Lady Jessica

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Lady Jessica
The Heir of Caladan (2022)
Created byFrank Herbert
Portrayed by
In-universe information
Occupation
House Atreides
Significant others
Children
Relatives
Alice Krige portrays Jessica in the Children of Dune miniseries (2003).
Rebecca Ferguson portrays Jessica in Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024).

Lady Jessica is a fictional character in the

ghola in the Herbert/Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007).

Lady Jessica was portrayed by Francesca Annis in the 1984 David Lynch film Dune. Saskia Reeves played the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, and was succeeded by Alice Krige in the 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. Rebecca Ferguson portrays Jessica in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film adaptation and its 2024 sequel.

Description

Jessica is described in Dune as having "hair like shaded bronze ... and green eyes" as well as an "oval face." This shape is later notable as a marker of Jessica's bloodline.[3][4][5] Novelist Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son and biographer, said that the character of Lady Jessica is modeled after his mother and Frank Herbert's wife, Beverly Herbert. Brian Herbert wrote:

Beverly Herbert was the window into Frank Herbert's soul. He shared that reality with millions of readers when he wrote a loving, three-page tribute to her at the end of Chapterhouse: Dune, describing their life together ... Frank Herbert had modeled Lady Jessica Atreides after Beverly Herbert, with her dignified, gentle ways of influence, and even her prescient abilities, which my mother actually possessed. He also wrote of "Lady Jessica's latent (prophetic) abilities", and in this he was describing my mother, thinking of all the amazing paranormal feats she had accomplished in her lifetime. In an endearing tone, he often referred to her as his "white witch", or good witch. Similarly, throughout the Dune series, he described the heroic Bene Gesserit women as "witches".[6]

The original series

Dune

As Dune begins, Jessica is the

Kwisatz Haderach.[7]

Previously managed by

spice agony that transforms an acolyte into a full Reverend Mother. Jessica is also revealed to be the secret daughter of the Baron Harkonnen himself.[7]

Paul soon molds the Fremen into a massive army with which he hopes to retake the planet from Imperial rule. The Fremen have their own "wild" Reverend Mothers, women who undergo their own version of the spice agony to awaken their

Abomination by the Bene Gesserit, because experiencing this heightened awareness before they have formed a personality of their own makes them vulnerable to eventually being overtaken by one of their ancestral personalities. Jessica's daughter Alia, a full Reverend Mother from birth, is a grown woman in a child's body. Paul's Fremen seize control of Arrakis from Shaddam and the Harkonnens, and Paul accedes to the throne as Emperor.[7]

Paul is the Kwisatz Haderach, and eventually sets the Imperium on a course lasting thousands of years in the person of his son, Leto II. Much to the frustration of the Bene Gesserit, they do not control Paul, and the events of the coming millennia leave Jessica noteworthy as a figure of history who committed a great wrong (according to the Bene Gesserit); in the coming centuries, for a Bene Gesserit to choose her love over the instructions of her order is known as "the Jessica crime."[8]

Children of Dune

By the time of Dune Messiah, Jessica has returned to Caladan, the ancestral home of the Atreides. She has also, by some accounts, returned to the Sisterhood following the death of her Duke, and while she cannot influence Paul, she does act as distant counselor. It is also implied that she and Atreides Weapons Master Gurney Halleck have become lovers.[1]

In

Farad'n
, Shaddam's grandson. She trains him in the Bene Gesserit way, and at the end of Children of Dune, he becomes Ghanima's concubine and Leto's Royal Scribe.

Jessica is quoted via epigraph in Heretics of Dune:

When strangers meet, great allowance should be made for differences of custom and training. — The Lady Jessica, from Wisdom of Arrakis[10]

In Chapterhouse: Dune it is noted that she "lived out her years on Caladan." According to the Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses) in Dune, Lady Jessica dies in the year 10,256 A.G. after 102 years of life.

Prelude to Dune

In the Prelude to Dune series, it is revealed that Jessica's mother is in fact Mohiam; according to the authors, this fact was pulled directly from Frank Herbert's working notes for the original Dune series.

homosexual
Baron Harkonnen into a sexual encounter; when the first daughter she conceives proves genetically undesirable, she is forced to return. At this point the Baron drugs and viciously rapes Mohiam, and in retribution she secretly infects him with the disease that will later leave him horribly obese. The daughter born of this second union is Jessica.

The Prelude series also follows Jessica and Leto's relationship from their first meeting through the birth (and subsequent kidnapping and return) of their son Paul. It is indicated that Jessica's choice to bear a son is partially due to her desire to help Leto overcome the devastating loss of his first son,

Kailea Vernius
.

Journal entries are attributed to Jessica via epigraph in the Prelude to Dune series:

  • The greatest and most important problems of life cannot be solved. They can only be outgrown. — Dune: House Harkonnen
  • It is not easy for some men to know they have done evil, for reasoning and honor are often clouded by pride. — Dune: House Corrino
  • There is no mystery about the source from which love draws its savage power: It comes from the flow of Life itself — a wild, torrential, outpouring that has its source in the most ancient of times... — Dune: House Corrino

In adaptations

1984 film

Lady Jessica was portrayed by Francesca Annis in the 1984 David Lynch film Dune.[12] Richard Corliss of Time praised "the lustrous Francesca Annis ... who whispers her lines with the urgency of erotic revelation. In those moments when Annis is onscreen, Dune finds the emotional center that has eluded it in its parade of rococo decor and austere special effects. She reminds us of what movies can achieve when they have a heart as well as a mind."[13]

2000 miniseries

Tor.com wrote that Reeves "embodies everything that you would expect from Lady Jessica in both bearing and commanding presence."[15]

2003 miniseries

Reeves's real-life pregnancy forced producers to recast the role with

Farad'n's mother Wensicia] and Alice Krige who steal the thunder as opposing matriarchs of the great royal houses. Although the two never catfight, their ongoing struggle to rule the Dune dynasty gives this mini a real kick."[19] Observing that Sarandon and Krige were "clearly relishing their roles", Fries added that "Sarandon makes a formidable enemy, while Krige, traditionally cast as the villain, proves she can work both sides of the moral fence."[19] Asher-Perrin noted of the recast, "While it’s hard not to miss Reeves's elegance, there is an otherworldliness to Krige that suits a Bene Gesserit 'witch' superbly."[16]

2021 and 2024 films

Rebecca Ferguson portrays Jessica in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film Dune and its 2024 sequel Dune: Part Two.[20][21] Ferguson explained, "She's a mother, she's a concubine, she's a soldier. Denis was very respectful of Frank's work in the book, [but] the quality of the arcs for much of the women have been brought up to a new level. There were some shifts he did, and they are beautifully portrayed now."[22]

Merchandising

A line of Dune action figures from toy company LJN was released to lackluster sales in 1984. Styled after David Lynch's film, the collection featured figures of various characters. A figure of Lady Jessica previewed in LJN's catalog was never produced.[23][24]

Family tree

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Jessica's later involvement with Gurney Halleck is inferred in Children of Dune as Alia notes, "Gurney Halleck would be with [Jessica] ... Some said he'd become her mother's lover."
  2. ^ The Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson establishes that Tanidia is an alias of Gaius Helen Mohiam.
  3. ^ Herbert, Frank (1981). God Emperor of Dune. In the way genes occasionally do, [Siona's] features copied those of a long dead ancestor: gently oval and with a generous mouth, eyes of alert awareness above a small nose.
  4. ^ Herbert, Frank (1981). God Emperor of Dune. Luyseyal was young, however, with the sensuous oval features of the Jessica-type, and those genes tended to carry a headstrong nature.
  5. ^ Herbert, Frank (1981). God Emperor of Dune. Idaho stared speechlessly at [Irti's] face, stopped in a completed step. It was the face of a woman known only to his deepest fantasies—a soft oval with penetrating dark eyes, a full and sensuous mouth ... 'Jessica,' he whispered ... It was the face of Jessica resurrected out of a past he had believed gone forever, a genetic prank. Muad'Dib's mother recreated in new flesh.
  6. ^ Herbert, Frank (1965). "Afterword by Brian Herbert". Dune (Kindle ed.). Penguin Group. pp. 869–870.
  7. ^ a b c Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune.
  8. ^ Herbert, Frank (1985). Chapterhouse: Dune.
  9. ^ Herbert, Frank. Children of Dune. "It'll be in their breeding records: Jessica out of Tanidia Nerus by the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen."
  10. Arrakeen
    palace before the death of Duke Leto I.
  11. ^ "Chat with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson: Dune: House Harkonnen". SciFi.com (Internet Archive). 2000. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  12. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 14, 1984). "Movie Review: Dune (1984)". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  13. ^ Corliss, Richard (December 17, 1984). "Cinema: The Fantasy Film as Final Exam". Time. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  14. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (December 3, 2000). "Cover Story: Future Myths, Adrift in the Sands of Time". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  15. Tor.com
    . Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  16. ^
    Tor.com
    . Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  17. ^ Berger, Warren (March 16, 2003). "Cover Story: Where Spice of Life Is the Vital Variety". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  18. ^ Wertheimer, Ron (March 15, 2003). "Television Review: A Stormy Family on a Sandy Planet". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  19. ^ a b Fries, Laura (March 11, 2003). "Review: Children of Dune". Variety. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  20. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 5, 2018). "Rebecca Ferguson in Talks to Star Opposite Timothee Chalamet in Dune Reboot". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  21. ^ Davids, Brian (January 25, 2019). "Rebecca Ferguson on Prepping for Dune and Her Mission: Impossible Future". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  22. ^ Chitwood, Adam (April 14, 2020). "Denis Villeneuve Explains Why Dune Will Be Split into Two Movies". Collider. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  23. ^ Daniels, James (January 12, 2014). "Toys We Miss: The Long Forgotten Figures From Frank Herbert's Dune". Nerd Bastards. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  24. ^ "Toys". Collectors of Dune. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
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