Day 16 – Favourite Female Character

Jane Eyre is a wonderful female character.  She somehow remains childlike in her spirit; curious, intelligent, sympathetic and honest, yet she is also a strong woman who will not compromise her principles.  Her loyalty is unwavering and I was happy that she was rewarded for her perseverance at the end of the novel.  Even so, Charlotte Bronte did not wrap everything up in a perfect bundle.  Edward Rochester would not have been the easier man to live with but Jane knew his faults and how to moderate them.  It was a good match.

Able Seaman, Titty, from Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series, is my next choice.  Oh, to have her imagination!  She is full of spunk and adventurous ideas; Captain Flint (Uncle Jim) would still be missing his “treasure” if it hadn’t been for her ingenuity.  A first class female heroine!

She is one of the main character’s in Dante’s The Divine Comedy.  Beatrice ……… what better reputation than being famous for guiding souls to Heaven!  Even though Dante only saw her twice in his lifetime, she became his muse and he called her, “la gloriosa donna della mia mente” which translates to “the glorious lady of my mind”.


A slightly less than enthusiastic vote goes to Penelope, wife of Odyseuss in The Odyssey.

There could be no better tribute to love than to wait for your husband for 20 years, ten while he was fighting in the Trojan War and ten while he was attempting to make his way home again.  However, I still think there must have been some way to get rid of all those pesky suitors!

Day 15 – Favourite Male Character

Hector, a prince of Troy and brother to Paris, (who stole Helen) in The Iliad.  Courageous and brave, a man who comes “like some fierce tempest that swoops down upon the sea”, he is also a man loyal to his wife and small son.  Duty is all to Hector and in it he never wavers, even when he knows that death is a certainty.  A true hero.

I also like Sarpedon, in The Iliad. King of Lycia, he was an important ally of the Trojans.  His forces were the first to enter the Greek encampment which allowed Hector to break through the Greek wall.  He fell in battle, killed by Patroclus, friend of Achilles.

Also high on my list is Aristides, an Athenian statesman, who was called “The Just”.  It is rumoured that he acquired that appellation in this manner:  Themistocles and he had quarrelled once too often and the people were voting on which one to exile.  An illiterate farmer, who did not recognize Aristides, asked him to write “Aristides” on the ballot.  Aristides inquired if this “man” had wronged him and the farmer replied, no, he didn’t even know him, but he was annoyed at always hearing him called “The Just”.  Aristides was so honest that he did as the man requested.  Now that is my idea of a hero.  He was exiled, but was recalled to defend Athens and gave his loyal support to Themistocles who was eventually exiled himself.

And to complete the hero roster, Leonidas I, King of Sparta.

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During the Battle of Thermopylaea, he marched with 6,300 soldiers to defend the pass against a Persian force that Herodotus numbered in the millions.  Leonidas held the pass against the army of Xerxes I but when a Greek shepherd betrayed his kinsman by showing the Persians a secret way around from behind, Leonidas and all his army were slain.  

None of these men were “characters” so to speak, but how much more interesting to draw heroes from real life!

Day 14 – Book Turned Into A Movie and Completely Desecrated 

Beowulf, the epic poem, a story of a courageous hero who battles two evil, ferocious demons who are wreaking havoc on the Danes, and shows his power by the consideration with which he treats others.

Beowulf and Grendel, the movie, where Grendel is not an evil monster, but a poor, misunderstood one, who hates the Danes for killing his father.  Throw in a witch (huh?), a story of a rape, and Beowulf and the witch getting it on, and you just have to smack your head and say, WHAT?!!!

This movie is a disgrace to the poem, a cheap attempt twist the original plot and themes to make a social statement and to add themes for gratuitous, infantile pleasure.

I can’t make enough bad remarks about this one.

Day 12 – A Book You Love But Hate At The Same Time

I hated this book when I first started to read it.  Most of the characters in it were depraved, their behaviour a dark spiralling into vice and evil.  But about two-thirds of the way through the book I began to view it in a different light.  In spite of the depressing undertones, I felt Wilde was trying to communicate the dangers of allowing oneself to sink into what appears to be the easy habits of one’s friends or peers, while not recognizing the pitfalls toward which one is heading.  I then began to enjoy it for its lessons and it ended up being one of my top reads for the year.

I still feel uncomfortable reading many of the situations in the book but now can appreciate its greater overall value.

Day 11 – A Book You Hated

I was looking so forward to reading this book.  What a disappointment!  The main character, who was the narrator, not only lacked a name, she appeared to lack a brain as well.  Unbelievably naive, her actions did not run to logical conclusions and I kept finding myself ready to tear my hair out as she acted as a door mat for her older husband.  He finally reveals to her that he murdered his first wife and the only emotion she appears to experience is joy, as that means he loves her and not Rebecca.  Good grief!

I did not find Mrs. Danvers scary at all.

Here is a taste of the main character’s amazing, stimulating conversation:

“Yes?” I said.

“Yes,” I said.

and another somewhat more lively conversation

“Not so very well,” I said.

“Really?” I said. 

How any publisher decided to print such drivel, I’ve yet to understand.

I’ve read that du Maurier struggled with writing this book and I believe it shows.  The plot felt so heavily manipulated that it resembled a lump of pock-marked clay ……… uninteresting and unappealing.

I will say, however, that she wrote some beautiful descriptions, especially in the beginning of the book.  It’s the one redeeming feature.  

Day 10 – A Book That Reminds You of Home