| Suzette | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Name | Cesaire |
| Age | 40's |
| Family | Mother to Valerie and Lucie |
| Relationships | Wife of Cesaire, lover of Adrian Lazar |
| Portrayed by | Virginia Madsen |
Suzette is the wife of Cesaire and the mother of Valerie and Lucie and one of the supporting characters in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood. She is portrayed by actress Virginia Madsen.
During her sustainable marriage to Cesaire, she maintained her relationship with Adrian Lazar in secret, which had resulted in their daughter, Lucie. Because of this relation, Lucie was not promised to be with Henry Lazar as she was his half-sister. Over the years, Suzette kept the result of her relationship secret and continued to live with Cesaire letting him believe that Lucie was their child together. She eventually came to care about her husband in a way and later gave birth to his actual daughter, Valerie. It was her secrets and infidelity that caused Cesaire (in his wolf form) to scratch her across the face, leaving her nearly blinded and Adrian and Lucie killed. As a result the bad events could be considered her fault. When she realizes that Cesaire isn't returning home, she loses hope and returns to her old life in DaggerHorn. Never knowing the truth about her husband or the revenge he took on her.
Red Riding Hood[]
Suzette's first mentioned in the beginning of the film, having told Valerie in her childhood, "Don't talk to strangers, just go get water and come home" not knowing that Valerie would disobey her word by straying with Peter to kill a rabbit, though she tried to keep her word and be a good girl.
Later when her daughter turned 17, she, her husband, and the Lazars have promised Valerie to marry Henry Lazar, the son of a wealthy blacksmith, which Valerie disagreed on because she was in love with Peter.
Suzette's one of many Daggerhorn residents to find out that the Wolf had killed her eldest daughter, Lucie and is rather distraught by it, along with many others.
When Madame Lazar, Adrian Lazar and Henry arrived at their home to give their condolences, Suzette wanted the emotional Valerie to greet Henry and Adrian but Valerie couldn't bring herself to do so. Instead, Adrian told Henry to let the women grieve in their own way and leave for the pub. Suzette learns of Peter and Valerie's love and feels for her daughter barely knowing her fiancé, confessing that she didn't love their father when they were first married; at the time she was in love with another man. When Valerie looked at her surprised that her mother was in the same situation as Valerie: promised to be with one but in love with another. Suzette said that she grew to love their father [Though it is implied she never stopped loving Adrian] and that he'd given her two beautiful daughters and that with her knowledge, she will grow to love Henry, like her mother had grown to love her father, however, Valerie's rather unfazed by that knowledge.
When Valerie's friends asked why was Lucie out on a Wolf night and suspected that it might be because of a boy she liked, Suzette disagreed, saying that her Lucie never thought of boys. Madame Lazar revealed that Lucie was certainly taken with her grandson, Henry Lazar.
Valerie finds Suzette mourning Adrian and figures out that he was her love. She also realizes that Lucie, being the older daughter, should've been the first to wed and should have been engaged to Henry, but could not as she was the illegitimate daughter of Adrian, making her Henry's half sister.
Suzette intervenes as Father Solomon prepares to sacrifice Valerie to The Wolf, trying to stop him and the townspeople from taking away her daughter, but wasn't able to do so, as she was dragged away by hunters. When Valerie narrates that Henry found his courage and honor protecting the village, her mother finally accepts that her husband will never come home, and the village continues to live in fear even though the wolf never returned.
Personality[]
Although a loving mother and wife, Suzette seems to be a slightly greedy woman when Valerie mentioned that she (Suzette) will finally get a life of riches. This further proves this when she harshly ordered Peter to stay away from Valerie upon learning of their love, but this may have been caused by the fact that Suzette wasn't able to marry the man she loves (Adrian) and she wants to be as close to him as she could get, indicating a slight selfishness.
She also didn't seem to know her eldest daughter, Lucie, as well as she thought, for she thought that Lucie never thought about boys, when Lucie was in love with her half-brother, Henry. Suzette also seems to have little concern over what Valerie truly wanted, even when she realized that the latter loved Peter and not Henry, as she tried to get her youngest daughter to understand that she will eventually come to love her betrothed. Her words to Peter were quite ironic because, in the end, it's Henry who ends up letting Valerie go so the latter could be happy with her romance with Peter.
Despite saying that she loved her husband, Suzette seems to be both afraid and distrustful of Cesaire as she told Valerie to never tell him that Lucie wasn't his daughter, but actually Adrian's, and that she had an affair with the latter, but was unaware that Cesaire already found out and later takes his rage out on her in his Wolf form. [It's possible that Valerie later told Suzette the truth after the events of the film, letting her know the murders were because of her lie.] However, despite that, she does seem to be true to her word of loving him, as she waited for his return, not even aware that he was dead, but over time lost hope that he would ever return to Daggerhorn.
Family[]
- Cesaire (husband) (Deceased)
- Valerie (daughter) (via Cesaire)
- Adrian Lazar (true love) (Deceased)
- Lucie (daughter) (via Adrian) (Deceased)
- Henry Lazar (unoffcial step-son/former future son-in-law)
- Grandmother (mother-in-law) (Deceased)
- Peter (son-in-law)
- Unnamed grandchild (granddaughter, Alternate ending)
Appearance[]
Suzette has a round face, fair skin, one eye green, one eye brown (Heterochromia) and long blond, curly hair. Her attire consists of a blue corseted dress, a black stitched jacket with white sleeves and black shoes. Her daughters, Valerie and Lucie bared similarity to her through beauty and heredity. It's revealed in the book that she loved her daughters equally and never thought one was better than the other.
Trivia[]
- In the film, she got scratched by Cesaire (in his wolf form), due to her betrayal, leaving behind a huge scar on her face which later healed over time.
- She's one of many characters in the film who are unaware that Cesaire is the Wolf.
- She's one of many who were questioned of being the Wolf.
- It's positive that Suzette was in once in the same position as Valerie, how she was kept away from her true love and forced to marry someone rich at the time to "live a better life"
- Suzette's name means "lily" and "rose" in Hebrew.
- in the original script, Suzette was already pregnant with Lucie when she married.
- in the same script, the scene where Valerie and Henry's engagement is announced is featured and Lucie expresses humiliation at her younger sister marrying before her is featured. Cesaire then asks Suzette about this only for her to dismiss Lucie as "still a child", dodging the question as to why it can't be Lucie that marries Henry.
- In the original script she gets her wish that Henry marries Valerie
Quotes[]
- "My Lucie never even thought about boys"
- "Prudence! That's absurd."
- "I think you know the answer to that."
- "Lucie was Henry's half-sister. Adrian was her father."
- "I've already lost one daughter. Valerie's all i have left."
- "If you love her, you'll let her go."
Gallery[]
