ugh, more asian yin yang bs. "Oh no, the evil character can't actually be evil. They're just misguided/misunderstood. They're really good at heart" And somehow always have a tragic backstory, because it's not possible to be evil without that... complete bs. I'm so dissapointed in this series.
We didn't need to know the head maids "tragic" backstory, and she didn't need to have one. She's of significant lesser status but used to being the real power in the household. Her being angry at that being challenged and taken away is an understandable motivation for a bully. And her being a bully doesn't have to come from her being bullied, and it usually isn't
https://www.verywellfamily.com/common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-bullying-460490
-Edit:
no it isn't basic writing 101. A villan can be evil just to be evil. what any writing teacher would tell you is to give them a reason for it. That reasoning can be pride, lust for power, or prestige. They need to have somethign to gain by their actions. They don't need to be a good person forcibly shunted down an evil path by circumstances or other people. they can choose it for themselves. A 2 dimensional character is the mustashe twirling villian in cartoons. a fleshed out character has goals and reasons for them. but the reason shouldn't be "I was bullied into it" every. damn. time. A wonderful example of this is Walter from Breaking bad. It wasn't his circumstances that made him evil. it wasn't others bullying him and he was't misguided. each and every time he was presented with a choice he chose to be cruel, uncaring, or greedy and eventually that true nature was revealed to all.
And in many wasy it does excuse and forgive them. That's the f*ing point. that's why this type of writing is terrible. a character that is only evil by circumstance just needs love and kindness to change and that's why no one should ever be killed and all the other bs arguments made in these stories. Villans are not people to whom terrible things have happened. Villans are people that are villanous (cruel) to others.
I am tired of the misunderstood villan trope that infects most asian media. it rarely makes for a compelling villan. and it usually requires a suspension of critical thinking or extremely convoluted circumstances to have their origins make any sort of sense. Make a real villan: Wheel of time, Shannara universe/series, ... hell even inu yasha, or the saw movies. Make a real villan.
TLDR: tragedy does not equal goals and motiations. This character already had both. she had most of the authority of the duchess prior to this, by her own machinations, and she aims to keep it/take it back.
@Amairani