Harry Paget Flashman - Flashman's Women

Flashman's Women

Flashman, an insatiable lecher, had great success with women. His size, good looks, winning manner, and especially his splendid cavalry-style whiskers won over many women, from low to high, including many famous women. He also frequently bought the services of prostitutes. In Flashman and the Great Game, about halfway through his life, he counted up his sexual conquests while languishing in a dungeon at Gwalior, "not counting return engagements", reaching a total of 478 up to that date. He was not above forcing himself on a partner by blackmail (e.g. the Russian countess in Flashman and the Dragon), but only once committed an actual rape (on Narreeman, in Flashman). He was a vigorous and exciting (if sometimes selfish and rapacious) lover, and some of his partners became quite fond of him - though by his own admission, others tried to kill him afterwards. The most memorable of these was Cleonie, a prostitute Flashman sold into slavery in Flashman and the Redskins. Passages in Royal Flash, Flashman and the Dragon, Flashman and the Redskins, and Flashman and the Angel of the Lord suggest that Flashman was "well-hung".

Flashman's stories are dominated by his numerous amorous encounters. Several of them are with prominent historical personages. These women are sometimes window dressing, sometimes pivotal characters in the unpredictable twists and turns of the books. Historical women Flashman bedded included:

• Jind Kaur, Dowager Maharani of Punjab (Flashman and the Mountain of Light).
• Lillie Langtry, actress and mistress of Edward VII (Flashman and the Tiger)
• Mangla, maid and confidant to Jind Kaur.
• Masteeat, Queen of the Wollo Gallas (Flashman on the March).
• Lola Montez (Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert James) (Royal Flash).
• Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar (Flashman's Lady).
• The Silk One (aka Ko Dali's daughter), consort of Yakub Beg (Flashman at the Charge).
• Yehonala, Imperial Chinese concubine, later the Empress Dowager Cixi (Flashman and the Dragon).

He also lusted after (but never bedded):

• Fanny Duberly, a famous army wife.
• Angela Burdett-Coutts, who became the richest woman in England in her twenties. She nearly dislocated his thumb repelling a friendly grope at a house-party. (Flashman's Lady)
• Lakshmibai, Dowager Rani of Jhansi (Flashman in the Great Game) (a dancing girl may have taken the rani's place)

His fictional amours included:

• An-yat-heh, an undercover agent of Harry Smith Parkes (Flashman and the Dragon).
• Aphrodite, one of Miss Susie's "gels" (Flashman and the Redskins).
• Cassy, an escaped slave who accompanied Flashman up the Mississippi (Flash for Freedom!).
• Elspeth Rennie Morrison, his wife.
• Fetnab, a dancing girl Flashy bought in Calcutta (Flashman).
• Lady Geraldine.
• Gertrude, niece of Admiral Tegetthoff (Flashman on the March).
• Cleonie Grouard (aka Mrs Arthur B. Candy), one of "Miss Susie's gels" (Flashman and the Redskins).
• Irma, Grand Duchess of Strackenz (Royal Flash).
• Josette, mistress of Captain Bernier of the 11th Light Dragoons (Flashman).
• Mrs Leo Lade, mistress of a violently jealous duke (Flashman's Lady).
• "Lady Caroline Lamb", a slave on board the slaver Balliol College (Flash for Freedom!).
• Mrs Leslie, an unattached woman in the Meerut garrison (Flashman in the Great Game).
• Mrs Madison (Flashman and the Mountain of Light).
• Malee, a servant of Uliba-Wark (Flashman on the March).
• Mrs Mandeville, a Mississippi planter's wife (Flash for Freedom! and again in Flashman and the Angel of the Lord).
• Mrs Betty Parker (Flashman; unconsummated).
• Judy Parsons, his father's mistress (Flashman).
• Baroness Pechmann, a Bavarian noblewoman (Royal Flash).
• Penny/Jenny, a steamboat girl (Flash for Freedom!).
• Lady Plunkett, wife of a colonial judge (not quite consummated: Flashman and the Angel of the Lord).
• Mrs Popplewell, agent of a Southern slaveholders' conspiracy (Flashman and the Angel of the Lord).
• Sara (Aunt Sara), sister-in-law of Count Pencherjevsky (Flashman at the Charge).
• Sonsee-Array (Takes-Away-Clouds-Woman), an Apache savage 'princess', daughter of Mangas Coloradas (Flashman and the Redskins).
• Miranda Spring, daughter of John Charity Spring (Flashman and the Angel of the Lord).
• Szu-Zhan, a six-foot-eight Chinese bandit leader (Flashman and the Dragon).
• Uliba-Wark, an Abyssinian chieftainess and warrior (Flashman on the March).
• Valentina (Valla), daughter of Count Pencherjevsky (Flashman at the Charge).
• White Tigress and Honey-and-Milk, two concubines of the Chinese merchant Whampoa (Flashman's Lady).
• Susie Willinck (aka "Miss Susie"), New Orleans madam (Flash for Freedom! and Flashman and the Redskins).

The one woman he raped was Narreeman, an Afghan dancing girl (Flashman).

He had a special penchant for royal ladies, and noted that his favourite amours (apart from his wife) were Lakshmibai, Ci Xi and Lola Montez: "a Queen, an Empress, and the foremost courtesan of her time: I dare say I'm just a snob." He also noted that, while civilized women were more than ordinarily partial to him, his most ardent admirers were among the savage of the species: "Elspeth, of course, is Scottish." And for all his raking, it was always Elspeth to whom he returned and who remained ultimately top of the list.

His lechery was so strong that it broke out even in the midst of rather hectic circumstances. While accompanying Thomas Kavanaugh on his daring escape from Lucknow, he paused for a quick rattle with a local prostitute, and during the battle of Patusan, he found himself galloping one of Sharif Sahib's concubines without even realizing it.