Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Heroines from Books (...and Movies!)

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun bookish meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish and today bloggers were asked to compile lists of our favorite heroines from books. I decided to stick to novels for this list so I wouldn't have to get crafty and find a way to include all of the Sailor Scouts from the Sailor Moon manga by Naoko Takeuchi as there are so many and they all kick ass. Also, I decided to include some favorite movie heroines at the bottom just for fun.

 

There are so many reasons to read, and one of those reasons is for the sake of connecting with characters. Any person in the world can find themselves represented in some book somewhere, but we can also find who we strive to be. That's what the characters on this list mean to me.

 

The best heroines are strong but also acknowledge their vulnerabilities, and they come in every variety; whether it's someone like Katniss Everdeen, Linh Cinder, or Somni-451 who are revolutionaries even though they struggle with their fates; or a Bronte heroine such as Jane Eyre, Lucy Snowe, or Helen Graham, who fight for independence and happiness even though it seems that society itself would condemn them for coveting such liberation. These are women who kept going and did the right thing, whether it was for personal reasons or for the sake of doing what they believed was right for the world. They found themselves even if others wouldn't like it, and I know they've definitely helped me find myself and what I strive to be. Who knows where we'd be without having their influence in mind?

 

Top Ten Favorite Heroines from Books

Left to right: Hermione Granger as portrayed by Emma Watson, Jane Eyre as portrayed by
Mia Wasikowska, Katniss Everdeen as portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence.

1

Hermione Granger

from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

 

2

Jane Eyre

from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

 

3

Linh Cinder

from the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer

 

4

Katniss Everdeen

from The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

 

5

Scarlet Benoit

from the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer

Left to right: Vivian Gandillon as portrayed by Agnes Bruckner, Helen Graham as portrayed
by Tara Fitzgerald, and Somni-451 as portrayed by Doona Bae.

 6

Vivian Gandillon

from Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

7
Helen Graham
from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
 

8

Lucy Snowe
from Villette by Charlotte Bronte
 

9

Mary

from The Forest of  Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

 

 10
Somni-451
from Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell


...And My Favorite Movie Heroines

1
Selene
portrayed by Kate Beckinsale
from Underworld

2
Pocahontas
portrayed by Irene Bedard and Judy Kuhn (singing)
from Pocahontas 

3
Mulan
portrayed by Ming-Na Wen and Lea Salonga (singing)
from Mulan

4
Elle Woods
portrayed by Reese Witherspoon
from Legally Blonde

5
Sarah
portrayed by Robin Tunney
from The Craft

*

Who are your favorite heroines?