Women’s Day’ celebrations are ongoing this
month. I am celebrating by revisiting my friends and confidantes in Literature.
Wispy creations of imagination and ink, these women characters have acquired
definite personas and distinctive voices, and have stepped out of print to live
in my mindscape like close, intimate companions. Women characters have evolved
in books to make it to the elite list of feisty heroines of literature. They broke
the shackles of tradition and patriarchy, treading untraveled trails to set
precedents for others to follow in fiction and real life situations.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ directed by Tim
Burton did not bag laurels just for the colorful portrayal of the Mad Hatter,
but a complete reworking of the character of Alice. A well mannered, soft
spoken, delicate darling Alice made it to the gumption list of the contemporary
heroines. She takes on the evil queen in a fight and refuses to marry the
prince. ManjulaPadmnabhan’s ‘Unprincess’ is a maverick girl who takes on her
own battles and knows her mind. A far cry from the Marys and andBeths of the
Enid Blyton fame who were docile, gentle and well mannered. Heroines of the
yesteryears were about sacrifice, eternal love and duty. They were not supposed
to flirt, throw a tantrum to acquire their heart’s desire or eye their friend’s
suitor. Even if such human feelings surfaced in them they were to camouflage
their true spirit under a garb of politeness and sweetness. No doubt women are
always scheming and plotting – because they could never be forthright and open
about themselves and their desires. Certainly not supposed to be assertive, let
the whole world know whom they loved and be selfish and ruthless in pursuit of
their goals in life. We would have heavily frowned upon such heroines and we
did exactly that down the ages. Madame Bovary, Hester Prynne, and Scarlet o’
Hara were read with censure rather than admiration and sympathy.
But now the tables have turned and when we
read Scarlet O ‘ Hara we see her as a brave woman who survives the civil war
with hard work and a no nonsense attitude to the whole scene of war. We view
her more realistically and admit that the reason Rhett Butler is attracted to
her in the first place is because of her forthright attitude and outspokenness.
A force to reckon with, she cooked and plotted scenes and was relentless in her
love pursuits but that is what makes her human and not just a doll with plastic
well- rehearsed answers and expectations.
‘Well behaved women do not make history’
said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Creations of writing and imagination, literature
has created legendary heroines who in retrospect rank high on the list of
FIESTY HEROINES. Who are these heroines who compete for a place in the elite
list? They don’t need to wrestle with stalkers, or kick sick men in their
asses, they just need to conform to
being smart, confident, gutsy, vivacious, articulate and very clear to know
their minds and make unhindered choices; female protagonists, whom we have read
and who have stepped out of print and become our close companions and
confidantes.
Shakespeare’s Cleopatra has been objectified,
declared a temptress, a “whore” and an enchantress who made Antony “the noble
ruin of her magic.” This threat has much to do with Cleopatra’s beauty and
expressive sexuality. Cleopatra is
self-involved and a narcissist. The dichotomy of a manipulative seductress
versus an able leader will always stay with her image as 19th
century artists painted her with the asp applied to her breast rather than the
arm where it bit her – clearly indicating the fact that she was more an object
of desire than a strong woman ;
nevertheless, her charisma, strength, and indomitable will makes her one of
Shakespeare’s strongest, most awe-inspiring female characters.
Hester Prynne in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ wears
the scarlet letter on her bosom with gumption and lives with her daughter in
the same place that ostracized her. She also never breathes out the name of the
father of her child.Shamed and alienated from the rest of the community, Hester
becomes contemplative. She speculates on human nature, social control, and
larger moral questions. Hester’s tribulations also lead her to be stoic and a
freethinker.
Elizabeth Bennet is never intimidated in
‘Pride and Prejudice’. Jane Austen thought her ‘as delightful a character as
ever appeared in print’; a woman who is delightful for reasons other than those
of beauty alone. She is characterized by wit, independence and a courageous ability
to admit her mistakes. She wants to be seen as a rational and autonomous human
being in the same way as men are. She tells Mr. Collin as much.
Jo March, the rebel and tomboy of ‘Little
Women,’ beseechingly asks her mother why she cannot be content to sew, cook and
look after babies like her sisters. The restlessness and adventurous spirit
drives her to travel and finally she falls in love with her writing and the
professor. Her struggle to blend family life and responsibilities with a
creative profession could be a precursor to the choices women make today.
Catherine’s wildness in ‘Wuthering Heights’
is the rejection of her gender identity as defined by a bourgeois society. The
heliographic on the walls of her room at Wuthering Heights is the symbolic
remnant of her struggle – Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff and then
again Catherine Linton. Her practicality makes her choose to be a lady over her
wild passion for Heathcliff, which is her real self. Catherine is a women’s
anguished voice which revolts; a haunting presence, always to remind of that
which is denied to her – of what she actually wanted to be.
In
Anna Karenina the theme is one of adultery, a romance which shakes the
foundation of a society steeped in hypocrisy. Anna is unforgettable for her
refusal to observe the proprieties exacted in such a liaison - remember she adamantly argues with Vronsky
and goes and attends the opera in her regal attire.
Growing up I admired Anne Shirley of Green Gables – the red head
with a definite mind of her own. She questions religious faith and hypocritical
rituals. Her pride hath a fall, but she is quick to redeem herself. If now we
are talking of young spunky girls, not to mention PippiLongstocking would be
sacrilege. The most independent of characters, battles day to day encounters
with superhuman strength. And Matilda of
Roald Dhal fame , a child prodigy – who has devoured each and every book in the
adult section before she is ten.
If we were to shift the narrative from
fictional to real life women who live in our societies and create such colossal
feminine characters then Maya Angelo, Alice Walker, Anita Desai would take the
lead. Anita Desai is unique in portraying a wide gamut of Indian women in her
novels. What really struck me was that in one of her interviews, she candidly
admitted that she loved her writing passion and would yearn for time to herself
away from her responsibilities of family life and children – to return to her
first love – WRITING ; very akin to Virginia Woolf’s – a room of one’s own.
If you are attracted to some people and
characters, it is an indication of the fact that you harbor some of their
characteristics and aspire to be even more like them. Well, if that holds true
and you admire these maverick heroines, come be part of the book reading
workshop ‘Feisty Heroines in Literature’ conducted at ICG on 15thMarch,
2012. The workshop entails book readings, movie excerpts, power point
presentation and thought provoking questions on evolution of women to feisty
characters.
These are those special, colossal women
from print who can never be replaced, replicated or reworked. They have
acquired larger than life images, and become legends in themselves. When we
hail them we hail the feistiness in women!
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