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Jessica Atreides is a Fictional Character in the Dune Universe created by Frank Herbert . Jessica is a key character in the science-fiction novel '' Dune '', by Frank Herbert . Jessica also plays an important role in the sequels, '' Dune Messiah '' and '' Children Of Dune ''. Jessica was conceived through the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen by Tanidia Nerus , and born to the Bene Gesserit in the year 10,154 after the formation of the Spacing Guild . She was raised to be a legal concubine to the Duke Leto Atreides , and instructed to produce a daughter, but no sons, for him. This daughter would be bred to Feyd-Rautha , nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and heir to House Harkonnen , healing the generations-old rift between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, and producing the Kwisatz Haderach for the Bene Gesserit. The Kwisatz Haderach is the male Reverend Mother -equivalent who has ''other memories'' of his male line (something the all-female Bene Gesserit lack), along with the female line. However, Jessica falls in love with Leto, and produces a son for him, Paul (there is some indication that Jessica believed she could achieve the Kwisatz Haderach herself, one generation early). Paul is the Kwisatz Haderach, and eventually sets the Imperium on a course lasting thousands of years in the person of his son, Leto Atreides II . Much to the frustration of the Bene Gesserit, they do not control Paul, and the events of the coming millennia leave Jessica noteworthy as a figure of history who committed a great wrong (according to the Bene Gesserit); in the coming centuries, for a Bene Gesserit to choose her love over the instructions of her order is known as "the Jessica Crime". In ''Dune'', House Atreides is given the planet disguised as Harkonnen soldiers); the betrayal of the Duke by the family's doctor, Dr. Wellington Yueh , completed the plan, and House Atreides is destroyed in place. Paul and Jessica narrowly escape to the desert, finding refuge with the Fremen thanks to the legends planted there by the Bene Gesserit's Missionaria Protectiva , which practices religious engineering. Jessica casts Paul as the ''Lisan al'Gaib'', the Messiah , and herself as the Reverend Mother who shall bring him, even though she hasn't experienced the Spice Agony that transforms an acolyte into a full Reverend Mother. The Fremen provide not only refuge, but also an army with which Paul can retake the planet and restore his house. The Fremen also have 'wild' Reverend Mothers, women who undergo the spice agony to awaken their other memories. Hiding in . In ''Dune Messiah'', Jessica has returned to Caladan , the ancestral home of the Atreides. She has also, by some accounts, returned to the Sisterhood following the death of her Duke , and while she cannot influence Paul, she does act as distant counselor. It is also mentioned breifly that she and Gurney Halleck become lovers. In ''Children of Dune'', Jessica returns to Dune to inspect Paul's children, . She trains him in the Bene Gesserit way, and at the end of ''Children of Dune'', he becomes Ghanima's concubine and Leto's imperial scribe. Jessica dies in year 10,256 after 102 years of life. In the 1984 film version, Jessica was played by Francesca Annis . Saskia Reeves took up the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV mini-series version, and was replaced by Alice Krige in 2003's Children Of Dune mini-series. |
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