reputation as dowdy and dull. She decides that she can break this mould by becoming the mistress of powerful men and looses no time in making a start on what is to become a career path.
Alyse’s character flaw is based on the incorrect belief that the world is an overly demanding place and the only way to get what she want is to be powerful and force her will on others.
She encourages Gaston( Ximene’s uncle and guardian) because supports her learning and uses her to fulfil his fantasies. He makes her feel glamorous not dull. She becomes disillusioned when she learns that it is Ximene Gaston really wants. She decides to punish Gaston by helping Ximene escape.
She is then attracted to Piers de Windsor but discovers he is homosexual. At this stage she is well along the way to becoming a bitter, but attractive sexual predator.
