Fictional and FABULOUS

NB: THE NOVELS MENTIONED ARE THOSE IN WHICH EACH CHARACTER MAKES HER FIRST APPEARANCE.

British fiction teems with radiant female characters – and we love a wicked villain as much as a genuine hero. All these characters started out in novels, but have now appeared in films and TV series. In fact, they’re pretty much household names.

Historic hero

She may be more than 200, is a fictional heroine who is loved and admired today as much as she’s ever been. Loved because she’s confident, clever and sure to make you laugh. Admired because she’s independent, honest and true to herself. Her family’s precarious situation means she needs to marry ‘well’ – but it’s love she really wants. So she turns down both the boring but secure Mr Collins and (initially anyway) the supremely eligible Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy. And remember Elizabeth’s splendidly defiant showdown with the abominable Lady Catherine de Bourgh? It makes you want to cheer!