Josephine Anwhistle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| A Series of Unfortunate Events character | |
Josephine's Arm |
|
| Josephine Anwhistle | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | White |
| Age | Adult (At the time in which Lemony Snicket, Kit Snicket, Jacques Snicket, Beatrice, and Esmé Squalor were all children, Josephine was already an adult. This would indicate that she was at least 45 and probably closer to 55 at the time of her disappearance) |
| Film actor | Meryl Streep |
| 1st appearance | The Wide Window |
| V.F.D. alliance | Volunteer |
Josephine Anwhistle ("Aunt Josephine") is a fictional character from the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. She is Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire's second cousin's sister-in-law, and becomes their guardian in The Wide Window.
Aunt Josephine thinks that grammar is the greatest joy in life. She keeps many books about Lake Lachrymose under her bed. These books include The Tides of Lake Lachrymose, The Bottom of Lake Lachrymose, Lachrymose Trout, The History of the Damocles Dock Region, Ivan Lachrymose - Lake Explorer, How Water Is Made and A Lachrymose Atlas.
Ever since her husband Isaac (Ike for short) was devoured by Lachrymose Leeches, she has developed numerous fears. These include concerns about Lake Lachrymose, the welcome mat (one might fall and break one's neck), the radiator (it might explode), the couch (it could fall and crush a person), cars (the doors could get stuck, leaving someone trapped inside), doorknobs (it could break into many pieces, one of which may get in someone's eye) the telephone (it could electrocute someone), burglars, the stove (it might burst into flames), the Lachrymose Leeches (one of her more rational fears - if they smell food, they swarm in and attack), and her most irrational fear, realtors. Ironically, many of the things she fears actually happen in the film when her home falls into the lake.
In the end, Count Olaf (in his disguise of Captain Sham) throws her to the leeches. It is heavily implied that she meets the same fate as her husband; she is surrounded by leeches and her tattered life jackets are found later by fishermen at the time the orphans were in Prufrock Prep., two books later.
Aunt Josephine also refers to an aunt of hers, who "not only had one eyebrow, but also one ear." In The End, Ishmael tells the Baudelaires of a student of his of the same description many, many years ago when he used to be a schoolteacher.
[edit] Theories
It is speculated that she survived, as Snicket never explicitly stated that she died, and is the woman swimming towards the The Queequeg in The Grim Grotto.There is probably a relation between her and Anwhistle Aquatics, which is mentioned many times, especially in The End, although it was took over by the Medusoid Mycelium it is still not certain
[edit] Notes
- ↑ Replaced by the fridge in the film.
- ↑ Josephine gets over this fear in the course of the Baudelaires' stay. However, this leads to her undoing.
- ↑ This is given some credence by Captain Widdershins when he says "we were attacked by... leeches and realtors," and explained briefly by Kit Snicket in Chapter 2 of The Penultimate Peril. It was mentioned that a cave (presumably Curdled Cave) was attacked by treacherous realtors. Although it may be for comedic relief, the word treacherous may mean that the realtors were members of the evil side of the V.F.D., and an attack of theirs caused her irrational fear of realtors.
| Preceded by Uncle Monty (The Reptile Room) |
Guardian of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire | Succeeded by Sir (The Miserable Mill) |
(a.k.a. Daniel Handler)
Illustrated by Brett Helquist
