I get asked frequently what my favourite part of reading is. It’s definitely the escapism it has to offer; having an imaginary world to dip into provides you with solace and comfort. You can live vicariously through characters and if your imagination is as alarmingly consuming as mine, deposit your worries onto them. I’ve discussed my love for the likes of Wendy from Peter Pan, and how much I admire her storytelling and strength to let go, as well as the likes of Esther in The Bell Jar, who embarked on an endless search to discover the root of her demons.
For the first year ever, it has occurred to me that World Book Day and International Women’s Day take place in the same week; the latter is always the 8th of March, the former always the first week of the month. I’ve wanted to write a piece on my favourite female fictional heroines (send me points for the alliteration, please) for a while and this week seemed the perfect time to do it.
For Valentine’s Day I wrote a piece on my favourite fictional couples in which I mentioned Katniss and Peeta. Amongst my list of female heroines, Katniss is probably the most self-aware in regard to her flaws and yet, remains the most resilient in spite of them. She constantly looks out for the ‘little guys’ despite the cutthroat warzone she lives in, her participation in the games solely down to her defending her sister Prim. She befriends and cares for Rue despite them being opponents and is extremely empathetic towards Thresh despite hardly knowing him. It’s debated amongst readers exactly when Katniss fell for Peeta (I personally think it was very early on) but it’s easy to decipher how she cared for him before the games began.
Prior to the games, she was an established hunter. She resourcefully obtained food for her family with no complaints despite never emotionally connecting with her mother. She was a strategic thinker from the beginning, theorising with Peeta that Haymitch won the games by outsmarting all of his opponents since he lacked much physical capability.
I won’t bore anyone by talking about the Harry Potter series again; you can read about how much I love Hermione, Luna, Ginny and McGonnagal in my Witch blog post. The series has faced backlash in recent times for portraying the girls as gossipy and cliquish - it’s almost as though people have forgotten that the novels are set within a school and that the characters are teenagers. Besides, the only characters that really fit that bill are Lavender and Parvati, the former of whom was portrayed so well in Half-Blood Prince it’s borderline sickening.
When I was in Year 3, my class teacher Mrs Kinsey gifted me two books: one was The Railway Children and the other was Charlotte’s Web. The titular character Charlotte is a spider. She’s also a girl, therefore she makes it to the list. E. B. White’s magnum opus is a beautifully crafted children’s tale and Charlotte’s characterisation is synonymous with empathy and friendship. I think my stance on death stems from Charlotte’s stance on it - she knows it’s inevitable and doesn’t attempt to prevent it. She strives to do good in her short life, saving Wilbur’s and telling him it was a pleasure to be his friend.
Charlotte’s constant want to do good is so powerful that 15 years later, I still can’t kill spiders.
The first live-action film I can remember watching was the first Chronicles of Narnia film. Whenever we had an indoor break at school all the classes ended up in the school hall watching the adaption on a box TV. Subsequently, James McAvoy was my first ever crush. I haven’t met many people who have actually read the books but I borrowed all seven from my school library and completely fell in love with the series, I recommend them to every fantasy lover I come across.
I love Lucy so much. After being evacuated, she seeks security and something to believe in and she realises family ties aren't indestructible. Her devastation with Edmund after he accuses her of playing 'childish games' despite knowing he has visited Narnia himself is immeasurable, for she has found solace and security in a place she is certain exists. The reason Father Christmas gifts her the heading cordial is that her need to help others is her defining trait. She is the only sibling to maintain her belief in Aslan's divinity in Prince Caspian, despite the obvious passage of time and destruction Narnia has faced. Thus, she is the only character to see Aslan over the gorge. Having grown up in a very religious family, Lucy's maintenance of her faith no matter how dire things were served as a constant reminder to me that forces beyond comprehension have a plan.
The Chronicles of Narnia has a polarising ending, in that Lucy and her family, minus Susan, are involved in a train crash. Lucy passes away at the age of 17 but lives eternally in a parallel, divine Heaven entitled 'Aslan's Country'. Whilst the ending is distressing for multiple reasons: Lucy dies at such a pivotal age whilst Susan stops believing in Narnia for simply discovering 'nylons and lipsticks', her reunion with her old friend Mr Tumnus and the animals she loved as a child demonstrates a timely but definite reward for good deeds. Thanks to her kindness and morals, Lucy remains eternally at peace.
An anecdote I recently discovered was that Lucy was based on June Flewett, a British actress and theatre director who was evacuated to C. S Lewis' house. One of June's daughters is Emma Freud, who is Richard Curtis' lifelong partner and if you know me, you know that I love Richard Curtis and that Love Actually is my favourite film. June will turn 96 this year.
I love Little Women so much. I can't remember when I first read the book but it's a novel I always turn back to for comfort. The book has received criticism in recent times due to the prose being too simplistic and characters like Amy seemingly giving up drawing for marriage. I disagree - compared to other classics at the time, I enjoy how easy the book is to navigate. I don't believe Amy gave up her dreams for marriage either, she simply had other ambitions that were equally important to her.
Jo is my favourite of the March sisters. Whether or not she should have ended up with Laurie is a topic of debate, though personally, I believe she was in her right to reject him. Love needs to be mutual and affection needs to be reciprocated in order for a relationship to work and throughout the novel, Jo expresses her frustration with the concept of marriage. Her relationship with writing was illustrated beautifully - she truly loved putting pen to paper and didn't care for financial benefit. 'Following your dreams' is a concept frequently belittled because of the lack of guarantee you'll succeed financially. Bhaur reminded Jo to ignore this, which is why they ended up together. Like many readers, I'd rather she have stayed single. That said, I can understand why Alcott wrote the ending this way.
I have a soft spot for Beth. She was just an utterly lovely character, the most content of the four sisters with the few assets they had. She possesses a keenness to help others similar to that of Lucy, supporting local school children and sending them supplies. Similarly to Charlotte and Helen Burns in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, she accepts that she's going to die and doesn't run herself ragged trying to prevent it. She dies peacefully, satisfied that she led with kindness in every decision she made in her lifetime.
In my Childhood Quotes blog post I mentioned that Wendy from Peter Pan is my favourite Disney character, princesses and animals aside. In the original novel, Wendy is taken to Neverland to be a 'mother' to the Lost Boys. Her character symbolises the inevitable fate all children, aside from Peter Pan, must accept: you must grow up and acknowledge the incoming responsibility that comes with that. What I love about Wendy is that she does grow up and that she does let Peter go. That said, she never forgets him. If Peter and Wendy did have a happily ever after, several aspects of the story would need to be altered in order for the message to stay the same. It's almost impossible to portray, hence why in Hook, Peter is married, but not to Wendy.
Wendy is extremely resilient and remains kind throughout the original text despite the evergrowing darkness trying to consume her. Traditionally, Captain Hook and Mr Darling are played by the same actor both on stage and on screen. The pirate's lifelong desire to kill Peter, the boy who stays eternally young, symbolises Mr Darling's wish for Wendy to grow up. Over time, Wendy grows to love the Lost Boys and recognises their need to be nurtured and cared for. She simultaneously doesn't believe she is ready for motherhood and begs Peter to allow them to return home with her. At the end of the novel, we see her grown up and married with a daughter, Jane, though her belief in Peter remains, and rightly so, for he returns to take Jane away on her own adventure.
Matilda holds up as one of the best children's books ever written, in my opinion. I don't think any other writer has illustrated the aspect of karma in their works better than Roald Dahl.
Roald Dahl gives all the child protagonists the power to accomplish whatever they set their mind to. George brilliantly shrinks his grandmother, who scares the daylight out of him, into a spec of nothing, whilst Charlie inherits a chocolate factory by merely standing back and observing the tour he is on as opposed to jumping into every exhibition. Matilda has received criticism in recent years for being a twisted story, however, people overlook the fact that the titular character came from an abusive household. The titular character was bookish and endlessly bright but neither of her parents went as far as to acknowledge her existence, let alone recognise her brilliance. She possesses eerie similarities to Stephen King's Carrie - both are mistreated, both develop telekinesis and both have their revenge within their respective schools. Miss Honey and Matilda's friends likely saved her from Carrie's fate.
I'm glad Matilda's powers vanish at the end of the novel though I think it's more fitting they remain in the film. Having finally found a home within her school and love among her classmates and Miss Honey, it makes more sense for her life to now have normalcy. I'll forever love the character for making bookishness cool and serving as a reminder that adults aren't always right.
Thank you so much for reading! Happy International Woman's Day in advance. This was a lot of fun to write. I want to give an honourable mention to Madeline and Alice, who I also adore.
I hope you are all well,
Karisma
xxxx