Madeleine Swann

Madeleine Swann is a character in the James Bond films ''Spectre'' (2015) and ''No Time to Die'' (2021), played by actress Léa Seydoux. She is the only film character to have a child with Bond.

Character biography

Madeline Swann is the daughter of Mr. White, a member of the criminal organization Spectre. As a young child in Norway, Swann witnessed the death of her mother at the hands of Lyutsifer Safin. Safin murdered Swann's mother as vengeance for Mr. White killing Safin's entire family under orders from Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Swann shoots Safin with her father's gun in self-defense and drags him outside, but when Safin unexpectedly regains consciousness, a terrified Swann flees onto a nearby frozen lake and collapses through the ice. Safin watches her from above the ice for a moment before pulling her up and saving her life.

Swann studied in Doctors Without Borders and eventually grew up to become a psychiatrist. By the time of ''Spectre'' she is working in a private clinic in the Austrian Alps. James Bond arrives at the clinic and meets Madeline after her father commits suicide and instructed Bond to protect his daughter from Blofeld and Spectre. Although Swann is initially hesitant to trust Bond, she agrees to share information about Spectre and help Bond take the organization down. The two gradually fall in love, and Bond ultimately leaves the service to be with her.

In ''No Time to Die'', Bond and Swann travel to Matera, Italy. While in a hotel discussing each other's secrets, Swann suggests Bond visit Vesper Lynd's grave for closure. Bond does so, and while there notices a card placed by the side of the grave with the Spectre symbol. As he picks it up, a bomb detonates and Spectre agents ambush him. Bond escapes and leaves Madeleine at a train station as he believes Madeleine has betrayed him to the organisation. Unbeknownst to Bond, Swann was pregnant, and she gives birth to a daughter, Mathilde.

Five years later, Swann is now serving as Blofeld's psychiatrist, as she is the only clinical professional he'll agree to speak to. Safin, still seeking revenge for his family, coerces Swann into assassinating Blofeld with the use of Safin's nanotech weaponry. Swann refuses, and Bond ends up killing Blofeld after he admits that he framed Swann. Later, Bond and Swann reconcile when he tracks her in her old childhood house. Bond finds out about Mathilde but Swann denies that Mathilde is his child. Safin, having grown obsessed with Swann over time, kidnaps her and Mathilde and brings them to his island fortress. Bond is able to kill Safin and rescue Madeline and Mathilde, but he gets infected with Safin's nanotechnology in the process. Because the nanotechnology would kill Swann and Mathilde if they were ever exposed to it, Bond decides to sacrifice himself by staying behind on Safin's exploding island. Before he dies, Bond tells Swann that he loves her and Mathilde, and Swann confirms that he is in fact her father. The film ends with Madeline driving with Mathilde in Italy and telling her the story of a man named "Bond, James Bond."

Production

The filmmakers originally looked for a "blonde, Scandinavian" actress to play the part of Swann, before casting their net wider to include French and German actresses as well, whereupon they chose Seydoux.

Madeleine Swann's name is a tribute to Marcel Proust: Volume 1 of Proust's ''In Search of Lost Time'' is called ''Swann's Way'', and it includes an episode in which the narrator enjoys a madeleine.

Unlike most Bond girls, Madeline Swann was a full-fledged love interest for James Bond that appeared in multiple films. Prior to Swann, Bond had fallen in love with only Tracy di Vicenzo in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', and Vesper Lynd in ''Casino Royale''. Both Tracy and Vesper die early in their relationships with Bond, and this reoccurring tragic outcome was used to create tension in ''No Time to Die'' regarding Swann's fate. Ultimately, the trope is subverted when 007 himself dies instead of Swann.

Reception

Lea Sedydoux received positive reviews for her portrayal of Swann. ''British Vogue'' said "the French actor’s capable and complex creation was perfect match" for Daniel Craig's 007. Seydoux was nominated for a 2016 Teen Choice Awards in the "Choice Movie Actress: Action" category for her portrayal of Swann in ''Spectre''. ''Screen Rant'' called Madeline Swann the "bravest" Bond girl in the franchise.

Evaluation

Thomas Lethbridge suggests that Bond's relationship with Swann parallels his earlier romance with Vesper Lynd in '' Casino Royale'': "In both films, Bond seemingly finds himself in a relatively happy relationship, before it all comes crashing down as a result of apparent betrayal." John L. Flynn and Bob Blackwood suggest that Bond's relationship with Swann is a very modern one: "Daniel Craig's interpretation of a more modern 007 may well help dissipate Bond's outmoded, chauvinistic approach to love and relationships, and establish more complicated and thus more realistic relationships with his leading ladies in the new millennium."

Mary Rose Somarriba describes Swann as a "near match, if not equal, to Bond in combat, assassination know-how, and intellect." Sommariba goes on to say,

Far from a one-dimensional character, Swann is remarkably multifaceted in her strength and smarts. Perhaps most striking is not her being equal to her male counterpart but instead what makes her different. There’s one way in which Swann is superior to Bond, and that is in how she sees beyond the assassin’s life—she sees it as ultimately lacking and wants more. Swann is highly educated as a doctor in psychology, and despite being trained in combat by her father, she prefers to live far away from things that would tempt her back to that life, hence her station in the Austrian Alps at a private medical clinic.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Madeleine
Bond girls
Film characters introduced in 2015
Fictional psychiatrists
Female characters in film
Fictional female doctors
Fictional French people