My three top influential female protagonists

As an accompaniment to my recent article here:

I also wanted to share with you all my top three most influential female protagonists in literature. As a result of myself pushing my limits and the way I write, including how I used to limit my own perspective to only male driven narratives, I feel that having good examples of female protagonists are something any writer can use as a character and writing reference.

Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

― Stephen King

Reading is most important and fundamental way to become a better writer. It gives you a multitude of different stories, styles, perspectives, inspiration and even more compact and subtle ways to drive your narrative without sounding boring or too bland.

Having good, solid characters with realistic backgrounds, motives, actions with subtle(unless your character is known to be brazen and loud!), natural flowing dialogue is the main ingredient to lift your story from the pages and actually make it come to life. Like baking soda or powder in a cookie. You don’t want a flat, boring old cookie, do you? Well, I’m the same way in how I want my novels to read and written!

As for me, I’m a Madeleine type of cookie person!

Big and puffy pastry type of cookies with hot tea or espresso! ❤️

Having an interesting and cohesive plot is also important, but characters, in my opinion are what make you care about the story.

So, I won’t go too much into the actual plots of each of these novels, but mainly I am focusing here on action driven characters that move the plot forward and also through those actions, show us who the protagonist really is. I also will be making a companion piece for three of my top most influential male protagonists as well.

My first female protagonist is the very funny, feisty and persuasive Ella, from Ella Enchanted.

This is an excerpt from the book that shows us without telling us something important about Ella (the unfair justaposition of having to obey orders and finding small, if not intrusive, ways to gain back her sense of control):

"If anybody gives you an order, you have to obey? Including me?"

I nodded.

"Can I try it?"

"No." I hadn't anticipated this. I changed the subject. "I'll race you to the gate."

"All right, but I command you to lose the race."

"Then I don't want to race."

"I command you to race, and I command you to lose."

We raced. I lost.

We picked berries. I had to give Pamela the sweetest, ripest ones. We played princesses and ogres. I had to be the ogre.

An hour after my admission, I punched her. She screamed, and blood poured from her nose.

Our friendship ended that day. Mother found Pamela's mother a new situation far from our town of Frell.

After punishing me for using my fist, Mother issued one of her infrequent commands: never to tell anyone about my curse. But I wouldn't have anyway. I had learned caution.

This excerpt shows us the subtle and also overt ways she gains her control when she has the opportunity to do so, her speech and her actions (though provoking and not socially acceptable) show us that she is very determined to get out of situations that are unfavorable to her own condition (a curse) even by will of her own stubbornness, persuasion, and by last resort, childhood immaturity leading to violence. She has her own methodical ways to thrive and survive: a resourceful use of talented actions and expressions (to use her eyes and voice to persuade ogres from eating her), and when she has the opportunity, she doesn’t always take them to a severe over advantage to herself—-just enough to help her get along to the next step of her life.

Instead of going on long emotional journal type narratives, (a stream of consciousness) we can see how she navigates through her extraordinary curse in a very ordinary way, through the social and societal hurdles she must escape or be put into by force, and how her feelings of self worth and empathy can help her grow into the strong and emotional mature women she becomes later on. Ella is my absolute favorite female protagonist, and I always love to read of her plucky, smart and devious ways—-as she inspires me still to this day.

Jane Eyre(of the same title) is my second favorite and one of the most influential female protagonists to me:

"Sir, your wife is living; that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire - I should then be your mistress. To say otherwise is sophistical - is false." -Jane Eyre

This quote she relays (in quiet dignity) to her employer turned fiancé comes right before she decides to go on a path that is as emotionally devastating and heartbreaking to her as it is to him.

To leave him due to social and moral issues, as well as a grown emotional maturity with strength of will and character.

This is a huge growth and milestone for Jane, as in the beginning of the novel, she is shown to have a large amount of anger for the people who slight her, and no forgiveness for them. This is from the beginning of the narrative from when she is a child:

Jane thinks, "Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely, and must turn: but how? What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist?"

As we can see from both places in her life, she takes her passion for justice and fairness in different strides. As a child, she always spoke up for herself in a way that made others around her easy to diminish. She was petulant, unforgiving, and forceful in her speech and actions about the ill-fated situation she was in with the people who had no respect or true affirmation for her emotional well-being.

As we see her face new challenges and heartaches, she grows into a self contained but very emotionally mature woman who can express herself in a way that anyone can understand without being rambunctious and indignant.

She is perfect protagonist to see the varying and different marks of growth as her story progresses, subtle and overt, and through her journey we see that she is the one writing the new chapters in a real physical sense—-through her decisions and actions, not because of the circumstances she is in.

My third favorite female protagonist is Patsy.

She has a story that is inspirational and also timeless—-anyone who has ever had something that effects how they talk or interact with others can see the way Patsy finds little ways(it being illegal for African American’s at the time to learn to read and write) to continue her education, her growth and help overcome her stutter and circumstances. And that is a journey that many can appreciate, as they have gone through similar hardships.

She finds a way to not only speak up for herself(at some points to make a strong point in her own defense) clearly and without a stutter, but also overcomes every societal and social circumstance against her to learn how write and read—-becoming a beloved school teacher in the end.

She is my childhood love; someone I always like to visit over and over again. Like a good friend(who doesn’t care that I am in my pajamas or my hair is a mess!).

Her resilience and good natured will towards others shows that even going through the toughest challenges and most harrowing circumstances, you can be empathetic toward mankind, you can have bravery in your actions without harming others, and you must persevere because the virtue of being strong and advocating for one’s self expression and rights through that dignity is worth more than any dose of hatred.

The act of showing your character’s feelings through how they deal with everyday things and situations, little or big, is a vital and direct way for your audience to care about the story you are telling, to see their growth(or their decline) and how much we want to see how their journey ends.

Here are some links for your (and my) reference:

Next up: Top three favorite and most influential Male protagonists!!

Happy writing and happy reading Vocal people’s!!