Actor: Mira Furlan
Character: Danielle Rousseau
Danielle: "Dynamite. At the Black Rock, in the Dark Territory."
Hurley: "Well, that's three reasons to go, right there."
She's not a cast member, but Danielle Rousseau, the mysterious Frenchwoman
stranded on the Island for the past sixteen years, has appeared in several
critical episodes. We don't really know what happened sixteen years
ago, but it appears that the others who were shipwrecked with Danielle
were possessed somehow, and she killed them. Is Danielle insane, or
did she do what had to be done? Maybe we'll find out in season two.
And maybe not.
The "Others" took her newborn daughter, Alex, all those years
ago. In the first season finale episodes, Danielle kidnapped baby Aaron
and attempted to get her own daughter back... unsuccessfully.
"Danielle" is the feminine version of the male name Daniel,
which comes from a Hebrew word meaning "God is my judge".
This may be an indicator of the intense guilt that has wracked Danielle
Rousseau ever since she was forced to kill the other members of her
scientific expedition.
"Rousseau" is a reference to the Enlightenment-era philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who first popularized the concept of the "noble
savage". He believed that man was specifically created by God to
lead his life under totally natural, non-technological, or "savage"
conditions in the Garden of Eden. According to Rousseau, complex civilization
is an inherently flawed human concept, which only leads man farther
and farther away from God's grace, and one's best chance for salvation
("nobility") is to give up science and technology and live
as simply as possible. Hence, Danielle Rousseau has given up on all
hope of every being rescued, and has declined even to rejoin humanity
by revealing herself to the new castaways on the island, preferring
to isolate herself in the jungle away from any hint of civilization.
©Billie
Doux