10 Inspiring Women of Literature

There are many female characters in the world of literature worth looking up to. Every new book will have at least one woman who every girl aspires to be like. Though it is almost unfair just to pick 10 from the many from all over the world, we have picked 10 characters that at least most people can be familiar with. Here are ten women that I have definitely day-dreamed of becoming:

1) Josephine March from Little Women- Josephine has been someone that I have always been able to relate to. Reading Little Women at a young age, and again in my 20's, Jo still is and always has been one of my favourite women in literature. Jo is smart, impulsive, argumentative, and willing to do anything for her family, even cut all of her precious hair off to raise money. And to make things better, she's a writer and does not care if she talks 'like a boy!'

2) Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice- Elizabeth Bennet is nothing short of strong and smart, and she knows what she wants. Her excellent use of words with wit can jumble the brains of anyone in conversation with her. Despite living in a world and time that just wasn't fair to women, she never let that stop her from speaking her mind, and she made sure to live by her own rules.

3) Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre is probably one of the earliest representations of an individualistic, passionate and complex female character. Though she suffers greatly, she always relies on herself to get back on her feet, never playing the damsel in distress. Jane Eyre taught us one of the first lessons of womanhood- we don't need men to survive. Full stop. 

4) Hermoine Granger from The Harry Potter series- Hermione started off as an insufferable know-it-all, who transformed into a whip-smart beauty who doesn't suffer fools, and ended up as the glue that holds everything together. Intellect often translates into might, but only when wielded by a steady hand — and Hermione just happens to have both, and compassion added to that!

5) Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series- Okay, Katniss did annoy us with all her boy-trouble and confusion, but any girl who can use a bow and arrow like that definitely deserves a place on this list. Not to mention the fact that she survived not one but two 24-person fights to the death, one of which was designed specifically to kill her. Since then, all I've wanted to do was own a bow and some arrows.

6) Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings series- Though Tolkien isn't really known for female protagonists, who could be more powerful than the woman who killed the Witch-king of Angmar? Born a warrior who would do anything to defend her countrymen from the first minute we see her, Éowyn disguises herself as a man to follow her friends into battle. 

7) Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- a world class computer hacker with a photographic memory, she's also the survivor of an abusive childhood, which makes her a severely anti-social protagonist with a violent streak. Known by many as the 'female avenging angel' Lisbeth's brutality is nothing to aspire to but she sure gets the job done.

8) Anna Karenina from Anna Karenina- Anna is one of literature's great heroines. She falls in love with a man besides her husband, and she then struggles with the ethical and social consequences of having a relationship outside marriage. What make her different and important are her flaws. Anna is a complex woman who ultimately destroys herself. But the reason you can sympathise is her gentleness, her good intentions and her humanness.

9) Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter- Though Hester Prynne, who is condemned by her neighbours for having a child out of wedlock, is sometimes seen as a victim, she manages to survive with dignity and faith throughout, which makes her pretty powerful. Bad yet beautiful, holy yet sinful, conventional but radical, Hester can be seen as Hawthorne's literary contemplation of what happens when women break cultural bounds and gain personal power.

10) The Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales- From the two female storytellers, the Wife has a lot of experience under her belt. She has travelled all over the world on pilgrimages, so Canterbury is a stroll compared to other perilous journeys she has endured. Not only has she seen many lands, she has lived with five husbands. The Wife is intelligent in a commonsense, rather than intellectual, way. Through her experiences with her husbands, she has learned how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. 

Inspired yet?