I’m an independent animator/illustrator from India, now residing in the USA. This year for the #36daysoftype, I did all the letters and numerals based on my favourite female characters from literature, starting with A for Alice from ‘Alice in Wonderland’!
0 : The nameless narrator of ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier, the second Mrs. De Winter, for Female Characters in Literature for #36daysoftype. We also hear of Rebecca, only through the nameless narrator’s first person narrative, where she reports what she has heard about the dead first wife of Mr. De Winter, which makes Rebecca in a way, formless. This is why, zero. Not to say that the book has no women characters. In the following days, I’ll do books/stories that have 1 to 9 women characters.
1 : Esther Greenwood from ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath for Female Characters in Literature for @36daysoftype. I picked this for 1, since this is a semi-autobiographical, fictional account, a journey inwards by the protagonist, that acutely examines solitude and loneliness. “I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.”
2 : Celie and Nettie from ‘The Color Purple” by Alice Walker for Female Characters in Literature for #36daysoftype. These two characters for 2, as a dedication to one of the best written female friendships in literature. . “Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to get attention we do, except walk?”
Aibleen Clark, Minny Jackson and Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan from ‘The Help” by Kathryn Stockett for Female Characters in Literature for #36daysoftype. The story is set in the 1960s and is told from the point of view of these three women. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
4 : Meg, Beth, Jo and Amy from ‘The Little Women” by Louissa May Alcott for Female Characters in Literature for #36daysoftype. I already drew J for Jo, but couldn’t resist.
5 : Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine and Lydia Bennet from ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen for Female Characters from Literature from #36daysoftype. “Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly.”
6 : Akhila, Janaki, Margaret Shanti, Prabha Devi, Sheela and Marikolunthu from ‘Ladies Coupè’ by Anita Nair for Female Characters from Literature from #36daysoftype.
7 : Seven Deadly Sins – Pride, Sloth, Greed, Lechery, Jealousy, Wrath and Gluttony from ‘Doctor Faustus’ by Marlowe for Female Characters from Literature from #36daysoftype.
8 : Marji, Grandma and grandma’s friends from ‘Embroideries’, graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi for Female Characters from Literature from #36daysoftype. This is one of my favourite books by Satrapi, next to of course Persepolis.
9 : The nine Greek Muses, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania, who in Greek Mythology, are said to be Artists’ inspirations. They’re the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus.
A for Alice from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll
B for Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry Potter series by J K Rowling
C for Cordelia, ‘King Lear’ by Shakespeare
D for ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, Virginia Woolf. “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”
“Miss Eliza Bennet,” said Miss Bingley, “despises cards. She is a great reader, and has no pleasure in anything else.” “I deserve neither such praise nor such censure,” cried Elizabeth; “I am not a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things.” E for Elizabeth Bennet, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen.
F for Flanders : ‘Moll Flanders’ by Daniel Defoe
G for Gwendolen Fairfax, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Oscar Wilde
H for Miss Havisham, ‘Great Expectations’, Charles Dickens
I for Isabella (and her famous silence when the Duke proposes to her) from ‘Measure for Measure’ by Shakespeare
J for Jo March from ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott
K for Kannagi from ‘Silapathikaram’ ( சிலப்பதிகாரம் composed around fourth to sixth century AD ) by Ilango Adigal
“My hands are of your colour, but I shame / To wear a heart so white…” L for Lady Macbeth, the bloody-handed sleepwalker from ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare
“You seemed so far away,” Miss Honey whispered, awestruck. “Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings,” Matilda said. “It was wonderful.” M for ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl
N for Nancy, ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens
O for Offred from ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood
P for Princess September from the short story ‘Princess September’ by W. Somerset Maugham
Q for Queen of Hearts from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll.
R for Rosie from ‘The Guide’ by R K Narayan
S for Scout (Jean Louise “Scout” Finch) from ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee
T for Tricia Macmillan AKA Trillian Astra from ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
U for Úrsula Buendía from ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez
V for Viola from ‘The Twelfth Night’ or ‘What You Will” by William Shakespeare
W for Wicked Witch of the West from ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by Frank L Baum
X for Xayide the Witch from ‘The Neverending Story’ by Michael Ende (1979)
Y for Ygritte the ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ by George R R Martin
Z for Zixi from ‘Queen Zixi of Ix” by Frank L Baum
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