Happy International Women’s Day! Today is a day to appreciate and shout out all the women in our lives - including the fictional ones!
Below is a list of some of the literary women (and girls) that I truly appreciate, even though I may not always like or agree with them…which is true in real life as well. We don’t always have to agree or even get along with other women or people in general in order to appreciate and support them!
So, without further ado, here are some of my most appreciated literary ladies:
First up is Ella of Frell from Ella Enchanted, which is a lovely middle grade fairy tale twist by Gail Carson Levine. Ella is cursed with a gift of obedience at birth and hilarious and sometimes unexpectedly deep hijinks ensue. This is such a lovely, heartwarming story about learning how to support and save yourself. As for the movie…it’s kinda like Bruno in Encanto…we don’t talk about it!
Next is Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Elizabeth is a character who overcomes a set way of thinking and is able to realize faults about herself and how she looks at the world (and other people). That’s a difficult thing to do and I love when literary characters accomplish it! She’s also sassy, headstrong and a bit perverse just for the sake of it, which I also appreciate.
Alanna of Trebond is the main character in The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce, who writes amazing female characters, often for middle grade books. These were the first books I remember reading as a kid about a female who took charge of her life and did what she wanted, overcoming the obstacles set in front of her and making tough choices about learning to let go. I think there’s such a great sense of the reality and sometimes difficulty of life in these books, (even though they’re definitely in the fantasy genre) that isn’t always done or done well.
Eowyn is one of my all-time favorite female characters from The Lord of the Rings and in general. She starts out so resigned and hopeless about so many things which puts her on a certain path for maybe not the right reasons, but she is also able to realize that about herself and develop as a character before the end of the story.
Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson books, by Rick Riordan is another great middle grade female character. She’s smart, independent, levelheaded and loyal, as well as stubborn, a bit judgmental and proud, but she learns to recognize and acknowledge her mistakes and flaws. Since the Percy Jackson world of books is so extensive, you really get to watch Annabeth grow, change and develop along with the other characters in the series, which is always something I enjoy.
Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter series is a character that is introduced as a background, victim and develops into so much more later in the series! You see her through Harry’s eyes and watch as she is able to overcome her own insecurities and awkwardness to become a strong, funny, willful, athletic, badass young woman! I love that we are able to see her come into her own true character that was stifled in the early books and grow beyond the victim personification. Also, the movies, in my opinion, really didn’t do a great job of showing the potential of her character, sadly.
Hermione Granger, also from Harry Potter, I think personifies so many of us female bookworms. The ones who did well in school, were always a little afraid to break the rules and stray outside of the well-established lines, and didn’t always have many friends or was that popular. That’s definitely a specific type in YA, but Hermione also grows beyond that characterization and develops into a strong, extremely capable character who isn’t afraid to do what she needs to do, while rocking most of it at the same time! I also love seeing Hermione deal with and overcome the prejudices within the wizarding world against muggleborns.
Lucy Pevensie is my favorite of the Pevensie siblings in The Chronicles of Narnia. She’s the one to first venture into the wardrobe and discover the world of Narnia and best embodies the innocence, wonder and true belief of childhood. She was also known as Queen Lucy the Valiant, which I just love. She’s just as brave and true as her older siblings, and even willing to fight as a small child, if need be, but she’s also the one gifted with the power of healing and seems to be the most compassionate.
Aelin Galathynius/Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass series is such an interesting character to me. I have a serious weakness for assassin type characters and stories, so I just loved Celaena from the start. She’s initially portrayed at times as almost a shallow, silly, selfish, and rude character in some ways, who is nonetheless incredibly deadly and capable and has gone through unspeakable horrors herself. As the books develop (confession: I still haven’t completely finished the series!), you learn more and more about her and why she is the way she is. I think many of the aspects of her personality and character that people sometimes have issues with are mostly a front that she uses to avoid her own trauma and issues, but eventually she comes to terms with those things. I think her struggles and weaknesses are also incredibly realistic in a lot of ways. How often do we avoid anything to do with the things that bring up bad memories or experiences in real life or avoid doing something we know we should, because it’s just hard?
Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games is one of those characters that I respect and can even relate to, even though there are many things she does and decisions she makes that I don’t always agree with or like. I think she’s a very, very true and accurate portrayal of what a person would potentially have to become in order to survive in a world like the one depicted in her books, however. It’s not pretty and it’s not always “right”, but it’s realistic in my opinion. Would I be able to make all the right choices for the right reasons in that same position or would I become something even worse? Food for thought. The Hunger Games always made me a bit uncomfortable to read, because sadly, with my own pessimistic and fatalistic view of the world sometimes I can see the reality of how easy it would be to get to that point as a society…which is scary, but done so, so well by Suzanne Collins. Katniss is a cold, cynical, stubborn, opportunistic character alot of the time, but those are things that she has had to become to survive, and deep down, she’s still a good person, who tries to do the right things (most of the time) in the best ways that she can, but she’s still a person with weaknesses and flaws who sometimes just reacts badly to the things that happen.
So, who are some of your favorite literary females?