On "Proactive" versus "Reactive" Proagonists

On "Proactive" versus "Reactive" Protagonists

I've gotten a fair bit of flak around the interwebs concerning the heroine of my novel Winter's Queen. People say I should make her more proactive, that she is too reactive to the actions of the villain. All because she does not seek adventure (i.e. the plot) out for herself, and is instead drawn into it by the villain.

To which I say, what's wrong with that? Isn't every action a reaction to something else, all the way back to the first Action that began everything (i.e. Creation, whether by divine will or the Big Bang, etc.)?

The inciting incident of my story, in which the villain kidnaps the heroine with the intent of marrying her, is not a proactive decision on the part of the villain, but a reaction to three thousand years of abuse and neglect culminating in a revenge plot against his father. And everything the heroine does throughout the story is a reaction to what the villain does, which creates further reactions from him, and so on. Can characters ever be completely proactive?

Take LOTR for example. Yes, Frodo does decide to take on the burden of the Ring in hopes of destroying it, but only after spending the first half of the book being hunted by Ringwraiths and trying to get to a safe place (Rivendell). This is all in reaction to Sauron starting to regain his power and seeking out the Ring, and Bilbo leaving the Ring with Frodo in the first place. And a good chunk of THAT is a reaction to a certain chapter in The Hobbit. And so on, and so forth, all the way back to the Music of the Ainur that created the World.

Harry Potter is another example of this. Harry doesn't one day suddenly decide to be a wizard all on his own; he's introduced to the idea that he is one by Hagrid, who also tells him where to go to get to Hogwarts. I've heard that the creation of Dumbledore's Army in book 5 is a "proactive" moment on Harry's part, but honestly it just strikes me as another reaction to Umbridge -- albeit one that moves in a different direction and with more magnitude than others before.

I'm not sure if I'm overthinking or underthinking this. Are so-called "reactive" protagonists really that bad?

 

*nod* I see what you're both saying. So in theory, my heroine could be said to be proactive when she tries to flee the villain's castle, regardless of the fact that she fails and has to keep trying again. Or even earlier, when she tries to get the king on her side (and fails again, unfortunately). That makes me feel a bit better about my story, at least.

 

Good to note. She doesn't give up on anything for long, until her circumstances get so dire that she literally has no way of saving herself and is helped by her friends -- and this reinforces the running theme throughout the novel of trusting in others/working as a team being better than trying to tackle everything oneself. She does take time to plot and plan, which also allows her time to make the friends who become so vital to her final escape. Her resistance of the villain starts out small, but builds as the novel progresses.

Escape is her main goal, admittedly, because she knows better than to try and "fix" the villain with the power of love or anything like that. She's also 99% certain her family is looking for her in Faerie (this increases to 100% when she meets a Fae whom her family recently had an encounter with and is able to tell the MC about them), and escaping the villain's castle will theoretically allow her to go out looking for them too. As for the villain's murderous plot, it's revealed too late in the story for the MC to have much chance in being proactive about that, on top of that being about the time she loses all hope of escape, but she does what she can in the climax.

 

You're actually not the first person to present that as an idea. ^^ This is giving me some new thoughts.

I do have a servant character, Eira, whom the MC befriends after Eira is assigned to the MC as a personal maidservant, and I've been trying to hash out her situation. My beta reader suggested I make Eira the Queen's maidservant, who is only serving the MC while the Queen is away on business and absent from the story (mainly because the King thought it would make the MC's princess life easier if she were treated like one before the wedding). But that doesn't seem like the sort of situation that would allow for mistreatment, especially since both the King and Queen are perfectly reasonable authority figures, even if their views on their son's marriage don't really align with the MC's.

Another option lies with a guard, Loegaire, whom the MC befriends; he has a deep-seated grudge against the villain for betraying him and his ex-lover, and causing the King (who was falsely informed about the situation) to destroy Loegaire's greatest chance at attaining his fondest ambition, fatherhood. The MC learns of Loegaire's situation from his ex-lover, who helps the MC as a means of avenging the villain's betrayal. I could have the MC attempt to reason with the King that the curse was the wrong thing to do and that he should rescind it.

This is problematic in that the MC doesn't have time to sit down and talk with the King after the first chat they have, during which the MC tries and fails to sway the King to her side by saying she and the villain aren't a match for each other. That's when her escape attempts are in full swing. On the other hand, they DO have time to talk after the villain is dealt with, and Loegaire is involved in that anyway... I could easily have the MC bring it up then.

 

*waves at Phin* Hey, long time no see!

The MC makes the decision to be proactive basically as soon as she realizes what her situation is in chapter 3 or so; it just takes a little while for her escape plan to be put in motion. In the meantime, she has smaller fights against the villain and his magic.

@glutton: The MC does NOT simply hope for rescue; most of her arc is dedicated to escape attempts, and the rest is dedicated to laying aside her lifetime of prejudice against the Fae and befriending some of them, which allows them opportunity to help her with the aforementioned escape attempts. She is by no means a damsel in distress sitting prettily in a tower; she's one who hits the villain in the face and stuns him before he even kidnaps her, and maims him so he can't take the throne at the end of the story, as well as other actions in between.

I have considered making the murder plot come to light sooner, but that would require rewriting the majority of the story from scratch, which is more than I'm willing to do at this point. I've spent more than five years developing this story to be the way it is, and I want to put it out in the world sooner, not later. I might keep that idea and use it for a fanfic, though.

@FifthView: Ariel does in fact have a friend who goes out looking for her family in Faerie, though the friend volunteers of her own free will rather than being asked. The friend in question is the villain's sister, who sees the opportunity to aid the MC as an act of vengeance against her brother for something he did years ago. (Fae are particular about repaying debts, whether for good or ill.)

 

No, since that's pretty much exactly how it goes. She maims him not a minute after she realizes what his plans are, though it comes across as an act of self-defense, since by that point he's gone off the deep end and is trying to strangle her. I thought you were talking about having the murder plot come up much sooner. And now I'm confused.

 

Coming back to save the king isn't necessary, because the king hunts her down himself when she escapes (and the villain follows in secret). And yes, she does need her friends' help to do it.