My family and I sat down to watch director Joe Wright’s wonderful
adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”, and of course my family fell
asleep and played with the dogs. However, if they did pay attention, they would
of noticed that “Pride and Prejudice”, both the book and the movie, is a
wonderful piece that was way ahead of its time. Lizzie Bennet, the main
character, out of all her sisters, is the only one who has the crazy notion
that a women can be strong enough to marry for love instead of protection or
money. I agree with film critic Roger Ebert, when he says in his review of that
film that these two people, Lizzie Bennett and the man she loves, Mr. Darcy are
good people. Ebert says his heart leaped for joy when they got together. Mine
did too. Yes, maybe I would have a girlfriend if I watched football instead of
“Pride and Prejudice”. Life is ironic, isn’t it? However, if anything,
literature is important because it provides a strong base for female characters.
Strong female characters are important and often in young adult literature like
Hermione in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels to Lyra Belacqua in Philip
Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” novels,
they outsmart the boys. Heck, even Bella Sawn in the “Twilight” books is
a strong female character. Now we welcome Katniss Everdeen, of Suzanne Collin’s
bestselling novels “The Hunger Games.” A strong female character is something
literature provides. Going back even to earlier works; we had Miss. Dalloway in
Virginia Woolf’s novel “Miss. Dalloway”. Watching the movie, and reading the
novel “The Hunger Games”, Katniss often outsmarts her male counterparts and
carries a bow and arrow.I guess it helps that the outcrop of authors of young adult literature are female. J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins and Stephanie Meyer, however, the popular young adult author, John Green, is coming out with a book about a strong female character. “The Fault in Our Stars” is about a teenage girl with cancer, and her strong willed reaction to her situation. It’s interesting to note before the current crop of young adult novels came out, Japan was already ahead of us. Look at the movies of master animator Hayao Miyazaki. Most of his films are about strong willed women, and a lot of them are based on novels. “Howl’s Moving Castle” is about a strong woman named Sophie, who under the witch’s curse, transforms between an older woman and a younger woman. It’s based on the novel by the beloved fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones. How about “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, which is about a young witch setting out on her own? That is based on the novel by Japanese fantasy author Eliko Kadono. His original films also sparkle with strong females, like “Spirited Away”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Ponyo”, “My Neighbor Tororo”, and his most recent “The Secret World of Arrietty.”
However, this isn’t about film. It’s interesting to note that as I was looking through the young adult section of my library, I stumbled upon an old favorite writer about a witch who goes out on her own. Famed fantasy and science fiction author Terry Pratchett is writing a series about a young witch who sets out on her own after studying at a school for witches. The witch is named Tiffany Aching, and not a surprise for the 65 million copy selling author, his new series has sold well. Drawing from my own reading, I’m a big fan of the father of cyberpunk, William Gibson, and his reoccurring character, the female half android, half human, Molly Millions. She constantly outsmarts her male counterparts in “Necromancer” and its squeals. However, it’s also interesting to note that William Gibson had a strong female character at the center of his novel, “Pattern Recognition”, the first novel to ever address 9/11. Cayce Polland, in “Pattern Recognition” is a strong woman who works as a “cool hunter” for major companies. She has to hunt down the mysterious footage on the internet.
I remember my first encounter with a strong female in literature. That had to be Lyra Belacqua in Philip Pullman’s fantasy series “His Dark Materials.” An orphan living in the halls of Oxford, she sets out to the North Pole after her best friend is kidnapped by a mysterious institution called the Church. Forgetting the unfortunate name, she is a strong girl who can make friends with a polar bear and find her best friend, even when her life is in danger. Later on, she is joined by a boy named Will, in book two. However, that doesn’t take away from her status as the hero of the story. Another example would be Scout, from the Pulitzer Prize winning “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, a strong willed girl who refuses dresses, who stands up to her town, and makes a speech against prejudice.
Even today, when I do pick up a book with the boy as the title character, it has become important for a strong female character to often take the lead. Take the cleaver Harry Potter knock off, “Percy Jackson.” While Percy is the main character, his friend Annabeth Chase is often the smarter one. And while we are on young adult literature, take Hermione from the “Harry Potter” novels. She is, throughout all seven books, smarter and more resourceful than Harry and Ron. As much as Harry is the hero, there is no way that Harry would have survived without Hermione.
And now we have Katiniss Everdeen who volunteers in her sister’s place to meet certain death. We could say this is a golden age for strong females, but as Jane Austen proves, it’s really not. It’s always been there. Lizzie Bennett was a strong female, going back to “Pride and Prejudice.” Pixar, ever the fan of Miyazaki, is coming out with their first female centered story “Brave”. That’s an appropriate title because our fictional heroines reflect what we hope our real life daughters will be. Brave, indeed. And going back to “Pride and Prejudice”, my heart leaps for joy when Lizzie and Mr. Darcy get together. Lizzie is a strong female. Today, with the debate over women’s health care and having men make judgments about something that isn’t any of their business, it’s more important than ever to have strong female characters. Strong female characters are important because they help even the playing field and give women role models they can aspire to.
