Poldark: 10 Reasons Demelza Is The Heroine We All Needed

Poldark would have been a completely different show without Demelza. For many viewers, before Demelza came on the screen, the pilot was easy to roll one’s eyes at; an upper-class man returns home to find his father didn’t leave him much of a fortune. What, is the show relying on us feeling bad for him?

Luckily, Ross Poldark’s character greatly develops and the interests of the show prove to be much more substantial, and one of the greatest characters of substance is found in Demelza.

10 She’s Humbling

Demelza challenges Ross’s notions of himself from the moment that they meet. He saves her from the onslaught of peasants in the street who are trying to steal her dog, yet, she doesn’t bow down and kiss his feet as many would. Rather, she treats him like he’s any other person. When he refers to her as “child,” she spits back that she’s no child. She won’t be spoken down to.

9 She’s Herself

As soon as she’s taken off the streets, Demelza gets cleaned up a bit. It’s at this point the viewer is tempted to expect the typical big-reveal moment when the ugly duckling turns into a swan, but it doesn’t happen like this. Demelza certainly grows more into herself, causing Ross to see her more as beautiful, but it’s a gradual thing. Demelza continues to be awkward and odd, even as she grows beautiful.

8 She’s Working-Class

Demelza serves as a constant contrast to Ross and a reminder of the ease in his life. He fancies himself a man of the people, someone interested in the plight of the poor, but it’s easy for him to get caught up in aspects of the upper-class life which render him blind to his entitlement and all-around poor behavior.

Demelza serves as an actual representative for laboring people, taking them out of the sidelines and into the center of the story where they can’t be ignored when convenient.

7 She’s Crass

Demelza’s way of speaking is different from that of the upper classes. Over time, she does learn how to fit in if she so desires, but much of this is to ease the path of her own life, and not just for the comfort of others. In a world of polite women, Demelza stands out as someone who says what is in her mind, reminding us that this something any of us can do if we desire.

6 She’s Modest

Unlike the people in the world she has married into, Demelza is modest. Ironically, the upper-classes would consider her to be more “wild” and without morals than they, being brought up in an “uncivilized” way. Yet, in reality, she is much less preoccupied with her pride and ego than they are, as she wasn’t raised to be self-obsessed and socially conscious. This causes her to look outward at the world around her and the people in it and less at herself.

5 She’s Strong

Demelza is both mentally and physically strong. We meet her as a scrawny yet capable young woman who can clear a field of hay in a day all by herself. She brings in wood to the house and takes care of anything that needs to be done without complaint or trouble. She demonstrates immense capability, and, without having to be a massively muscular person, she makes use of what she has.

4 She’s Kind To Fellow Women

Too many female characters are pitted against each other on-screen. Demelza has healthy comradeships with women from the start, demonstrating the benefit of women taking advantage of the things they share over the things that could divide them. It’s refreshing, as issues like these are often treated as primary plot points of series set during this era.

3 She Has A Complex Personality

Demelza is not an immediately obvious beauty, partially because we first meet her when she is filthy and disguised in clothes that are ragged and too big for her. But, even when we first see her face clean, it’s hard to decipher exactly what to make of her.

Her personality is so strong, and she is so wrapped up in who she is, that her looks remain neutral-ground until we discover who the rest of her is. By the time we fall in love with her looks, her personality is so indistinguishable from her beauty that her “flaws” become a part of her in a way that we would never want to be rid of them.

2 She’s Uniquely Beautiful

Now, Demelza is obviously another thin white woman on the screen, and there’s no denying that this isn’t exactly record-breaking. But, as far as period-pieces go and the type of lover that could’ve been given to Ross while still remaining in the realm of realism according to the context of the time, Demelza actually challenges many of the norms.

Curves were the preferred female body shape at the time, and Demelza is near stick-thin. She doesn’t stand up straight, she regularly makes unflattering faces, and her face itself doesn’t abide by the rule of symmetry governing ideas of traditional beauty.

1 She’s A Transgressive Woman

Demelza makes the other women on the show uncomfortable because she is everything that they are unfamiliar with. She is unorthodox and defies popular feminine convention. She’s outspoken, goofy, self-interested, questioning, rough around the edges, and, at times, publicly unpleasant or unattractive. She inhabits all of her conflicting traits in a way that is confident and beautiful, something that confuses the other women the most, and which should inspire us.