Elizabeth Bennet – Pride and Prejudice (Austen)
A cliché, perhaps, to cite Lizzie as an inspiring fictional woman, but whether we are sick of her or not, Miss Bennet remains to this day one of the seminal female characters in literature. Indeed, she is your traditional heroine in many ways, she is beautiful,...
Beatrice – Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare)
Possibly Shakespeare’s most playful heroine, Beatrice is the perfect vessel for his joyful manipulation of language and imagery to shine. She is a woman of sharp wit and a feisty intelligence, who has earned their respect and friendship of the influential men with...
Mae West (1893 – 1980)
“Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from” Mae West, born Mary Jane West, was to her core an entertainer, drawn to the stage from a young age at church socials and, ironically, going on to become a bawdy Vaudeville sex symbol, the subject of...
Queen Elizabeth (1553 – 1603)
“I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.” Very few people, and even fewer women, need to be told to be inspired by Elizabeth I. Even those who have not had the endless history...