I'm not saying the character has to be completely feisty (like Tris from Divergent) but they have to show at least a little determination. Even if the book isn't a dystopia or an action, I still can't stand a female protagonist who doesn't stand up for what they believe in... It just annoys me so much! So yes, as you can tell from the title of this point, having feistiness is sort of a necessity for female characters I like... It's something that makes me genuinely love them as a person!
2) A brain (fairly important...)
Again, I'm not saying they have to be super-duper-Hermione-Granger smart, just that they have to have common sense. Often, in action-y books, the female characters act stupidly – why? To use the classic examples of Violet from A Series of Unfortunate Events and (as I previously mentioned) Hermione from Harry Potter, clever female characters are a lot more respectable. I know the two examples I used aren't from action-y books, but you get the drift...
3) An ambition (I'm not entirely sure why)
I guess this doesn't just apply to female protagonists, but I like the character to have an ambition/dream. An example of this is Jo (from Little Women) – she's an aspiring author. It just makes the whole book a bit more interesting if they have, you know, a goal or something. So, I guess that is something I really like in a female protagonist.
I hope you enjoyed this short post, and I bet you're glad it's not another review! By the way, the picture above was just something I drew on paint!
Good ideas! I really enjoy reading your blog cause you post about a lot of stuff that I don't always think about!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Glad you like it the randomness of my blog :D
DeleteFun. Awesome. Post :) I totally agree with your points. I posted my Life of Pi review and I hope to have a review for Looking for Alaska up soon.
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out right now! :)
DeleteHi Ruby!
ReplyDeleteSomehow these qualities that you look for in a female lead (and what most others look for too) represents an ideal. I would love for the heroine to have a goal or ambition, because it's something I don't know yet. What do I want to be when I grow up? I still don't know. And I know lots of people who when they disagree with something, they sort of whisper it to society, share about it with another person, but never openly protest. Standing up for one's beliefs, especially for teenagers in their school environment, is frightening. I do get mad at weak characters, but for certain qualities they have (bad qualities) I connect with them because I understand that I have some of them too (ie. ambition). I don't mind if a heroine lacks in these areas, as long as I can see development, overcoming those weaknesses and growing.
This is a very interesting post you've brought up! Thanks for getting my neurons working! I'm thinking of posting something like this on my blog too! It'd be a fantastic topic post.
-Kirthi
Glad I got your neurons working! I see what you mean about seeing some development of the character over the course of the novel... That fits in quite nicely with what I wrote above for the first point. As for the ambition thing, I'm exactly the same – I have no idea what I want to do when I'm older! I used to want to be an author, so I guess that's why I've always loved Jo from Little Women. I'd be really interested in reading that post of yours, it sounds interesting!
DeleteGreat Post and I totally agree. After just finishing Divergent, I have come to really applaud stronger female characters. I loved Divergent and I cannot wait to read the next one. I finally finished Delirium and my review is up.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogging :D
Sunny
Ooh! I'll check out your Delirium review... And yes, Tris is brilliant, isn't she?
DeleteYes! I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you do!
DeleteQuote: "Often, in action-y books, the female characters act stupidly – why?".
ReplyDeleteMaybe because the author thinks that all his/her female readers will SWOON over the oh-so-convenient male characters who come and save said "heroines"...I guess that particular device is seen as the best way to introduce instalove...urgh.
Quote: "urgh".
DeleteI so totally agree with you! Instalove is extremely annoying and puts me off many ya books.
*nods head* This is true *brain falls out* Nooo... Come back brain! I can't just be feisty & have an ambition!
ReplyDelete(I'm kidding, I obviously cannot lose my brain).
I think that having no ambition is going to mean the plot/characterization is less believable. One needs to be determined so they don't fall into instalove and they continue with the ambition.
Less floor-y my females (I mean to say... no boots go walking over...)
I agree with everything you just said (mainly about the character having no ambition making the whole book less believable). Thanks for commenting & I hope you find your brain!
DeleteHello! I found your blog on Goodreads in the "Blogger Lift" group. I really like your blog and I had to follow it! I totally agree with you on this. I like my female protagonist to be the same way. Whenever I'm writing a novel, I always make sure to include intelligence, ambition and bravery, also other personality traits. This was a very interesting entry and it gave me an idea for a future blog post. XD
ReplyDeleteHere is my blog:
http://brittneycanna.blogspot.com/
Thank you very much for following, and I'm glad you agree with what I said! I can't wait to check out your blog! :)
DeleteThere's nothing worse than a character that's bland...
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteHa! I completely agree that a brain is fairly important (; Common sense is lacking in a bunch of characters I come across. I understand lack of brain or ditsyness with the blond cheerleader who hates the main characters guts but not in the main character themselves. I never would have thought about the ambition. It makes perfect sense. I like when the character has a goal because it's great when they are able to reach it. Even if it's not clear like by the end of it the character decides to be their own person or something like that. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you – glad you enjoyed it! When I started writing this post, I wasn't sure what I was going to put as the third point... But, like you said, it suddenly made perfect sense for me to pick 'having an ambition'. Anyway, thanks for commenting! :)
Delete