For instance, one needn’t look far to find a rich set of diabolical in-law characters. In Hamlet, Gertrude’s brother-in-law kills her husband, then lies to her to gain her hand in marriage. In the Meet The Parentsfilm series, Robert DeNiro’s character uses his ex-CIA skills to uncover dirt on his daughter’s fiancé (and that’s the least of it). The trope is particularly potent on television: in the Sopranos, Livia Soprano estranges her daughter-in-law Carmela from her own parents; the Simpsons sees Marge’s sisters Patty and Selma at constant odds with Homer Simpson; and Debra Barone and her mother-in-law Marie in Everybody Loves Raymondveer cyclically between niggling combat and genuine affection.
