#Jane Austen's heroines aren't very heroic

[bethanydelleman]

Is Your Heroine a TRUE Heroine?

In the first chapter of Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen lays out all the criteria of being a HEROINE, almost all of which poor Catherine Morland does not meet. I have adapted these criteria into a simple yes or no test, which you can apply to your favourite heroine. Here is the test and the results for some Jane Austen, Brontë, and Gaskell heroines/female characters

Abusive parent/guardian - 1 point for each abusive parent or guardian, Dead parents - 1 point for each dead parent, and then 1 point for each of the following: Great Personal Beauty, Poor family, Heroic care of animals/nature, Taste for gardens, Extraordinarily intelligent, Plays music/sings, Draws/does art, Focused on schooling, Calm and quiet, Reads poetry

There are 12 criteria, though the possible score can be higher (for example, if you have lost a mother, father, and stepmother, that would count as 3 dead parents)

Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Heroine Score: 11

Helen Graham, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë  Heroine Score: 10

Jane Fairfax, Emma by Jane Austen, Heroine Score: 9

Agnes Grey, Agnes Grey by Anne Brontëm, Heroine Score: 9

Anne Elliot, Persuasion by Jane Austen,  Heroine Score: 8

Mary Crawford, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Heroine Score: 8

Molly Gibson, Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and Fanny Price of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Heroine Score: 7

Heroine Score: 6, Emma Woodhouse of Emma, Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility, Elinor Tilney of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and Cynthia Kirkpatrick, Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

And then with Heroine Scores of 5 or less, we have Elinor Dashwood (5) of Sense and Sensibility, Catherine Morland (2) of Northanger Abbey and Jane & Elizabeth Bennet (2) of Pride and Prejudice

Example Data:

Disclaimer: you must use your own judgement for some answers. For example, does Anne Elliot count as poor since her father is heavily in debt? Also, some data is not readily available, we don’t know if Elizabeth Bennet reads poetry or not (my guess is no).These are my best estimates given the available data in each novel. Also, Jane Eyre is generally calm and quiet, she just has explosions sometimes, so I gave her that point.

Please add ratings of your own heroines if you want! I haven’t read Wuthering Heights so I can’t do the heroine scores.