History Literature / MaloryTowers

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Almost all of the girls go about in pairs - Betty and Alicia, Darrell and Sally, Irene and Belinda, Mary-Lou and Daphne, Bill and Clarissa (who double up as TomboyAndGirlyGirl), Jean and Ellen, Mavis and Zerelda -- and their relationship can get quite intimate. And if another girl joins the group, it is called "Threesomes", as was with Felicity, Susan and June. This was quite common in the fifties.

* FatAndSkinny: The two French mistresses. Mamzelle Dupont is a FatComicRelief who gets the most brunt of jokes from the girls but is very good-natured very popular because of it, while Mamzelle Rougier is very strict, LeanAndMean, and is not very well-liked. The relationship between the two Mamzelles zigzags between [[VitriolicBestBuds bosom friends, bitter enemies, or dignified rivals]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Gwendolyn frequently does this when she's trying to befriend timid Girls like Mary-Lou although she's only nice for personal gain or when manipulating someone.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Averted - Connie and Ruth are technically identical twins, but their development has left them different, with Connie being straight-haired, larger, stronger and plumper than her sister, whereas Ruth is smaller and skinnier with wavy hair.

* EveryoneHasStandards: In ''Last Term'' Gwendoline talks bad about her father and how she 'stood up against him' but everyone is disgusted and not willing to listen to her. So she tells the whole story to Mary-Lou, an [[ExtremeDoormat Extreme Doormat]] who always listens to everybody. Even ''she'' is disgusted and walks away with her head high.

* BirdsOfAFeather: Many of the girls pair up due to their similarities.
** Both Darrell and Sally are sensible, hardworking and reliable girls, and were the favourite choices for head girls in their later forms.
** Alicia and her best friend Betty are very bright, but are also mischievous tricksters who [[BrilliantButLazy rarely need to work hard to do well in their studies]].
** Irene and Belinda are a pair of very talented artists (Irene in music and maths and Belinda in arts/drawing), who are also forgetful, scatterbrained, and generally a bad influence to one another.
** Bill bonds with Clarissa over their shared love for horses.
** Invoked with Maureen and Gwendoline. Upon realizing that Maureen is just as vain and silly as Gwendoline, the other girls try to push them together and get both out from everyone else's way. Amusingly, Gwen dislikes Maureen and momentarily tries to change her ways, realizing how awful she must appear to the other girls.

* FatAndSkinny: The two French mistresses. Mamzelle Dupont is a FatComicRelief who gets the most brunt of jokes from the girls but is very good-natured very popular because of it, while Mamzelle Rougier is very strict, LeanAndMean, and is not very well-liked.
* FatalFlaw: Jealousy for Sally. In the first book, she behaves unpleasantly because she is jealous of her younger sister, who she believes to be stealing their parents' attention. In the third book, she is jealous of Alicia for being over-friendly with Darell (because Alicia's best friend, Betty, is away) and treats them both coldly until Betty finally returns to school.
** Darrell's fatal flaw is her hot temper which often causes her to use physical violence.

* TooMuchAlike: The reason why Gwendoline can't stand Maureen: being around her is like looking in a mirror in an uncomfortable way. Maureen has all of her flaws and Gwen sees her the way the other girls see her, which is a horrifying expierience for her.

* TookALevelInKindness: Bossy Moira becomes nicer and easier to get along with during the fifth book.Lampshaded by Darrell.
* TooMuchAlike: The reason why Gwendoline can't stand Maureen: being around her is like looking in a mirror in an uncomfortable way. Maureen has all of her flaws and Gwen sees her the way the other girls see her which is a horrifying expierience for her.

* LoveableAlphaBitch: Alicia is an unusually positive version of popular mean girl. She's one of the most popular girls in her form and Darrell was very eager to be her friend during her first year in Malory Towers. She's also sarcastic and condescending towards people who are not as brilliant as herself, but she's never truly malicious, and many of the girls admire her wit and honesty. Especially after she [[TookALevelInKindness became nicer]] thanks to [[spoiler: having the measles in fourth year]] making her realize not everyone has as quick brains as she has.

** Alicia is an unusually positive version. She's one of the most popular girls in her form and Darrell was very eager to be her friend during her first year in Malory Towers. She's also sarcastic and condescending towards people who are not as brilliant as herself, but she's never truly malicious, and many of the girls admire her wit and honesty. Especially after she [[TookALevelInKindness became nicer]] thanks to [[spoiler: having the measles in fourth year]] making her realize not everyone has as quick brains as she has.

* GreenEyes: Clarissa, and its status as a rare colour is portrayed quite realistically.

* StrawCharacter: Gwendolyn. She‘s not only mean, manipulative, phony, spoiled and superficial but also a horrible student due to her laziness and sucks at every sport; she‘s even overweight later on. She makes everyone else not only look nice my comparision, but more competent in general because she‘s not only portrayed as mean but also as pathetic.

%%* SpiritedYoungLady: Zerelda Brass.

* AttentionWhore: Gwendolyn who has been spoiled rotten at home wants to be the center of attention at school too.

The series is believed to be semi-autobiographical, and the name "Darrell Rivers" is clearly drawn from Blyton's second husband's name, Kenneth Darrell Waters. It is also widely supposed that Blyton based the creation on the famous Scottish boarding school St Leonards School in St Andrews, which is, of course, the heroine’s University destination.

%%* ArmorPiercingSlap: God, Darrell. She slaps Gwen and shoves Sally in the first book, has a big fight with Ellen in the second and shakes June in the fourth.

* BeautifulAllAlong: Clarissa, once she [[TheGlassesGottaGo takes off her glasses]] and gets her braces removed is revealed to be strikingly beautiful instead of just "plain" as she was considered before.

** Zerelda Brass in the third book. She is one year older than the protagonists, but since she couldn't keep up with the work of the fourth formers, she was sent down to the third.

** A lot of girls introduced in Darrell's first year was never mentioned again in the sequels. These includes Katherine, the head girl of the first formers, and Emily, who was Darrell's sort-of friend before she befriends Sally. Emily is mentioned again, but another girl called Violet was mentioned once in the first book when naming everyone in the form, and was never mentioned again.

%%* ComingOfAgeStory: Speaking about the whole series, yes.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Suzanne, the french student who's also Mam'zelle Rougier's niece from ''Last Term'' pretends not to understand anything in fact she does understand englush very well if she wants to. Their form teacher, Miss Oaks becomes suspicious soon.

* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: Daphne's good looks are the reason why Mademoiselle Dupont adores her and lets her get away with anything, although she is the only teacher who gets blindfolded by her charme and good looks.

* GrewASpine: Clarissa in the fourth book. She starts out being shy and has low self esteem which, combined with her apparently "wealthy" background makes her an easy target for Gwendolyn who tries to befriend (and manipulate) her. Former [[ExtremeDoormat Extreme Doormat]] stands up against her "friend" after realizing that Gwendolyn is [[ BitchInSheepsClothing phony]] and not a good person at all.

** Moira counts too.

** Similarly, even Miss Winter, Gwen's governess whois also a [[ExtremeDoormat complete pushover]] and deeply admires her is not on her side during Gwendolines big fight with her father and defends him.

** Similarly, even Miss Winter, Gwen's governess whonis also a [[ExtremeDoormat complete pushover]] who deeply admires her is not on her side during Gwendolines big fight with her father and defends him.