Wednesday Addams Defends Her Pet Dragon

Wednesday Addams, a damsel in defence of her pet dragon

This painting depicts a moment inspired by an episode of the 1960s television version of "The Addams Family".

The first episode of the show features Wednesday coming home from school crying and distraught because the teacher read a fairy tale that involved a knight in shining armor killing a dragon, which in turn horrifies Gomez and Morticia. It gave me the idea for an art project that depicts the damsel defending her pet (and herself) against this predatory knight, and in this case Wednesday herself is defending the dragon.

As far as Wednesday was concerned, presumably, the knight had killed the damsel's pet, who was just protecting her from a predatory, self-important male who believed that he had a right to her. And let's be honest, that more or less summarizes historical knights.

The archetype of this virtuous knight defending the helpless and declaring devotion to a lady, that was often an illusion in Medieval Europe and it's an illusion today. Knights were soldiers and their work was not for anybody shy or retiring. Chivalry, to knights, effectively meant victory in battle and gaining fame and fortune and had nothing to do with the Geneva Convention. That and I like the idea of the damsel charging the knight with a mace for trying to hurt her beloved pet. That image deserves some visibility in works of art!

For all we know, as Wednesday came of age she possibly entertained this fantasy about defending the dragon against the predatory knight. And Wednesday Addams seems like the type who would want a pet dragon.

Credit for Wednesday's pose goes to skydancer-stock. Thank you!