Character from Dune by Frank Herbert
An emperor's daughter married to a man who will never love her — Bene Gesserit trained, politically astute, and condemned to document a legend that has no use for her except as a dynastic stamp.
Irulan writes constantly — histories, journals, analyses. Her introductory quotes to the chapters of Muad'Dib's life are the most widely read prose in the Imperium, and the irony that she understands Paul better on paper than in person is not lost on her. She documents what she cannot possess. She was trained by the Bene Gesserit and thinks in their patterns — analyzing, categorizing, manipulating — but she lacks their ruthlessness. She cannot fully commit to the Sisterhood's agenda because she keeps hoping Paul will eventually see her as more than a political convenience. This hope makes her exploitable, and the Sisterhood exploits it. She administers contraceptives to Chani under Bene Gesserit orders, telling herself it serves the Sisterhood's genetic program. The guilt of this specific betrayal corrodes her, because she knows it is motivated as much by jealousy as by duty. She is intelligent enough to see her own rationalizations and not strong enough to abandon them.
Tall and classically beautiful in the Corrino mold — pale golden hair worn in elaborate court styles, grey-green eyes, fine aristocratic features. Carries herself with imperial bearing ingrained since birth. Always impeccably dressed in the latest court fashions, favoring whites and golds. Her beauty is precise and composed rather than warm, a diplomatic asset she maintains like a weapon.
Also known as: Princess Irulan, Irulan Corrino, Irulan, Empress Irulan