favourite female characters?

[NotYoMomma]

who are your favourite female characters?

obviously Elizabeth Bennett will have a big following (good!)

I love Hester from Mortal Engines

and Daisy from the Great Gatsby - she is so selfish but perfectly crafted it is a joy to read about her.

[oinktopus]

Orlando (from Orlando, and yes, I know), Zazie (in the Metro), Amaranta (One Hundred Years of Solitude), Lyra Belacqua (His Dark Materials), Lisbeth (Millennium series), Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Liesel (The Book Thief), Pelagia (Captain Corelli's Mandolin), Idgie (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe).

[DuchessofMalfi]

Anne Elliot (Persuasion), Lisbeth Salander (Millennium Trilogy), Midori (Norwegian Wood), Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With The Wind - I loathe her, but admire her strength of character and desire to get what she wants), agree Elizabeth Bennet but equally like Jane too and strangely quite admire the wayward Lydia for ignoring society manners and just doing her own thing :o. And so many more :)

[carlajean]

Smilla, from Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. Tough yet vulnerable. Becky Sharpe , a very non-Victorian heroine in a Victorian novel

[MrsHavisham]

Dido Twite from the Joan Aitkin books.
Cassandra from I Capture the Castle

[MrsHavisham]

Moll Flanders

[LumpySpace]

Nanny Ogg.

[LtEveDallas]

Lt Eve Dallas of course!

[marissab]

Not read many classics but loved Lisbet Salander and many of the women in the Sarah Waters novels

[tywysogesgymraeg]

Jo, from Little Women.
Also George from The Famous Five books

(I wanted to be a boy when I was young!!)

[Foosyerdoos]

Aurora Greenway from Tearms of Endearment
Susan Sto Helit from the disc world books

[ButterMyArse]

Anne Shirley
Becky Sharp - wouldn't have her as a friend but I admired her front
Harriet from The Little Friend

[HarpyFishwifeTwat]

Anne Shirley, George from the Famous Five (although was more like Anne as a little girl), Liesel from The Book Thief.

Not a big fan of romantic heroines - they always seem to be too defined by their relationships with men.

[LauraChant]

Harriet Vane
Dido Twite
Anne Shirley

[minidipper]

Lucy Snow in Villette and Jane Eyre, both really independent women who ran off, had adventures and lived by their own means at a time when that wasn't done.

Love Flora Post. I want to be Flora Post.

[ButterMyArse]

Ooh, yes, Tess. And also Bathsheba Everdene. Strong woman! I wanted to name DD Bathsheba but was roundly mocked.

[ModeratelyObvious]

Harriet Vane
Phoebe from Three Times Table by Sara Maitland

[OverAndAbove]

Polly Cazalet
Clary Cazalet
Miss Skeeter (The Help)
Juliet Ashton (Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)
Miss Annersley (Chalet School)
Dora Belvedon (Jilly Cooper various)
Precious Ramotswe (Ladies No 1 Detective Agency)
Matilda

Oh there are so many good ones!

[UptoapointLordCopper]

Fever Crumb from Fever Crumb. "It's not rational" - love it. Hester is good too.

I've nearly forgotten about Smilla - thank you for reminding me of her carlajean.
She's like Rambo but tougher.

V I Warshawski from Sara Paretsky books. She gets scared but still doesn't give up.

[iseenodust]

Spooky. I came on to say VI Warshawski too! Likes men but doesn't need them. Has a good female best friend too.

[UptoapointLordCopper]

Iseenodust I read Hard Time (only my 2nd Warshawski book) and am completely won over. What a woman!

[tumbletumble]

Lexie (The Hand That First Held Mine)
Nancy (Swallows and Amazons)
Louise (A Summer Bird-Cage)
Jenny (Love Story)
Linda (The Pursuit of Love)
Jane (The L Shaped Room)

Aso Elizabeth Bennett and Cassandra Mortmain already mentioned.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I came on to say both Elizabeth and Hester. Freaky.

Also love whatshername in No Name and am v fond of Marianne Dashwood too.

And the werewolf officer in Terry Pratchett.

And Petrova in Ballet Shoes - I think she's my favourite favourite.

I detest Daisy Fay - she makes me want to rip pages.

[OverAndAbove]

Oh yes I love Lexie.
And Petrova Fossil ROCKS!

I've turned over from the film of The Lovely Bones because I can't bear to watch it but Susie Salmon is just so sweet