Lydia Ridding and Sam Orciel, English Subject Advisors

For International Women’s Day on 8 March, we celebrate the occasion by discussing our favourite female characters from fiction. 

Why not compile your own list of favourite female characters to share with your students in your English GCSE and A Level lessons? You can find lots of free resources and ideas on the International Women’s Day website.

Lydia’s favourites

With so many fabulous female characters to choose from, it was a fun yet agonising challenge to narrow the list down to my five favourites. Although drawn from different sources, I realised that the most memorable fictional women to me all have things in common: they are strong, intelligent people battling against – and overcoming – circumstances that might initially seem beyond their control..

Ruby Thewes, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

First introduced to the novel when she approaches Ada Monroe’s farm in search of work, Ruby is depicted as practical and capable from the outset. Initially rescuing Ada from the rooster that has been terrifying her by unceremoniously decapitating it for that evening’s supper, Ruby reveals herself to be a skilled and hard-working labourer. She not only prevents the farm from going to rack and ruin but becomes a close friend to Ada, more akin to a sister than a stranger. 

The friendship between the two women becomes a central feature of the plot as the novel develops, offering an insight into the coping mechanisms of those left at home while others are fighting in the Civil War. 

Adunni, The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare 

I read this book when it was first published and have been recommending it to people ever since. Adunni, the novel’s protagonist is a 14-year-old Ghanaian girl who is promised in marriage to a much older man so that her family’s debts can be paid. Through a series of unfortunate events, she finds herself working as a domestic servant in a rich household where she is exploited and mistreated. Despite the challenges she faces, her positivity and reliance on her mother’s advice about the importance of education spur her on. I was rooting for Adunni right until the end of the book and think you will be too. 

Hortense Roberts, Small Island by Andrea Levy 

My favourite character in Small Island, proud, haughty Hortense Roberts, leaves Jamaica and finds herself in a cold and grimy post-WW2 London where she is horrified by the poor living conditions for new arrivals in the city. She is well-educated, has high standards and isn’t afraid to show her disappointment in her husband and the life he has made in England. Her dreams of the ‘mother country’ and her ambitions to find work as a school teacher are crushed when she experiences racism from prospective employers, yet she never loses her dignified air and finds refuge in her marriage. Levy’s novel is a tender yet powerful examination of the mistreatment of the Windrush generation. 

Bathsheba Everdene, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 

I first fell in love with Far From the Madding Crowd more years ago than I care to confess here when it was a set text on the GCSE syllabus. One of the main attractions was its female protagonist, Bathsheba Everdene. Some twenty-first century readers may write her off as a vain and vacuous character whose only interest is to find a husband. Vain though she may be, I prefer to see Bathsheba as a feminist figure, deciding to run the farm she inherits herself (with the help of a few other memorable characters) rather than leave it to male employees. When she announces, ‘in short, I shall astonish you all’, there is scepticism in the ranks but the reader senses she will go on to accomplish more than is expected of her and this turns out to be true. It’s well worth a read, even if it’s no longer a set text. 

Elizabeth Zott, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 

Elizabeth Zott is another inspiring character; a genius chemist who works as a lab technician at the Hastings Research Institute in New York, she is overlooked for promotion and funding because she is female. After some infuriating developments which I don’t have space to cover here, she becomes a TV cook, not just demonstrating recipes to the audience but using her knowledge to explain the chemical processes involved in cooking. The show is an instant hit. Garmus’ descriptions of the lasagna are so captivating that there are now websites featuring the recipe. The TV adaptation is also wonderful; for after you’ve read the book, of course!

Sam’s favourites

I’m often drawn to nuanced, challenging, whip-smart protagonists who aren’t afraid to voice their thoughts and feelings or stir up conflict. Quite often, any resultant ‘unlikability’ can make a character truly powerful – and intensely memorable.

Antoinette Cosway, Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

A chance mention by an English teacher of this novel while we were reading a passage from Jane Eyre led me to one of the most powerful literary discoveries of my life, rarely surpassed since. The young wife of Edward Rochester, Antoinette embodies many complex traits as her life progresses: she is loving, imaginative, sensitive. She also becomes alienated, violent and possessive. Antoinette exists as a liminal figure in her own world, and her status crumbles as she is abandoned and cruelly mistreated by those around her. However, her final act of vengeance is a reclamation of identity and a refusal to die a victim. Even in her descent into madness, her sharp intelligence and the potential of her greatness burn through. 

Nora Robb, Girls by Kirsty Capes 

To say that there were at least three figures I could have chosen from this novel should impress upon you just how excellent the characterisation in this novel is. Nora is endlessly frustrating: a complex and impulsive performance artist who transgresses the social norms of family relationships, her every move feels selfish or destructive. Yet she is a sharp commentator on the world around her, and the power of her art and physicality, with a drollness to rival any deadpan comedian. An honourable mention goes to Nora’s niece Beanie, whose tender relationship with her aunt frames a funny and moving blossoming of identity. 

April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 

At first glance, April is the archetype of the 1950s American suburban housewife: husband in the city, two kids, and a house with a ‘picture window’ and white picket fence. Slowly, we’re allowed glimpses of a far more nuanced figure filtered through her husband’s perspective. Far from being acquiescent, April’s small actions betray an inner rebellion and rage against her position and her husband’s fecklessness. Like Antoinette and Nora, April saves her most powerful moment for the final act: a divisive and unsettling proclamation of independence. 

Carol Aird, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

As a 21st-century reader, it’s interesting to think about April Wheeler and Carol Aird existing in the same social and literary space and time. Carol’s life is, despite all the obstacles in her way, an ultimately optimistic one. She is cool and alluring, with an enviable mix of strength and vulnerability as she navigates how to reconcile the loves of her life, old and new. Carol’s actions are honest and motivated by improving her quality of life – an approach I can definitely get on board with. 

Klara, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 

Non-human sentient robotic beings count, right? Klara (or Girl AF Klara, to give her full name) is another optimist full of curiosity about the world around her. Like the others on this list, she is resilient and deeply emotionally intelligent. Her devotion to her human friend Josie, and her endless fascination with the sun, unfurl a compelling and poignant portrait of girlhood, love and kindness.

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About the authors

Prior to joining OCR in June 2023, Lydia spent 20 years working in a range of sixth form colleges across the country, teaching A Level and GCSE qualifications in English. She was a coursework moderator with OCR for a number of years and has an MA in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck University. 

Before joining OCR in September 2022, Sam spent ten years teaching a range of English qualifications in secondary schools, including as a head of department. She did this alongside completing a MSt in Advanced Subject Teaching at the University of Cambridge, specialising in A Level English curricula and pedagogy.