Violet (Peanuts)
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Violet Gray is a character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.
Violet has shoulder-length dark hair, and she frequently wears green dresses (switching to pants in the winter and in later years). Schulz changed her hairstyle between braids and a ponytail in the early strips, but after a few years he dropped the braids and went exclusively with the ponytail, which became arguably her most famous trademark. It became so rare to see her without a ponytail, in fact, that when she showed up without it on the way to school one day, Linus was startled enough to ask why she was wearing her hair down. She yelled that it was because her mother hadn't had time to comb her hair, since she was in such a hurry to go to Linus's house to play pool with his mother.
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[edit] Violet and Patty
Violet and Patty are best friends, and the two began appearing together almost from the beginning of the strip. Patty was one of the four original characters (along with Charlie Brown, Shermy, and Snoopy), and Violet was the first new major character to join the cast, debuting on February 7, 1951. Her surname was first mentioned on April 4, 1953. In those early strips, Violet often acted like a preschool-age Suzy Homemaker: making mud pies, playing "house," and being linked to romantic scenarios involving Charlie Brown. Violet never really developed a strong personality, especially compared to the next three characters who would be introduced after her (Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus). She tended to be used mostly as a straight woman to set up the punchline. Schulz admitted as much in a 1988 interview. "Some characters just don't seem to have enough personality to carry out ideas," he said, referring to Violet, Patty, and Shermy. "They're just almost born straight men." As the cast of characters grew, Violet was left with very little to do besides antagonizing Charlie Brown. Other members of Charlie Brown's family weren't spared, either. For a while, she got into the habit of comparing her father to Charlie Brown's, and giving laundry lists of all the things that her dad could do better than his. She also played outfield (and sometimes third base) on Charlie Brown's baseball team, and popped up in that capacity from time to time in later strips.
[edit] Snobbery
Violet's most consistent personality trait is that she tends to be a bit of a snob, very conscious of appearances and status. (It is strongly implied that her family enjoys a considerably higher class position than the other characters'. Both of her parents are college graduates and her father makes more money than Charlie Brown's -- though the later isn't much of a claim since Mr. Brown is a barber.) She once ordered Linus to dress more stylishly when they were walking together (whereupon he quickly transformed his blanket into an ascot), and she frequently criticizes Pig-Pen for his inability to keep himself clean. Violet often looks down on people who fail to meet her social standards, especially Charlie Brown, to whom she once stated flatly, "It simply goes without saying that you are an inferior human being." (His acute reply: "If it goes without saying, why did you have to say it?")
[edit] Her abuse of Charlie Brown
In fact, Violet's verbal lashings of Charlie Brown (usually in tandem with Patty) are in some ways even crueler than Lucy's. A classic example of this was where Violet is lashing out at Charlie Brown, yet again, and then finishes him off with "And I don't care if I ever see you again, do you hear me?!" Apparently, this tongue lashing was quite vicious, as Linus walks in and notices that Charlie Brown was really hurt. Charlie Brown said that Violet hadn't taken all the life out of him, "but you can number me among the walking wounded."
Yet another classic strip had Patty and Violet reciting a very mean poem basically pointing out that "Boys are rotten filled with cotton" and that "Girls are dandy filled with candy!" and then walking off smugly, where Charlie Brown retaliates with the phrase, "Generalities!!!"
Unlike Lucy, Violet only occasionally physically attacked Charlie Brown. In one Sunday strip, a furious Violet was chasing Charlie Brown, and Charlie Brown stopped her and tried to convince her that there were better ways to solve problems than with anger. In the end, Violet ended up punching him anyway in the middle of his speech, and tells Patty in the final panel, "I had to hit him quick. He was beginning to make sense!"
Lucy's insults tend to be fairly blunt, calling Charlie Brown names like "blockhead" and making sarcastic remarks at his expense. Patty and Violet, on the other hand, use social exclusion as their weapon, doing their best to make him feel like an outcast. They once invited him to join their "secret club," then revoked the invitation after he accepted. In one early Sunday strip, Patty and Violet put Charlie Brown and Shermy to work building a clubhouse for them, only to hang a "No Boys Allowed" sign on the clubhouse door after it was finished. On several occasions, especially in the early years of the strip, they went out of their way (sometimes with unconcealed glee) to make sure he knew that they were throwing a party and he wasn't invited. In that way, they can be seen perhaps as a caricature of the "in crowd" that exists at elementary and secondary schools everywhere, lording their status over their peers who are not "in."
[edit] Violet's last appearance
Violet's last official appearance in the Peanuts world came on November 16, 1984, although unnamed characters strongly resembling her would make occasional cameo appearances afterwards. She also appeared in several of the animated Peanuts television specials.
[edit] Trivia
- One of Violet's hobbies is stamp collecting.
- Violet, not Lucy, was the first character ever not to let Charlie Brown kick a football (on November 14, 1951). She let go of it early for fear of him kicking her hand.
- Among the abilities of her father with which Violet is boasting, the most consistently reappearing one is his talent in bowling - presumably more apparent than real.
- Violet's birthday is unofficially celebrated by Peanuts fans on June 17. Charlie Brown and Pig-Pen attended her birthday party on that date in 1962.
- According to some strips in the late 1950s, Violet is afraid of spiders and bees (if not other insects).
- Voice actors include Linda Ercoli (previously voiced Peppermint Patty) and Jolean Bejbe in He's A Bully, Charlie Brown.
