The original badass mofo Jane Austen. She has a bad rap because so many people blame her for giving us every rom-com plot ever. Yeah okay, sure. You know what else she did? Wrote about real women and men, in real life situations. If you want to say that her heroines are too perfect, I say NAY. That’s the point of literally ALL her books–the heroine has this flaw that would be tragic, except she LEARNS from it because she isn’t FUCKIN HAMLET (I hate Hamlet) she’s a real person who is capable of developing and changing and growing and can also be a total bitch (LOOKIN AT U EMMA) but can also end up being a good person because real people change. Psychological realism in lady characters was practically not a thing until Jane Austen. They were figures and plot devices and, like, allegories and shit. A lot of scholars place Jane Austen on the same level as Shakespeare, because she revolutionized the modern novel–the novel as we know it now didn’t really exist until Jane Austen because HOLY PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, BATMAN. Yeah. You wanna read endless novels about flat, boring characters? Didn’t think so.
Then we have the Brontes, who were all fuckin badass and also like the most talented family ever jfc. Because they couldn’t get published because they were ladies, all three sisters decided, fuck it, let’s publish under male pseudonyms. (Full disclosure: have yet to read Anne, but am told she is actually the most badass) Okay, Wuthering Heights is kind of weird. Like, really weird. But when you get into it and start ripping it apart you realize how amazing that shit is, like the entire novel? The fuckin thing is a palindrome. And don’t even get me started on the brilliant narration oMG SO MANY LAYERS OF UNRELIABILITY. Emily Bronte ilu.
and JANE EYRE OMG JANE EYRE. Let’s just give Charlotte a round of applause. This novel legitimized first-person narration, specifically first-person female narration. Most first-person stuff was epistolary and the ladies were all like “tralala I bought a dress and flirted with a guy oh wow now we’re engaged yadda yadda” and Jane is complex and kind of broken and not romantic in the least. Also she is a total badass. She is a self-made woman, everything she has, she has because she literally built herself from the ground up. And then there’s this whole scene where Jane is like “ladies can do the same shit guys can do but nobody will let us which is stupid.” and, unlike any of the other ladies in governess plots, she actually ditched her super rich boyfriend because she respected herself too much to stay with him after shit got real. And then she becomes super rich not because she marries him, but because, well, deus ex machina kind of, but still, it has nothing to do with Rochester! Yay! Also a really big deal–Jane and Rochester are both super flawed but they love each other anyway and it doesn’t end up being a tragedy because guess what, people can have flaws and not die horrible deaths. Also also–neither of them is hot (this brings me joy).
anD FUCKIN MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT SHELLEY. (I cry every time someone leaves out her maiden name because google her mother holy shit, so badass) She invented sci-fi. nuff said.
Elizabeth Gaskell! (She wrote North and South, the one with Richard Armitage?) SO MUCH SOCIAL COMMENTARY OMG. And Margaret will take no shit from nobody. She basically runs the house when her parents are alive and then after they’re gone she is still TOTALLY CAPABLE of taking care of herself because she’s FUCKING AWESOME. She faces down an angry mob, for fuck’s sake! (Also, for the record, though I love the miniseries, book!John is even dreamier and less of an ass than series!John)
Okay and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I had never heard of this badass lady but DAMN IS SHE COOL. Everybody was like “ugh whatever she’s a silly lady writer writing sensational lady stories ahahaha how dumb” SHUT THE FUCK UP. If you want to read a super badass 19th century murder mystery by an awesome lady, read Lady Audley’s Secret. The main character is a lawyer who is really smart but too lazy to actually lawyer so he just sits around and smokes all day and he kind of accidentally becomes a detective (like…that’s literally what happens…)? Also, spoiler alert, the villain of the story is a lady, which I am all in for. Yeah. And!!! The bumbling lawyer-man is a feminist! He has this huge inner monologue about how women are just as capable as men but they actually get shit done because they are awesome and motivated and, well, okay this is not always a good thing because hello lady villain, but still. [edit: alas, I spoke too soon, he is not a feminist. turns out he hates women. Robert Audley, we could have had it all, why’d you have to go and fuck it up. there are, however, many interesting and varied ladies in this book and it is also beautifully written Mary Elizabeth Braddon iluuuuu] READ THIS BOOK I’M CRYING RIGHT NOW
Also cool things were happening with lady writers worldwide in the 19th century, but, uh, I specialize in Brit lit and I just tend to like it better so, sorry. My bias is showing.
But anyways, BADASS MOTHERFUCKIN 19TH CENTURY LADY WRITERS FOR THE WIN
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