I love some of these characters in print too, but here I'm focusing on their onscreen iterations, okay?
1. Victoria Barkley (Miss Barbara Stanwyck) from The Big Valley (1965-69). I wrote a whole post a few years ago about how much I want to be like Victoria when I grow up. She is smart, compassionate, feisty, stubborn, generous, loyal, and forgiving. Wonderful woman.
2. Anne Shirley (Megan Followes) from Anne of Green Gables (1985) and Anne of Avonlea (1987). She's very unlike me in a lot of ways -- she's as unshy as I am shy, she's got a quick temper and mine is a slower simmer, and she keeps grudges, while I am usually quick to forgive. But she's also so similar. Like me, she's an imaginative daydreamer. A book-lover. An outsider. I relate to Anne a lot, both in the books and in these filmed versions.
3. Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) from the 1983 BBC version of Jane Eyre. Jane is actually my favorite fictional heroine overall, but this list is supposed to be about on-screen characters, so she drops a few slots here. Anyway, I love Jane because she is so principled, stalwart, and loving. She spends her whole life insisting she will obey God (and her conscience) rather than men, and standing up to man after man who tries to bend her to their own will instead of God's. She's an inspiration to me.
4. Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) from the Thin Man movies. Nora is the epitome of a spunky, helpful, supportive wife. She and her husband Nick Charles (William Powell) are #marriagegoals for me because they genuinely enjoy being together. They make each other laugh, encourage each other, help each other, and keep each other sane. I adore them, but especially Nora.
5. Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) from While You Were Sleeping (1995). Lucy is basically exactly me. Put me in that situation, parents dead and me unmarried, and I'd be Lucy. Have a cat, break things with my Christmas tree, create an imaginary life for myself with a handsome stranger, and totally be unable to tell people truths because I'm so lonely I can't bring myself to give them up.
6. Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015). Gaby is extremely competent. She can fix cars, drive cars, banter, dance, spy, and survive with the best of them. She is 1/3 of why I love that movie so much.
7. Beatrice (Emma Thompson) from Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Oh look, another intelligent, feisty, witty, sarcastic, fierce female character. Are you sensing a theme here? Clearly, I have a Type when it comes to female characters I will gravitate toward. Beatrice also happens to have been written by Shakespeare, so she gets a extra good dialog and some above-par character development. Thompson manages to blend plenty of wistful in with the prickly so you don't just want her to go away all the time.
8. Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) from Lost (2004-10). I'm not into "shipping" and don't go in for "One True Pairings" as a general rule... but Sawyer and Juliet are my Lost OTP. Also, you'll notice they're a canonical couple. I get very annoyed with people who want Sawyer to get back with Kate because Juliet is so Right For Him. She matches him in intelligence and stubbornness, gently guides him to becoming a better person, inspires him, uplifts him, and... it's probably weird for me to be talking so much about a guy on a list that's supposed to be about female characters, but Juliet's patience and perseverance with Sawyer is a big part of why I love her, so... there it is.
9. Emma Woodhouse (Gwyneth Paltrow) from Emma (1996). I don't like Emma in Jane Austen's book until the very end, but Paltrow's Emma has a kindness and elegance and sweetness that make the character one I'd love to hang out with, not one I want to kick. Remarkable achievement, I think.
10. Dr. Michaela Quinn (Jane Seymour) from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-98). Smart, stubborn, courageous, kind, helpful, determined, protective, loving, a little bossy... Dr. Mike is everything I like in a woman. As you may have come to realize while reading this list.
Okay, that's it! Who are your favorite female screen characters? Do we share any favorites?
Really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteLove Anne especially Megan follows version. I think she does a great job being spunky, but also imaginative. I have to agree with you about Juliet. I honestly didnt like her with Jack. She really was patient but stubborn with Sawyer and they worked well together.
Glad you enjoyed it, Pages to Remember! Megan Follows definitely captured the different sides of Anne Shirley.
DeleteI thought I was going to hate Juliet, and then... she got all wonderful and stuff once she and Sawyer started sharing scenes. Definitely not a fan of her with Jack, though, just like I'm not a fan of Kate with Sawyer.
Yes, when Juliet first introduced I didn't care for her. But definitely got better later on. Same! I like Kate with Jack.
DeleteNora and Gaby are definitely on my faves. Nicole from How to Steal a Million, Ann in Roman Holiday. Ella in Cinderella.
ReplyDeleteLivia, that's cool! I do like Nicole, Ann, and Ella too. Ella would possibly be here if I did a top 20 instead.
DeleteWhat a great list! <3 You clearly love female characters with big personalities, just like I do. ;) even if we don't have the exact same choices.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite female screen characters ... hmmm. Definitely Donna Noble from Doctor Who. CJ Cregg from The West Wing. Carol Danvers and Natasha Romanoff from the MCU. Rey from Star Wars. Jo March from the 2019 Little Women.
I like female characters with vivid, colorful personalities who color the lives of those around them. who are unapologetic about what they want.
Katie, yeah, I do. I like female leaders. Actually, I kind of like the same things in female and male characters -- I want them to be kind, smart, determined/stubborn, loyal, and not afraid to get loud about what they care about. Male or female is a side issue.
DeleteThat's really interesting to me, because I tend to want very different things from male & female characters. With a female character, it's always "how well do I RELATE to this girl and how much can I SEE MYSELF in her," and with a male character, it's much less about relating to or seeing myself in the guy, and mostly just "do I feel safe being around him." So I'm looking for different qualities in each, I guess?
DeleteKatie, I suspect wanting different things from male and female characters is probably way more usual than my "I don't care what your gender is, I just want you to Be Like This" attitude, lol. Which I probably have because I've felt such a kinship to so many male characters throughout my life, much more than female ones. Not in a gender-dysphoric way, but in a "I really get these guys more than I do those girls" way. Which is why I write male characters so often.
DeleteMmmmmmm, yes. We're very different in that way! You relate the most to male characters: I relate the most to female characters who don't conform to gender expectations, but not to male characters. (For the most part.) So I relate to my tomboy girls, but I don't take that to its (logical??) conclusion and find male characters relatable ... xD I may LIKE certain male characters very, very much, but it's usually not cuz I see myself in them in any way.
DeleteI'm not generally a huge fans of comedies, but I love Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday. I considered running away to journalism school because of Hildy.
ReplyDeleteAs for your list, I only share having seen the Thin Man movies with you! (Plus possibly Emma but I'm not sure about that.) I agree that Nick and Nora are lots of fun.
VT, I should see His Girl Friday again. It's been decades.
DeleteI would like to rewatch all the Thin Man movies and review them at some point. Some of them, I've seen multiple times, and some only once.
Not a film or TV character (at least not as I "knew" her) but I remembered another very fun screen female today - Carmen Sandiego!
DeleteVT, I used to love that show! We got a card game based on it a year or two ago, and my kids were really obsessed with the theme song for a while cuz we'd play it on our phones while playing the game with them.
DeleteMyrna Loy's energy while she plays Nora is fantastic! I love The Thin Man movies because her and Nick are an amazing couple.
ReplyDeleteMC, yes, she is just on fire in those! And her chemistry with William Powell is dazzling. I've been watching some other movies they made together, and they always pair well, though never quite so perfectly as when they're Nick & Nora.
DeleteAww, what a great list! Nora and Gaby and Victoria are awesome. So is Dr. Quinn.
ReplyDeleteDKoren, I knew you'd approve of several on here :-D
DeleteAww, lovely choices, I haven't seen all of these but most of them I like a lot too. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Charity!
DeleteVictoria Barkley has been inspiring me for 50 years. (Ouch!)
ReplyDeleteEmma is a favourite among Austen's novels, but I have never seen any film adaptions.
L.M. Montgomery's "Anne" books were the first I borrowed from the library. That girl will always be special.
Caftan Woman, well, Victoria Barkley has been inspiring me for probably 30 years, which is also a bit of an ouch ;-)
DeleteEmma is one of my least-favorite Austen novels, but this movie? Love it to bits.
That's so amazing that the first books you got from the library were the Anne books! She's been part of my life longer than any of the rest of these characters -- longer than most fictional characters, really! In fact, my oldest daughter's middle name is Anne.
Anne (with an "e") is a lovely legacy for your eldest daughter. It's almost as great as calling a cat "Bartley J.Mansfield III!"
DeleteCaftan Woman, true! And our younger daughter's middle name is Jane for Jane Eyre :-)
Delete#1 - I haven't seen 'The big valley' but I'm sure I would like Victoria and wouldn't mind being her.
ReplyDelete#2 - I have only a few things in comment with Anne Shirley but I'm definitely not into speaking out as much as she would. I think we all want to be her, I know I do. Even if there is no Gilbert, I would still be her.
#3 - Jane is great but I now I kind of don't like her as much as I used to. I haven't seen this 1983 version though.
#4 - I love Nora and I wouldn't mind being rich like her but I think having Nick is and should be part of the package because like you said, these two do like each other and they belong together.
#5 - I sort of used to love 'While you were sleeping' but seeing it again later somehow, I find Lucy to be kind of pitiful for some reason. She's someone trying to find someone to love her and I can understand that. I guess the movie is a bit too sappy for me now.
#6 - Haven't seen this movie but the way you've described Gaby, I would like to be her, especially the part about fixing cars, dancing, bantering, she sounds great.
#7 - I don't really like the movie or the characters but I find Beatrice a bit fun
#8 - I never saw that show but from what you've said, I agreed with you. For some odd reason, I always like to root for the unpopular pair.
#9 - I don't like Emma much either, not even in the movies, or those tv adaptations. I think Emma have too much privilege and too much free time and I can never relate to her.
#10 - If I ever want to be a doctor, I would be Dr. Quinn, a little bossy is good because I never seem to be able to boss anyone around.
Great list. You've listed a lot of my favorite female screen characters so I really couldn't think of more except maybe Nicole Bonnet in 'How to steal a million' played by Audrey Hepburn - she's not only stylish in that film but she's feisty and daring and who would ask a thief to steal for her? That's bravely right there. Actually, I think I would like to be any characters Audrey Hepburn plays except for the serious films.
Have a lovely day.
Lissa, thanks for the wonderful comments!
DeleteI definitely feel like most readers want to be more like Anne Shirley in some way. I'd love to have her endless ability to find joy in small things.
Nora without Nick would be too sad. Agreed.
Nicole from How to Steal a Million has come up several times in the comments here! She's definitely fun. And has amazing clothes. :-)
Love this list!
ReplyDeleteJane is one of my favorite heroines, too. I love how immovable she is in her convictions.
Olivia, yay! Yes. Jane is convinced of her convictions. Even as a kid. And so direct. I envy her directness. So often, I will nod and say, "Ahhhh," when someone says something I disagree with because I don't want to argue it out with them. And they think "Ahhhh" means "I agree," when it actually means, "I see how wrong you are now and am violently disagreeing with you in my head."
DeleteGreat choices.
ReplyDeleteAnne is one of my favorites, too. She's determined and feisty but also so sweet and dreamy.
I actually do like book Emma a lot, but the Gwyneth Paltrow version is my favorite.
I like Juliet, too. She's probably my favorite female Lost character (I mean, I do like Claire, I like Kate but sometimes she annoyed me, I like Ana Lucia but, again, sometimes she annoyed me).
Great post. It was so fun to read.
Thanks, McKayla!
DeleteI loved Kate for several seasons. Flat-out loved her. Until she came back and tried to drive a wedge between Sawyer and Juliet. Then I lost all patience with her.
I did like Claire a lot. Sometimes Ana Lucia, but she was so often... selfish? Unreasonable? Something. I couldn't really love her.
Like I said, I really did like Kate. I found her backstory to be the most interesting [hers or Sawyer's], but, yes, when she did that I started to like her much less.
DeleteClaire is so sweet, even when she was put through horrible situations [which happened often].
Oh, yes, definitely. I'm not sure what the word is, but she's definitely not particularly likable. I think I just found her interesting for whatever reason. Though, on Lost, most of them are interesting.
McKayla, yeah, there were very few boring characters on Lost! Even ones I didn't care about all that much, like Shannon, weren't boring.
DeleteGaby! I love her so much. You have fantastic taste!
ReplyDeleteSkye, Gaby is so wonderful. She reminds me a little of your Snow, in a way. Thanks :-)
Delete