Marisa Coulter

"I told him I was going to betray you, and betray Lyra, and he believed me because I was corrupt and full of wickedness; he looked so deep I felt sure he'd see the truth. But I lied too well. I was lying with every nerve and fiber and everything I'd ever done… I wanted him to find no good in me, and he didn't. There is none."

- Marissa Coulter to Lord Asriel, The Amber Spyglass

Marisa Coulter is a primary antagonist in Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials. Known as Mrs. Coulter throughout the series, her character undergoes several transformations before her reformation in the third book, The Amber Spyglass.

She is portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the The Golden Compass, the movie adaptation of the first book, Northern Lights.

Character Overview
A long-time associate of The Church, Mrs. Coulter was head of the General Oblation Board, an association that performed harmful experiments on children in The Church’s interest of eliminating Dust, what they believe to be responsible for Original Sin. Though physically beautiful with a charming and persuasive demeanor, Mrs. Coulter’s character is cruel, vicious and power-hungry, written to enjoy the torture and killing of her victims.

For years, she pursued The Church’s agenda vigorously with the driven need to advance herself in its ranks. Despite this, Mrs. Coulter’s soft spot is her daughter, the series’ protagonist 12-year old Lyra Belacqua, whom she is on opposite sides from. Lyra is the child Mrs. Coulter had with her ex-lover, Lord Asriel, as a result of an affair and gave Lyra up to her father at birth due to the shame of Lyra’s illegitimacy and her own desire to advance her career with The Church. Nonetheless, despite her power-driven desires and enjoyment over the suffering of other children, Mrs. Coulter feels the maternal urge to save and protect Lyra from The Church. Consequently, she experiences a conflict of interest between her loyalty to The Church and feelings for Lyra.

Mrs. Coulter is devoted to The Church and zealously pursues its agenda throughout Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife, at the end of which her character starts undergoing her reformation, which continues throughout The Amber Spyglass. Though appearing to intend to destroy Lyra to prevent the fall of the Church, Mrs. Coulter works to save her daughter from The Church as they believe Lyra is the second Eve. She unites with Lord Asriel to defeat Regent Metatron and though they save Lyra, they die in the process when they fall through the abyss with Metatron between universes.

Description
Mrs. Coulter is described as being 35 years old, slim, ‘beautiful and young’ with ‘sleek black hair’ which ‘framed her cheeks.’ In the movie adaptation, The Golden Compass, the character’s physical appearance is changed to blonde. Pullman approved of this change and regretted not making Mrs. Coulter’s character blonde in the novels (Butler, Robert. An Interview with Philip Pullman. ‘Intelligent Life.’ 2007).

Mrs. Coulter is a published academic, sophisticated, elegant, intelligent and wealthy but possesses an appetite for cruelty. Despite her feeling that Lyra is too much like Asriel, both Mrs. Coulter and Lyra are shown to be impassioned and talented liars.