Maya’s favourite fictional female? (It’s surprising)

“Sometimes one is guided by what they say of themselves, and very frequently by what other people say of them, without giving oneself time to deliberate and judge.”

— Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility

“Some days I amaze myself. Other days I put my keys in the fridge.”

— RE:BOOKS

In part one, Rebecca writes about her Favourite Fictional Female — her FFF not her BFF — and why it seems people loathe to answer, “Who is your all time favourite fictional character?” a seemingly daunting question. Her gut tells her this is because people are embarrassed to share something so personal. 

Unlike Rebecca, however, I don’t think this is a difficult (or embarrassing) question to answer at all. It wasn't difficult for me to answer. It wasn’t difficult for the other 150 women who replied when I asked this on one of my Facebook reading groups. 

So, perhaps the difficulty comes because no one ever asks readers this question, as seen by the willingness and eagerness of so many to share (albeit on a private forum, where the underlying understanding is that everyone is respectful and non-judgemental.)

It was interesting to see all the answers — not only for the variety but also for the different reasons why we pick our favourites. Maybe the question “Why are they your favourite fictional character?” is the more difficult (or embarrassing) question. 

My favourite literary character is Elinor Dashwood from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. 

I love this fictional character because of her convictions and her actions. She is respectful and reserved, but she is also confident and comfortable in her reality. She’s arguably the strongest personality in her family. She is their backbone and their supporter. She rarely shows her true emotions, but she feels deeply. She guards herself from acting on her emotions, even when distraught and broken-hearted. Elinor represents "sense" in this novel.

The American scholar Susan Morgan described Elinor Dashwood as the "moral centre" of the novel, having "both deep affections and the willingness to control the desires of her own heart for the sake of the people she loves.”

Although it wasn’t hard to choose my Favourite Fictional Female (My FFF) when Rebecca pushed further and asked me “Why Elinor Dashwood?” I realized that it’s not because Elinor Dashwood is a fictional character most like me —it is because she’s so unlike me. 

She is so unlike me, on the page, that I aspire to be her IRL. 

I aspire to have her strength. I aspire to have her drive. I aspire to be seen as she is seen. And as Rebecca points out, my aspiration to be like my FFF (or at least to be seen like her) really could be one of the reasons that even avid readers may shy away from answering this question. (Again, Elinor Dashwood's confidence is inspiring, so channeling my inner Elinor Dashwood, I am not embarrassed to share my reasons!)

Plus, as Jane Austen, the author of Sense and Sensibilities, once said, “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”

I know Rebecca. And she knows me. She’s told me, on numerous occasions, that she considers me one of her closest friends. We have weekly marathon phone calls that last longer than actual marathons and I can safely say that Rebecca's FFF (Favourite Fictional Female) shares a lot of similar traits with her, to the point I can (and do) ask “Are you having a Holly Go-lightly Moment?” when Holly Golightly-things come out of her mouth like, “I used to think I was indecisive, but I’m not so sure.” Or if she asks me, “Does it take you all day to get nothing done too?” Or, when she says stuff like “Organized people are just like regular people but who are just too lazy to find their things.”

Although Rebecca and I share many of the same traits, Elinor Dashwood and I are so different. 

She is quiet. I am loud. She keeps her emotions close to her heart. I wear mine on my sleeve. She is intelligent, sensible, practical, kind, and, above all, reserved and self-contained.

I don’t mind these differences, because I know I am strong, I know I am a support system to my daughter, my mother, and my sister, and I know that when push comes to shove, like my FFF, Elinor Dashwood, I will always do the right thing.

Unsurprisingly, many answers from my Facebook book-lover friends were also females from classic tales.

The overwhelming answer overall to this question was Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Brontë, and I can understand why. Jane Eyre is strong willed, outspoken, and passionate, and many admire her for that. She’d be very popular in our times as well, if she were an actual person, for her unwillingness to conform to misconceptions about gender and social class. (Much like both mine and Rebecca’s FFF.)

So, most of the answers had this in common. The characters named were strong and confident women, who didn’t let life, anyone, or anything, stand in their way. There were the obvious ones like Anne of Green Gables (sorry Rebecca!) by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, Scarlett O’Hara, Jo March, and Hester Prynne. If not unoriginal answers, they do fit the description above, plus they are all female characters who struggle to create a new life of either repentance or dignity.

Another popular answer was the Queen of Mystery's most famous female fictional sleuth written by the Queen of mysteries, Miss Marple, who fits into that box of women as well. While Miss Marple became a household name, Agatha Christie was always a very private person, a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.

More modern heroines that were mentioned included Elinor Oliphant, Maisie Dobbs, Olive Kitteridge, and Clair Fraser from the Outlander series. These characters were all brought up more than a few times, as well as Stephanie Plum, the fictional character and the protagonist in a series of novels written by Janet Evanovich (described by the author as "incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary”). 

Like their classical counterparts, they are all fictional women whose drive, and strength propelled them through their respective storylines. Plus they all possess a certain wit and wisdom.

Some honourable mentions go to: Matilda, who was mentioned once, but was one of my favourite answers.

Rebecca loves Holly Golightly because she sees many similarities. I love Elinor Dashwood, because though we are alike in many ways, I aspire to be like her in many other ways.

Both these reasons were shared in the thread. Some other reasons mentioned were because a character was funny, (even if said character is so flawed that they embody life’s cruelty).

Some mentioned having named their own daughters after their favourite literary heroines—in hopes they grow to be just like them. 

I often think of Elinor Dashwood and imagine how she would be if she was written for our age, and I find that though she would still be different from me, I would still look up to her as a role model. 

To me, that’s a mark of a successfully written character. Share your FFF (Favourite Fictional Female) with me here. I would love to know your thoughts!

xo

Maya