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Hard to relate to those two isn't it?
Except towards the end I wanted to strangle Katniss for whining so much.
It was like she volunteered for Hell and then spent the rest of her saga complaining about the heat.
1) Take JANE EYRE --
Though she suffers greatly, she always relies on herself to get back on her feet — no wilting damsel in distress here.
As China Miéville wrote:
“Charlotte Brontë’s heroine towers over those around her, morally, intellectually and aesthetically:
She’s completely admirable and compelling.
Never camp, despite her Gothic surroundings, she takes a scalpel to the skin of every day.”
2) HERMIONE GRANGER --
She has a wonderful arc:
Hermione starts as an insufferable know-it-all, blossoms into a whip-smart beauty who doesn’t suffer fools (except for lucky Ron),
and ends up as the glue that holds the whole trio together.
She’s the only one of the three never to wholly break down in a crisis.
3) HUA MULAN --
No, not the Disney version but the 6th century heroine of the Chinese poem, The Ballad of Mulan.
She already knew the skills of a warrior when she assumed the role of her father,
shone on the battlefield, and without fanfare or request for glory, returned to her home.
COMING SOON TO PAPERBACK
4) MARLENE DIETRICH --
Her life reads like a script for one of the movies she made ...
But no director or stunt double was there to ease her pains.
As a star, Marlene noticed an assistant director feverish and ill, forced to stay on the set by a tyrannical director ...
who got a chewing out from the star as she took the ill man to his home.
The assistant director awoke in his bed to the smell of chicken soup and the sound of someone scrubbing his kitchen floor.
He got up to discover Marlene on her knees scrubbing his floor.
He then got reprimanded for keeping his floor so badly!
Marlene one evening returned to her hotel suite in Hollywood to find Hermann Göring waiting for her
to offer her a castle, riches, and titles if she would but return to Germany to make movies exclusively for Hitler.
She chased him out of her suite with a fireplace poker and the next day applied for U.S. citizenship.
When the war broke out, Marlene toured Europe to entertain the troops as close to the front as she could.
She never went back to Hollywood to make a movie until the war was over though Hitler had placed a death sentence on her head.
Marlene then returned to Hollywood only to be told that she had become too old to be a star.
A director demanded she be the star of his movie, GOLDEN EARRINGS, and her fame soared once more.
Three guesses who that director was.
Marlene maintained popular success throughout her unusually long show business career
by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and personally.
So, of course, I had to make Marlene my heroine in my own fantasy
where I am hounded through all my fictional worlds for the murder of the ghost of Ernest Hemingway.
WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES A GREAT FICTIONAL HEROINE?
I've read a biography on Marlene, and didn't know those stories--fascinating! What an amazing woman.
ReplyDeleteI think heroines have to be strong and capable, but also vulnerable. We have to feel for them in order to root for them.
Marlene was both strong and vulnerable ... in life as well as in my fantasy with her. If I am to have a love interest in my own book, why not choose the best, right? :-)
DeleteInteresting how Hermione Granger is a more memorable true heroine than a lot of females in more adult/grown up books. J.K. Rowling really knows what she's doing.
ReplyDeleteI read Jane Eyre as a teenager but didn't really appreciate the strength of the character until I read it again as an adult. What a fierce woman!
We read with new eyes as we grow which is why I try to write two levels to my novels: the surface exciting tale and the other deeper meaning to the thoughts and actions of all those involved.
DeleteYour visits are appreciated. :-)
Hi Roland - I like the sound of your Marlene - she'd be the story I'd read ... she's ready to do what's required for her work and herself ... clean as well as act when she can ... thanks for pointing us in her direction -cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteMarlene had a saucy side to her as well. She usually set her sights on most of her leading men from Jimmy Stewart to John Wayne!
DeleteBut when the chips were down, Marlene fought for the underdog. :-)
She was a true hero.
ReplyDeleteCompassion and strength to stand up for what is right are good qualities.
I have always admired her ... and the late night black and white movies of her had me develop a bit of a crush too. :-)
DeleteI didn't know any of those things about Marlene! Although she's not a fictional character, her story reads like one. Joan of Arc is my favorite all time heroine. (And I'm not Catholic!)
ReplyDeleteJoan of Arc was also a favorite heroine of Mark Twain and John Steinbeck (both of whom wrote a book on her). Ernest Hemingway was always in love with Marlene, but she wisely kept it from blossoming -- he always lost interest when he captured his heart's object!
DeleteI love learning so much about Marlene, thank you. My grandmother was my hero, she was the strongest person I've ever known and so filled with grace.
ReplyDeleteI never knew my grandmother, but I heard from my mother that she was a great deal like yours.
DeleteMarlene's history factors into my fantasy novella about her. :-)
I think Marlene Dietrich is a great choice for a heroine.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. I had fun writing the fantasy. I even had the ghost of Ernest Hemingway jealous of me! Not, of course, for my writing, but because of Marlene's friendship with me. :-)
DeleteI think it depends on the book. Sometimes you need to show a heroine who starts weak but gains strength. Jane Eyre was awesome.
ReplyDelete