what to aim for

[sometimes_up]

we were having a discussion earlier about this book i was poking through at the library- something to the effect of "100 most influential people who never lived"- about influential characters from literature, film, legend, myth, etc

Comments

[zybergoat]

Hmm, this is a great question. And it leaves me wondering if such a female character exists.

Atticus Finch is a difficult standard for comparison, because, to me, he's without flaw. As you said, he's ideal. While it's been a good long while since I've read all of TKAM, I can't really think of any way in which he is lacking. His acceptance of crops and services for legal work could be seen as naivety, but I'd consider it altruistic.

Any female character I think of seems to have a flaw within her that keeps her from being an ideal. Toni Morrison crafts some powerful females, but they all suffer from faults.

This discussion makes me want to read and teach TKAM all the sooner. :-) I could spend days on a discussion like this, and 9th graders would actually join in.

[sometimes_up]

it's true- he is totally without any real flaw. but what's wierd is how that doesn't make him seem any less real to me. do you think he seems unreal??

and yes, all the female characters i think of are usually pretty deeply flawed. which i guess doesn't have to prevent them from being ideal- it's in how to recognize and respond to those flaws i suppose. but still...

i would love to teach that novel some day!!!

I would disagree with this ten years ago...

[longdrop9]

Scarlett O'Hara.

I remember reading this in high school and HATING her character. I loved how Rhett treated her, etc etc...

but now, looking back -- she's resilient. The evolution of her character is astounding, really.

And, of course, Beatrix Kiddo of Kill Bill ;).

Re: I would disagree with this ten years ago...

[sometimes_up]

i REALLY need to read the book. i only just saw the movie this past year. it was funny, i really wrestled with her character, but you're right, she is absolutely resilient. strong and driven. i just want to read it to see if i can see more... i don't know, compassion in her- kindness. but i'll be damned if she wasn't a fun character to spend time with- so many different feelings towards her, it was exhausting, haha :]

and i like beatrix kiddo as a choice. i can get down with that, haha.

[mangoprophetess]

I know I'm completely biased, but I think Elizabeth Bennett qualifies with the traits you mentioned, though she does have flaws (namely that she's judgmental and stubborn). As mentioned above, Atticus Finch is pretty much without flaws, which is almost unheard of with female characters. Women are usually either complex and flawed in some way or a character type. I guess the only character I could say I might consider wonderful and without flaw would be Penelope from The Odyssey; she steadfast, loyal, intelligent (possibly even more so than her husband), and apparently quite the looker. I'm sure Dante considered Beatrice an ideal woman (hence how she can tour him through Heaven in The Paradiso), but she's pretty two dimensional if you ask me.

Though, I think it does say something of the male mindset that men wrote Beatrice and Penelope and the former was a real person the author never actual spoke to and the latter isn't really *in* the story much.

[sometimes_up]

i can see elizabeth bennett- i still don't really like her that much. but i could definitely see an argument for her. i have this jane austen block that i think weisl only solidified with her insistence on my REMOVING said block, haha.

penelope is interesting, i like that. i wish there was more of her- i mean there's enough in the story to get an idea about her, but still. have you read that... Penelopiad (sp?) by... atwood i think it is? i always see it at the bookstore and try to remember it later, but i don't know anyone who has read it to recommend it!