Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Females

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is actually Ten Characters Everyone Loves But I Just Don’t Get or Ten Characters I LOVE But Others Seem To Dislike. However, since today is International Women’s Day, I thought I make a list of my favorite female characters instead.

1. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter series) – Of course she’s at the top of my list. Whenever I think of awesome female characters, I think of her. Hermione made a love of books and knowledge cool. She taught us that girls can be smart and that sometimes that intelligence is what saves the day.
2. Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice) – Elizabeth has always been one of my favorite heroines. She’s intelligent, witty and knows her own mind. She’s fiercely independent and doesn’t depend on men for her happiness. From Elizabeth I learned that it’s okay to be yourself – whoever that may be – and the people who are meant to be in your life will appreciate you more for it.
3. Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass series) – One of the things that drew me to the Throne of Glass series was how great a character Celaena was. She is complex and interesting, intelligent and seductive and she’s a girl. One of the things I loved most about her character was how kick ass she could be, but that she still loves girly things – pretty dresses, chocolates, etc. She teaches readers that you don’t have to be not-girly in order to be fierce and strong. I really like that about her.
4. Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) – I have never actually read the Phryne Fisher novels, but I absolutely adore the series and if you ever get a chance check it out on Netflix. Phryne is a strong-willed independent woman in 1920s Australia. She doesn’t follow conventional social norms of the times, but she is wonderful. My favorite part of the series is the fact that she is never a damsel in distress – she always gets herself out of trouble instead of waiting for a man to save her.
5. Yelena Zaltana (The Study Series) – Yelena is intelligent, clever, compassionate, and strong. I loved her character almost immediately and she will forever remain one of my all-time favorite female characters. I just love independence and loyalty.
6.  Daenerys Targaryen (Song of Ice and Fire) – It may be the character in the show more than the books that I love (and I still haven’t read the A Dance with Dragons), but Daenerys is just so interesting to me. She’s overcome so much in her short life, and she’s still willing to fight. However, she’s compassionate and kind as well.
7. Claire Randall (Outlander) – For part of the book I had some real issues with Claire, as I felt sorry for Jamie and how much her attempts at escape hurt him. However, by the end of the book (and in subsequent books, though I haven’t read them all) I began to really appreciate her strength of character. It takes a strong woman to be able to live the life she lives, and to adjust to the differences and the dangers of the 18th century.
8. Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) – I know I’ve mentioned before that Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play, mostly because of how much I love Beatrice. She is clever and witty, and able to hold her own against all the men around her. She’s not afraid to speak her mind and doesn’t let Benedick push her around. She’s definitely one of my favorite Shakespeare characters.
9. Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) – I just loved Scout’s perspective on life, and how innocent her point of view was about everything going on in her town. It was refreshing to read about the tensions of the time from her perspective.
10. Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew mysteries)– I wanted to be Nancy Drew when I was younger. Her life seemed so much more interesting than mine, plus there were mysteries to solve. I always wanted my life to be more mysterious. I was a big fan of Trixie Belden as well, for the exact same reasons.

So there are some of my favorite female characters; I’m sure I’m forgetting some pretty amazing women of literature in this list. Who are your favorites?