Strong female characters...pre 1960?

Question

Hey i need some books that are pre 1960 with strong female characters. I'm thinking about cora from the last of the mohicans, myrtle from the great gatsby, scout from to kill a mocking bird, scarlett o' hara from gone with the wind...see i need strong female characters to compare to the women's rights movement...so MY QUESTION IS...
Could you please request some books for me...? It must be pre 1960, and american literature...i know i know...Jane austen and Elizabeth Bennet would be perfect, but it must be american work.
Please and thankyou!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter might work.
(She spouts some pretty feminist ideas in Chapter 13, "Another View of Hester.")

Also, Dorothy from L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (This novel [not the movie] is now used in some feminist theory lit classes, and the introduction to the Signet Classics version I bought recently was written by a feminist theory prof. at the U. of Conn. The intro has some information that might be useful for the paper you're writing, too.)

Best of luck--sounds like a great topic.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thanx a lot you helped a ton!

Answer 2

Jo March from "Little Women" sounds ideal, as well as several of Edith Wharton's heroines -- especially Lily Bart from "The House of Mirth" and Nan St. George from "The Buccaneers". And you could certainly add Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" to the list.