The best part about fiction is that it is not a passive endeavour – you live the characters and the story. And the plot and its intricacies may slide from your memory, but the characters stick with you. You speak to them, laugh and cry with the, become friends with them, fall in love with them or hate them deviously. Regardless, the characters you read become a part of you in some way. Here’s a list of 10 most loved female characters from books and perhaps favourite female characters from novels for many book readers.
10 Most Loved Female Characters From Books:
Katniss Everdeen
As an ordinary young girl who plays on her life to protect her sister in Hunger Games by Suzanne Collings, Katniss was most endearing. Her absolute bravery in the hunger games, her intellect in understanding the agenda of the Capitol, her tenderness in loving Peeta and caring for Rue make her extraordinary.
Elizabeth Bennet
Perhaps the strongest classic heroine of all time, Elizabeth Bennett of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a feisty young woman. Unlike the demure maidens of her time, she refuses to conform to societal expectations and takes her own decisions. She has honour, dignity, self respect, and of course a whole lot of pride and prejudice. Of course, she is the best kind of woman.
Emma Bovary
Emma Bovary from Flaubert’s ‘Madame Bovary’ may be a rich and bored woman who seeks excitement in the arms of men other than her husband. But she’s also a very well fleshed out character with her own charms that we absolutely love.
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley, of L M Montgomery’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ is a supremely endearing character. Her connect to nature, her relationship with the frenemy that becomes her lover and her feisty nature make her a classic. The whole book feels like spring, but especially this character.
Hazel Grace
This 16 year old with cancer who falls in love with the dreamy Gus and loses him to cancer in TFIOS by John Green doesn’t arouse our pity. She arouses only a love for her subtle tenderness and fierce love, through which she wins us over. Her wisdom, intellect humour and capacity for love make her truly wonderful.
Louisa Clarke
The protagonist of Jojo Moyes’s Me Before You is a boring, average girl initially. However, she is transformed after she takes care of a quadriplegic man, Will. She eventually falls for him and he decides on euthanasia, making the plot a tragic love story. But Clarke’s character arc, her endearing quirks and the way love becomes a catalyst to her metamorphosis is a delight.
Hermione Granger
J K Rowling’s Hermione Granger, with her wit and intelligence, her nerdy demeanour yet her immaculate badass vibe has to be on our list. A part of the protagonist trio in Harry Potter, she has a piece of our hearts. From being proud of her for slapping Malfoy to sobbing when she and Ron get together and feeling heartbroken when she cries on the Hogwarts staircase after the Yule Ball. She is definitely one of the favourite female characters from novels.
Liesel Meminger
Liesel, from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is perhaps the most adorable character of all times. From stealing books from the Mayor’s library to read to being empathic enough to shelter a Jew in Nazi Germany, she’s a gem. And she’s only a child, full of innocence and curiosity, which makes her even cuter.
Mariam Khan
This woman, from Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is the epitome of resilience. Her life is a series of adversities, from her birth as a bastard to her marriage to the misogynistic Rashid, her inability to bear children, facing her husband’s new wife and finally, her death sentence. Yet, she represents a sort of endurance, a calm tenderness from which the bitterness of a hard life is bereft.
Sati
Shiva’s lover and a fierce warrior and ardent lover in her own right, Sati is the female protagonist of Amish’s Ram Chandra trilogy. Her character is immensely well rounded. She has the power of weaponry and physical strength along with the power of sacrifice, love, nurturance and tenderness. Who cannot love her, really?
