The Ten Best Female Characters of All Time [according to me]
10-9. Rory and Lorelei of Gilmore Girls
Separately as characters they were pretty good but not nearly as good as they were together. Together they created a back-and-forth pop reference based relationship that was almost a character in and of itself.
8. Kat of 10 Things I Hate About You
Yes I know this is based on Taming of the Shrew, and nine times out of ten I side with the Bard over remakes, but I'm going to have to go with modern society on this one. This 90s retelling paints a portrait of Kat (the shrew) that is just so honest and colorful and is, even to this Shakespeare-lover, so much more compelling than her paper counterpart. So sue me.
7.Carmen (of the Opera by the same name)
This fiery, fickle, femme fatale is one of the great female characters. Not great because she possesses much virtue, but she is certainly larger than life and she paints a portrait of the negative side of femininity taken to the extreme.
6. Buffy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Just the idea of Buffy is awesome-what would happen if a valley girl teenager was suddenly The Chosen Vampire Slayer? See-it even sounds funny. Managing to be quirky, witty, and girly while being complex, poignant, and sympathetic is not an easy feat for one character, but I think she manages to do it.
5. Jo March of Little Women
One of the major reasons why I wanted to grow up to be a writer (mission...kind of accomplished?), Josephine March is a dynamic and charismatic female character who, despite her dreadful dreadful actions toward Laurie, we can all love.
4. Temperance Brennan of Bones
Calculating genius Bones solves super complicated murder cases with her logic and still manages to turn up the temp with Hottie McHotterson Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) proving that smart chicks can be sexy too.
3. Scout Finch of To Kill A Mockingbird
One of the best, most human narrators in all of fiction Scout both tells of and embodies the reality of growing up and the struggle to believe in the goodness of people while facing some of the most ugly things that people have ever done.
2. Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice
One of my very favorite female characters, she was definitely ahead of her time. Head strong, independent, and witty to boot she was feminist before it was popular and yet not afraid to love Darcy with her whole heart (in the end).
1. Scarlet O'Hara of Gone With the Wind
How could she not be on this list? How could she not be number one? Scarlett O'Hara is a legendary female character-I would even go so far as to say she herself is the epic of this story. Determined, shrewd, and brutally cold hearted she is not a particularly likeable character in my opinion, but she is still written in such a way that you can absolutely understand all of her many dimensions, and so frankly my dear I don't give a damn.
4 comments:
Ooooooh so interesting to see Scarlett on this list! I agree that she's fascinating - and, I think, much deeper than a lot of people give her credit for. I was really surprised when I read the book (vs just watching the movie) - it is a huge epic, but it's also quite a character study, and so many of her actions make more sense in the novel. She's an unapologetic survivor, and I respected that!
Loved that Gilmore Girls show! My husband dad too!
Just have to say that I LOVE Kat in 10 things I hate about you!
Nice List! I approve of all!
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