Harriet's changing character

Harriet Oleson was a great character in the show!



I noticed that her character changed a little bit from being mean to funny as the episodes went on...

Does anyone else agree with this or am I alone in my statement :shy: lol

I agree, Harriet did soften as the series continued. She would never get over her feeling of superiority because of the separation in class between the townspeople and the farmers, but we saw Harriet vulnerable at times too.

Remember, how she acted when the town closed down and Caroline came in to say goodbye before leaving for Winoka. She admitted she would miss Caroline and she even allowed Caroline to see her cry.

We also find out that she had been engaged to be married, but her future husband decided he could not serve God and a family, so Rusell backed out of the wedding.

She was a loving and doting grandmother who ended up being heartbroken when Nellie and Percival and the kids stayed in NY after Percival's father died.

So, the writers allowed Harriet to maintain her crass behavior towards people she felt were inferior, but they also allowed her to experience times of self-doubt and sorrow, making her a more realistic character. She was definitely funnier as the show went on too. I remember how hard and mean she looked when we first met her in Harvest of Friends. But Harriet was a very different person by the end of Season 9.

Cheryl

Harriet is absolutely my favorite character.

I love the Ingalls family and Mr. Edwards, but Harriet really made the show for me.

I liked how Harriett went from rude, mean and negitive to more funny, more loving to her family and closer to a few of the people in Walnut Grove. She also seemed grow from a negitive part of the show for me to one of my favorite parts as the character changed.

I always thought that too! At the beginnning she was so very mean and hateful! Then later throughout the seasons she got more funny.

I always like when they let her hair down when she was home. She seemed to be more care free.

I agree with you Carol. I liked both mean and nice Harriet. :woohooo:

Yes, I noticed the cooking thing too.

In the early episodes, they showed her cooking meals for her family, bragging to Caroline about her cooking skills (the pie conversation "from generation to generation") and then later she couldnt even make bread right!

LOL Savannah

One of far fetched episodes from Little House is the one where they take Nels for ransom. It is so silly but I watch it so that I can see Harriet faint and stick her legs up in the air as they play that funny sound effect. It is soo funny!!

I love the episode when she got drunk in "To Run and Hide". She was taking the new doctor's miracle "medicine". It was funny when Nels came downstairs to find that she was drunk and she was singing "Home on the Range". She got so carried away that she flipped backward in her rocking chair and passed out asleep. :haha: That was another scene with her feet sticking up. LOL!

I agree that Harriett became less harsh in later episodes. She was still a mean 'ol woman, but there were lots of times when she used funny sarcasm along with Nels. I'm really glad they allowed Harriett to become less stiff. Otherwise we probably wouldn't seen her ride and get thrown from the horse she bought for Nellie. :haha:

Yes, Harriet did soften as the show went on...but she still had her "moments" (I am thinking of how terrible she was in Little Lou)

Mrs. Oleson definitely changed as the series went on. I'm currently watching mostly season 7 episodes, but I've also recently watched "A Harvest of Friends" and "Country Girls". There's a very noticeable contrast between Mrs. Oleson's character in these early episodes and those of the later seasons. Early on, Mrs. Oleson seemed more introverted and was all business. Later, she was much more extroverted and dynamic. This made her a great comic relief character, but it also provided an opportunity to let her grow, learn some of life's lessons, and become an overall more interesting character than if the writers had just kept her as a cold-hearted businesswoman.

Well, yes...The "later Harriet years" were better than the first ones, since she was more "weird" than mean. The first seasons she was plainly MEAN (yes, I can't resist to write it in capital letters! ), but her character has much more faces after Mary turns blind (this episode is the key of all the others. There was main changes in "Little House" after this event).

I'm a big fan of Harriet. The show would never have been the same without her!

Vanesa.