The Broke and the Bookish asks us to come up with our top ten heroines this week- this was seriously hard for me. First of all, what makes a hero? To me heroes are people that actually change society- they cure diseases, save babies from dying, invent tampons. I generally don't read books about people I consider heroes, so I'm going to have to extend the definition to females I admire. And, because I'm drawing a blank, for the first time ever I'm going to leave my list incomplete.
1. Antigone (Antigone by Sophocles)- Yeah, she gets on my nerves, but her willingness to exert herself was way, way, before her time.
2. Fern (Charlotte's Web by EB White)- The vegetarian in me commends her efforts to save a pig from slaughter.
3. Hester Prynne (Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne)- You wear that A, lady. You wear it.
4. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter by JK Rowling)- A goody goody whose willing to break rules to help her friends and defy evil.
5. Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene)- I can't imagine what the world would be like if she hadn't solved all those mysteries and put away all those criminals. The world is better place because of Nancy.
6. Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)- Her concern with the goodness of humanity, as well as her willingness to fight boys, makes her pretty damn cool.
7. Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte)- Because we've all had a crazy man with a wife locked in the closet in our life.
8. Paula Spencer (The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by Roddy Doyle)- She kicked out her alcoholic, abusive husband. Enough is a enough.
Oh, Fern! Love her. What about Charlotte? She's got a little bit of heroism in her, too.
ReplyDeleteI just read Divergent (Can't stay away from YA fiction!) and the main character, Beatrice, is pretty badass. She's no Hermione, but she she makes hard choices and takes control of everything that happens to her. I love me some strong literary females!*
Nancy Drew! Hurrah!
ReplyDeleteI live Fern. Good luck with nanowrimo starting tomorrow.
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