8 Literary Heroines: Sisters Doin' It For Themselves

Recently, a good friend and I discussed books we read and re-read growing up and noticed a common theme: Our lasting favorites featured strong female protagonists who often kicked some serious behind. After the fun I had writing about literature's desirable men and reading the heated debates in the comments, the time came to reminisce and cyber-bond over sassy leading ladies.

Warning: Some spoilers ahead.

1. Elizabeth Bennet (from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

I dismiss any accusations that it is clichéd and trite to name Elizabeth Bennet the greatest literary heroine, because none compare. Austen did not write romance novels and Elizabeth isn't a girl seeking love. Austen created an assertive character whose confidence and wit transcend the pages of Pride and Prejudice to satirically jab at 18th-century British society and customs. Elizabeth is well-read, pensive, and fiercely independent. Always standing strong, she refuses her cousin's marriage proposal—even though the pairing would guarantee her family's security—and later, doesn't kowtow to Lady Catherine's insulting accusations. And, of course, despite Mr. Darcy's social class and her previous rejections of his proposal, Elizabeth does the unexpected and gets her man.

Soon after the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen wrote about Elizabeth Bennet:
"I must confess that I think her as delightful a character as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know.

I concur.

2. Helen Graham (from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë)

3. Karana/Won-a-pei-lei (from Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell)

4. Josephine "Jo" March (from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott)

5. Jane Eyre (from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

Through Jane, Brontë questioned Victorian stereotypes about women, saying:
"Women...suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation...and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags."

6. Scout Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

7. Hester Prynne (from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne)

8. Anne Shirley (from the Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery)

I know I admire more literary heroines than these, but once again, I showed great restraint in limiting myself. Keep the discussion going and promote strong female role models in literature!