Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Heroines



It's time for another venture into Top Ten Tuesday, brought to you courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish! This week's topic is:

My Top Ten Literary Heroines!

Here goes, again in no particular order.

1. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I am certain that she will be a frequent character on these lists because, let's face it, she is just that great. She is strong where others around her are weak, intelligent in spite of a silly, grasping mother and even sillier sisters, and able to make the world's most unattainable man fall at her feet. She is witty and charming and is always able to think of just the right thing to say to convey her feelings. I admire that and wish it was a trait I was blessed with as well. Most of the time I turn into a bumbling idiot when I am placed in a stressful position where one would need to tread carefully in the words department.

2. Alanna of Trebond from the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.
This quartet of YA novels have stuck with me for nearly 20 years because of the wonderful character of Alanna. She defies all conventions and disguises herself as a boy in order to obtain her knighthood, and she won't let anyone push her around. She is strong, smart, braver than most men, and I have always delighted in reading her adventures, even now that I'm older.

3. Mehrunnisa from The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan. This is actually a real person, and was the aunt of the woman to whom the great Taj Mahal was built for. She was the source of power behind the Indian throne, climbing there through great adversity and much struggle both in the world and 'behind the veil'. I admire her greatly.

4. Aliena from Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Talk about struggling to get by in a man's world. This woman is completely shattered more than once and manages to keep her wits about her and rebuild from scratch while keeping her dignity, her pride and her core of inner strength intact.

5. Jo March from Little Women by Louis May Alcott. I love Jo. She is warm and caring, and also has a quest for learning which knows no bounds. A wonderful character to read about.

6. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
She could warm anyone's heart, and she certainly does mine. One of the most charming literary heroines ever written.

7. Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.
She stops at nothing to achieve her goals, even if that means stepping on a few toes on her way there. But she manages to make everything work with poise and dignity.

8. Morgaine from Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A beautiful, mysterious and magical heroine who is a delight to read about.

9. Rowan Mayfair from The Witching Hour by Anne Rice. She is a brilliant doctor and the most powerful witch of her age-what's not to love?

10. Vida Winter from The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
Just an amazing character, full of all the virtues and vices that make a great story.

so those are mine, how about you? Agree? Disagree?

9 comments:

Sugar and Snark said...

I forgot about Aliena!
Here is my TTT


Lu
http://lusbookblog.blogspot.com/

Daisy said...

I really like Aliena, but she didn't end up making my top ten. Alanna, Katniss and Elizabeth made my list as well :) (and here I was thinking I'd be original in having Alanna on it..)

danya said...

I thought about Alanna and Elizabeth, but chose the slightly less well-known Elinor and Daine instead :) Also, interesting that you chose Sayuri as a favorite - personally from what I remember I actually quite disliked her!

Jamie said...

I have Elizabeth and Jo on mine too! I didn't even think about Vida!! Good call on that one! That book was just so amazing.

Ali Watts said...

Good call on Aliena and Sayuri! I love both of those books (and characters!), funny they didn't occur to me while listing!

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

Oh, Vita Winter, Good one. I didn't even think of her. That book was so much fun to read.
-Anne
http://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/

Kayla + Cyna said...

Yay, great list! Lizzie made my list, and I also love Morgaine (well, Bradley's priestesses in general). I like what you said about Lizzie, too, and I think that's a perfect way of explaining why she's so loved: she is what she is in spite of her mother and sisters. I'm sure we're all glad she took more after her dad xD I can't say I was hugely fond of Sayuri, mostly because I was a Nobu fan, and what she did to him in the end really bothered me :/ But it was a good book. Also, I need to read the Lioness Quartet. I read the Trickster books and liked them a lot, so I'm sure I'd like Lioness, especially from what I've heard about Alanna :D

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Anne Shirley! Definitely!

I'd love to see what you think of my list.
www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com

Audra said...

I don't know how I missed this post, but I love it. I'm so cheered to see Jo March and Morgaine on the list -- they are two rockin' heroines, I think!menta