Lê Thị Đào, more commonly known as Mrs. Dậu, is the main protagonist of the Vietnamese novel Turning off the Light and its 1981 film adaptation Mrs. Dậu. She is a beautiful and skilled farmer who works hard to pay taxes for her family, only to become a victim of the corrupt officials.
In Mrs. Dậu, she was portrayed by Lê Vân.
Biography[]
Lê Thị Đào was born in a middle-class family of the Đông Xá village. At some point, she married Mr. Dậu and became Mrs. Dậu, giving birth to a daughter named Tí and a son named Tỉu. Although the Dậu family were initially rather wealthy, they had to use money for Mr. Dậu's mother and younger brother's funerals. Afterwards, Mr. Dậu suddenly became ill, thus the money were used for medicines, leading the family to become poor.
When the tax season comes, Mr. Dậu is arrested and imprisoned for failing to pay. Desperate, Mrs. Dậu has to sell Tí to the Nghị Quế family. Unfortunately, the Dậu family have to pay taxes for Mr. Dậu's deceased brother as well, thus Mr. Dậu is still imprisoned and tortured until he faints. Thinking that he's dead, the authorities give him back to the family.
When Mrs. Dậu is nursing her husband back to health, the village's gaoler appears alongside the village mayor and once again forces Mr. Dậu to pay tax. Angered, Mrs. Dậu beats them both, and is tried to work for the distinct official as a result. But the official turns out to want her for himself, thus she throws money into his face and escapes.
Later on, Mrs. Dậu meets an elderly provincial official and works for him, after discussing with her husband to let Tỉu to be adopted by the neighbors. Since the official doesn't have teeth anymore, he can't eat, so she has to feed him by her own milk. Initially, the work goes well, but one night, the official invades her bedroom and attempts to drink her milk directly from herself. Mrs. Dậu then throws him aside before running away to an uncertain future.
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