Megan Follows as Anne Shirley in the 1985 Anne of Green Gables miniseries.
Among literature’s memorable people are female characters who can be described as plucky, gutsy, clever, driven, strong-willed, determined, ambitious, etc. This can be especially interesting with female characters in novels written long ago — or set long ago if written more recently. Because women back then had an especially challenging task navigating a society usually much more patriarchal than today’s (admittedly still patriarchal) world.
This came to mind as I continued my recent Daphne du Maurier reading binge with her 1954 novel Mary Anne – whose semi-fictionalized title character was an actual great-great grandmother (I think) of the author. Mary Anne Thompson (1776-1852) grew up in a low-income/dysfunctional family, but rose quite a bit in life (at least during her 20s and 30s) via smarts, charm, humor, quick-wittedness, hard work, ruthlessness, strategic behavior, opportunism, and the compromising of some morals. Being good-looking didn’t hurt, either, as she “used” various men to climb society’s ladder.
Mary Anne reminded me a bit of some other fictional “heroines” – one of them being social climber Undine Spragg in Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country (1913). Undine is meaner and generally less-appealing than Mary Anne, but they both share a fierce intelligence and relentless ambition.
Another self-empowered woman is the title character in Daniel Defoe’s 1722 novel Moll Flanders. The basically good-hearted Moll lives a very checkered life but is confident enough to act outside of societal norms: she’s a con artist, a thief, makes alliances with other women, has sex outside of marriage, etc.
Moving to the 19th century, we have William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. That 1848 novel’s Becky Sharp is a brainy, funny, talented, conniving, manipulative, amoral young woman seeking a better “station” in life.
Returning to 20th-century literature, Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God stars the admirable, energetic, resilient Janie Crawford — though she does do some backsliding here and there in terms of partly deferring to some problematic men. Janie does have the double challenge of being a woman in a patriarchal society and a Black woman in a racist society.
Isabel Allende’s 1998 novel Daughter of Fortune features the half-Chilean/half-English Eliza Sommers who boldly travels from Chile to Gold Rush-era California, disguising herself as a man for much of the trip. She also ignores the prejudices of the time by developing a close friendship with Chinese man Tao Chi’en.
In young-adult fiction (which of course can also be enjoyed by not-so-young adults), three characters immediately come to mind.
The cast of Louis Sachar’s also-1998-published Holes includes Katherine Barlow, who — in the novel’s 19th-century flashback scenes — becomes a vengeful outlaw named Kissin’ Kate Barlow after a tragic racist act I won’t specify to avoid more of a spoiler.
Preteen-then-teen Anne Shirley in L.M. Montgomery’s 1908 classic Anne of Green Gables is feisty, hilarious, imaginative, and precociously intelligent — though she “mellows” somewhat as an older character and parent in the later sequels.
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy of 2008, 2009, and 2010 is set not in the past but rather in a future society that, while brutal, is not super-patriarchal. But courageous and rebellious (as well as compassionate) protagonist Katniss Everdeen is worth mentioning.
Your thoughts about, and examples of, this theme?
Misty the cat says: “That rabbit isn’t running, so it must not like John Updike’s ‘Rabbit, Run.'”
My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )
This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂
I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…
…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.
In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — which comedically commented on July 4th and more — is here.
Dave Astor on Literature 
Lot’s a great examples here. I’d like to add Hester Prynne to the mix. I’ve always had a soft spot for her.
LikeLike
Brilliant topic, Dave. I haven’t read ‘Mary Anne’, but I’ve loved Moll Flanders for many years. I’m not so keen on Becky Sharpe – I felt sorry for Rawdon and how she treated him – and although Katniss is wonderful in many ways I wanted her to end with Gayle, rather than Pieter. I’ll add Ruth, from ‘The Life and Loves of a She-Devil’, although ultimately I find her ‘success’ pretty worthless. Lesser prominent is Paulina, from Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’, who stands up to the mad Leontes, even against his threat of burning her. She stage-manages the situation, and I’ve always loved her. Okay, I shall have think on this and find a few more, but I’m sure I will. Many thanks! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Laura! I appreciate all the character mentions — including one of Shakespeare’s interesting woman. Yes, Becky Sharp is not particularly likable, but she’s kind of impressive in her striving way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed she is! 😂
LikeLike
Great post Dave. I’ll throw in Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. I quite thought she was something else. And of coursea certain Scarlett.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Shehanne! Two great examples! The brilliant/abused/brave Lisbeth Salander is indeed an absolute powerhouse and Scarlett O’Hara is, well, Scarlett O’Hara (minus any dragon tattoos 🙂 ).
LikeLike
I love this theme! And good timing, nudge-wise! I need to read Sara Paretsky’s first V.I. Warshawski novel “Indemnity Only” so I can sit in on a book club discussion soon. Paretsky was a featured speaker at an event I attended and was fascinating to listen to, but I think I was the only person in the room unfamiliar with her books and her tough-talking private eye, Warshawski! So many books, so little time! 😜❤️😜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Vicki! Good timing indeed. 🙂 I hope you like “Indemnity Only,” and great that you got to hear Sara Paretsky speak! I’ve been wanting to try her V.I. Warshawski series myself, but I like to read series in order and “Indemnity Only” is always taken out of my local library.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I cannot believe I’ve run across something you haven’t yet read, my extremely well-read friend! If only I could loan you my copy! Maybe Misty could go on an adventure and fetch it? LOL. 😜❤️😜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Vicki! I’ll get to “Indemnity Only” eventually. 🙂 But until then, I am V.I. Warshawski bereft. 🙂 (I hesitate to buy novels because my modest-sized apartment is already packed with books and other things — including Misty’s bed, box, scratch pole, etc. 🙂 If he can find “Indemnity Only,” there’s another scratch pole in his future. 🙂 )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! I hear you. I’ll read and report back – how’s that?
xo! 💝😊💝
LikeLiked by 1 person
Would definitely like to hear what you and the book club think about it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do! 😉😉😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Dave, another great topic of discussion! I thought about the women created by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Agatha Christie. For example Miss Marple immediately came to mind. On the surface she seems like a gentle village spinster, yet her powers of observation, understanding of human nature, and quiet confidence allow her to solve mysteries that leave others baffled.
Both Christie and Rinehart gave us intelligent, resourceful women who succeeded not through physical strength but through curiosity, insight, and persistence. It’s interesting that these memorable female characters were themselves imagined by women. Thanks for another thought-provoking discussion. I always come away from your posts with a longer reading list! And you know how high my TBR list is! YIKES!!!
I had to add this quote:
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly despairing, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Rebecca! Miss Marple is definitely a great Agatha Christie creation, and you described her VERY well. I hadn’t heard of Mary Roberts Rinehart until seeing your comment, but, after reading what you said and also taking a peek at Wikipedia, I’m intrigued! Yes, many MANY strong female characters were thought up by women authors.
I hear you about overflowing reading lists. 🙂 😦
Words to…live by…from Agatha Christie!
LikeLike
Maggie Tulliver in George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss, obviously.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you, Dingenom! Maggie was definitely a brainy, admirable, wonderful character living in a challenging patriarchal time as her much-less-impressive brother was treated better by family and society in general. 😦
George Eliot of course created a number of other memorable female characters with a lot of overt or quiet strength — including Dinah Morris (“Adam Bede”), Eppie (“Silas Marner”), Dorothea Brooke (“Middlemarch”), and Gwendolen Harleth and Mirah Lapidoth (“Daniel Deronda”).
LikeLiked by 1 person
How could I have forgotten her? A heroine of mine, although she didn’t spring to mind immediately because of her tragic ending. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brave, smart, and likable girls and women appear in so many of the books I read that I feel overwhelmed when it comes to coming up with titles. I’ll mention one. I recently read ATMOSPHERE, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which is about women training to be astronauts in the early 1980s. The heroine, Joan Goodwin, and her fellow trainees are as smart and brave as they come, and this is an exciting and moving book that I highly recommend. Harriet Vane, who appears in some of Dorothy L. Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, is also an intelligent and courageous character and a favorite of mine.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Kim! Excellent mentions! I thought Harriet Vane was a great character when I read two of those Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries: “Strong Poison” and “Gaudy Night.” And “Atmosphere” sounds terrific. Reminds me a bit of Mary Robinette Kowal’s very good “The Calculating Stars,” about a woman astronaut.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Such a fantastic list! When
I think of courageous women in literature, Lucia Mondella from Alessandro Manzoni’s “The Betrothed” (1827) immediately comes to mind. Although she is often considered a meek woman, her quiet moral resilience and unwavering determination to survive and defy a powerful and tyrannical nobleman make her incredibly strong-willed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Luisa! Glad you liked the titles mentioned! Lucia Mondella sounds like an admirable, intriguing character. Sometimes quieter people are the strongest.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, exactly!
In Italian, we often use a proverb for this: ‘Still waters run deep’ : people who are quiet and calm often possess great depth, hidden strength, and a powerful determination
LikeLiked by 1 person
SO true, Luisa, and very well said. “Still waters run deep” indeed.
LikeLike
I have always been drawn to strong, gutsy, female characters. One I would like to mention is Jo March from Little Women. She was determined to follow her dreams and not cave in to convention.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Darlene! Excellent mention of Jo March! A very strong, unconventional-for-her-time character. (Although she got a bit more conventional near the end of the novel (if I’m remembering correctly; it’s been years since I read “Little Women”).
LikeLiked by 2 people
Let’s not forget a certain Amanda 🙂 You know her fairly well. I think.
LikeLike
Excellent post, as always! One of the best feisty female characters I’ve read lately is Louisa in My Friends by Fredrik Backman. She’s an aspiring artist who grew up in the foster care system.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Marie! Glad you liked the post! Sounds like a very compelling character in “My Friends.” I loved Fredrik Backman’s “A Man Called Ove,” which had a couple of great female characters in addition to Ove.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the reasons why Pride and Prejudice is considered one of the greatest novels of all time is that it has a Bennet daughter and mother than run the gambit of “female characters who can be described as plucky, gutsy, clever, driven, strong-willed, determined, ambitious, etc.”
My favorite line in literature is the last sentence of Chapter 1: The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. Now that’s a great sentence!
Eric
LikeLiked by 2 people
Am I still anonymous after all of these years?
Eric
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice to hear from you again, Eric! I still haven’t figured out why some comments end up under the Anonymous “name.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Eric! Yes, “Pride and Prejudice” and other Jane Austen novels have some strong female characters (as well as some not as strong). And Austen definitely penned some very memorable lines.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m currently reading Edna Ferber’s Giant. The female protagonist Leslie Lynnton is a very strong character questioning the status quo and questioning the treatment of the Mexican farmhands. I’m only a quarter finished
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Kathy! I’ve heard of “Giant” (the novel and its movie version) but didn’t know much about it. Sounds like a great book!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ada and Ruby from Cold Mountain come to mind. Also Mattie from True Grit.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Liz! Three excellent character examples! I read and liked both novels, though “Cold Mountain” was SO depressing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re welcome, Dave! I was so upset by the ending of Cold Mountain–and I’d already seen the movie, so I knew what the ending would be.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, Liz that “Cold Mountain” ending — 😢. I don’t think I could bear to see the movie.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It was a painful watch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can imagine…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love books with courageous, free-spirited female characters. I’ve seen the tv program of Moll Flanders, but your post makes me wonder if I should give the book a go!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Ada! I love those books, too!
Like many 18th-century novels, “Moll Flanders” can be a bit challenging to read at times but I liked it overall. I’ve never seen a screen adaptation of it; glad you did!
LikeLiked by 1 person