Strong female characters

[cynara]

I am aware that this is probably a trite and over asked thread but I'm looking for advice on novels with intricate strong female characters. I'm an enormous fan of Scarlet O'Hara, and I'm looking for similar attributes. I dislike overly moral, staid attitudes, I want well developed characters. I rarely read anything published post 1950 (probably closed minded of me, but i've got years to appreciate modern literature.) I've read Anna Karenin (greatly enjoyed), Vanity Fair (too cynical for my taste), most of the Bronte's novels(enjoyed), Edith Wharton (very fond of), Jane Austen (found characters too perfect) and several others. So now that I've shown a bit of my preferences I would very my appreciate advice and opinions.

[Zee.]

I find most female characters in novels to be extremely irritating. I also find that you either have the goody, good, all rounded, moralistic character that makes me grind my teeth in to sawdust, or the character whose flaws are either that she is again, irritating, or a massive whore.

I've also yet to read a female character that is not only extremely strong, but free. I'm a little over reading traditional female roles.

[weltanschauung]

dostoyevski's the idiot
georges bataille's story of the eye
saramago's blindness
de laclos' dangerous liaisons
...

[Mathor]

The truth is, for whatever reason, I've found that most females in classic literature have been pretty stifled, or kind of lacking of emotion, or defining the womenly role in the book.

I think Jane Austen's female characters were a bit more vibrant than you see in literature over the years, but most often you found that the male characters in the same novel were more outspoken, had more to say, and altogether were more interesting.

I think a lot of this had to do with just civil rights of the past, and I hope that in the future female roles will be more fun and entertaining. I get kind of sick of the classic guy talks and girl responds to his narrative, which seems to be the way classic literature has portrayed girls. . I'd like to see a truly feminine character that is strong in her femininity and strong in her place in society.

EDIT: right as i said it i thought of one.

Holly Golightly in Breakfast At Tiffanys by Truman Capote

[cynara]

I find most female characters in novels to be extremely irritating. I also find that you either have the goody, good, all rounded, moralistic character that makes me grind my teeth in to sawdust, or the character whose flaws are either that she is again, irritating, or a massive whore.

I've also yet to read a female character that is not only extremely strong, but free. I'm a little over reading traditional female roles.

I think your a little harsh, there's definitely literature with dynamic female characters but I do find myself agreeing partly with you. I think if I had to choose between the overly morale female character and the whore i would usually choose the latter.

[Dark Muse]

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Women in Love ~ D.H. Lawrence (some might disagree but I highly enjoyed the female characters in this work and personally found them to be quite strong)
Their Eyes Were Watching God ~ Hurston
The Awakening ~ Kate Chopin
To the Lighthouse ~ Virginia Wolff
A Room With A View ~ E.M Forster

This one his after the 1950's but I still highly recommend it, it is set in the 1800's as a way of examining society of the day, and the restrictions upon both men and women. Very interested as well as well developed female characters.

The French Lieutenant's Woman ~ John Fowles

[Zee.]

I love reading about female bandits in literature. Female villains, "bonnie and clyde" type characters.

[wat??]

dostoyevski's the idiot

...

Nastasya and Aglaya were not exactly "strong" women.

[JBI]

L'Amant by Marguerite Duras
As You Like It Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare
Lady Percy from Henry IV part 1 By Shakespeare (though she makes an appearance briefly in part 2)
In truth, most of Shakespeare's great heroines - certainly are stronger characters than their male counterparts.

Lucrezia from Mrs. Dalloway - one of the most powerful characters I have ever read about, and certainly one that has made one of the most devastating impressions on me, though her actual part in the book is rather minimal.

Hagar from The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

Isabelle-Marie from La Belle Bête by Marie-Claire Blais

Tess from Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Lena Grove from Light in August

The controversial Mrs. Bentley from As for me and My House (controversial, as the novel has a lot of metaphorical ambiguity, and she is not a reliable narrator in the slightest) By Sinclair Ross

Whylah Falls by George Elliot Clarke,

Lives of Saints by Nino Ricci

The Electrical Field by Kerri Sakamoto

Eugene Onegin by Aleksandr Pushkin



I tried to add a few non-cliché names into the mix, to mingle with the others that will probably get named and renamed.

[mono]

In addition to what others have recommended: practically anything by Virginia Woolf, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

[Dark Muse]

Good Morning, Midnight by Rhys is an interesting look at a female character, but it is debatable how strong one might see her, but the story is told from the woman's point of view, and her own thoughts.

[weltanschauung]

Nastasya and Aglaya were not exactly "strong" women.

in "your" opinion

[Mathor]

Lena Grove from Light in August

That's the best one of the lot!

[Adagio]

Howards End has two great central female characters. JBI mentioned a couple of Shakespeares, I would like to throw in Othello, Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing - all feature some really great and strong female characters.

[kiki1982]

Brideshead Revisited maybe, although Julia in not really a major character.

Far from the Madding Crowd features a strong woman, but in a tragic situation, all be it because of her own over-estimated strength.
Tess from Tess of the d'Urbervilles could be called a strong woman, altough she ends tragically. (Both by Hardy)

Dumas Musketeer-trilogy features strong women who work behind the scenes. Particularly the last part (The Vicomte) features women's politics as a major force at court.

Saramago's Siege of Lisbon featured a woman who knew what she wanted. This is modern, though, so it's a little bit more logic that she would be strong.

There are a number of Dutch ones, but they are not translated...