Mary Fisher writes best-selling but trashy romance novels about the nature of love', and Ruth hates her for it ( I don't forgive her novels') because she tells lies.
When Bobbo tells Ruth that she is a she-devil, and not a woman at all, she begins to wonder about this accusation. She thinks that since [Bobbo] does so well and [she] does so badly, [she] really must assume he is right'. Even then, she is thinking that he is correct, and she is making herself sound totally inferior since Bobbo is more successful that she is in the world of business. That isn't even her fault, because she has never been exposed to the world of money, accounts, profit and loss. Later on in the book shows that she is really the more successful one of the two here, since she managed to accumulate a vast fortune. But if she hadn't believed Bobbo's words, then the whole she-devil' transformation would never have happened. I find it ironic that Ruth stops listening and obeying men in her quest for revenge, yet it was her obedience to Bobbo's words that first led to her rebellion.
Becoming a she-devil is the first step in showing her new-found defiance. Good' women, such as Lady Bissop, are supposed to be daughters of Eve' and followers of God, not a Devil's advocate. Just being associated with the Devil is supposed to label a person as being bad. But she isn't totally imbued with evil and the Devil; she said [she] wouldn't be surprised if [she] wasn't the second coming [of Christ], this time in female form'. However, while Jesus offered the stony path to heaven, she offered the motorway to hell. In another book, The Satanic Witch by Anton LaVey, he talks about ugly women and the problems they have gaining respect:.
If you are genuinely grotesque in appearance, the two ingredients you must possess in order to gain respect are accomplishment and awesomeness. Through accomplishment you will gain respect from those who are just.
