Memorable Female Royals in Literature
In the light of the birth of the latest royal baby, here is a list of some of the best and most memorable fictional royal characters that have graced the pages of some of the most popular works of fiction. Whether you loved them or hated them, whether they stood for good or bad, these royals take the crown.
Don’t forget to leave a comment with some of your own favourites.
Daenerys Targaryen
A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin
NOTE: I have admittedly only read the first book in the series so far, so I can only comment on the character from the one book.
Daenerys Targaryen is the last dragon and one of many who believe that they are the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. She is someone to whom the world has not been very kind, and, despite her young age, she has experienced significant distress. As a result, this book sees Daenerys grow from a scared and overpowered girl into a strong and powerful young woman.
There is something devastating about Daenerys’s story; on the surface she is just a young girl who always comes so close to getting what she wants but never quite makes it. She was born a princess, but she never gets to live like one; she was promised the Seven Kingdoms by her husband, but she loses everything in the process (her husband, her unborn child, her khalasar). It is easy to see how Daenerys becomes more of a Targaryen as the story progresses given all that she has lost, driven by ambition and vengeance.
Yet despite this, Daenerys is definitely the underdog hero of the book, and it is very hard not to like her because even though terrible thing happen because of her she remains gentle, kind, and humble. She reminds us of how hard it is to be a just and fair hero when your faith and trust is betrayed by those to whom you give it.
It’s also hard not to love her when you consider her age. At just thirteen she has grown into a powerful young woman, yet you have to stop and wonder that with all that she has survived, with nothing left to lose, and with three newly hatched dragons at her side, Daenerys Targaryen is on a precipice of being danger, and I for one would not want to be the person who pushes her over the edge.
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
They say that behind every great man is a woman, and this has never been truer than with Lady Macbeth; there can be no doubting who wears the trousers in their relationship. She is driven by ambition and ruthless in achieving what she wants, yet her husband believes that “undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males”. Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to contradict the belief that ambition and violence is linked to masculinity—she gains power through manipulation, which she uses to great effect on her husband.
Lady Macbeth is possibly one of Shakespeare’s most frightening female characters purely because she is able to gain so much power without committing an act herself; she is able to use other people to get what she wants. She is the cause of so many crimes without having any blood on her hands. Yet despite her ambitions and power, Lady Macbeth is proven to be human when she is driven to madness by her guilt.
What makes Lady Macbeth such a fascinating character is that she starts off as a woman who seems to possess masculine qualities, someone who wants to own the masculine world, yet she is driven to (apparently) take her own life by the guilt she feel about her actions. Her strength becomes her weakness.
The Evil Queen
Snow White, Brothers Grimm
This tale is a lesson to young children about the dangers of narcissism and pride, and all lessons are taught in presence of one character: the Evil Queen is the stuff of childhood nightmares.
This is one woman who is definitely beautiful in appearance but ugly in personality. She is proud and arrogant, dabbles in the dark arts, and believes that power lies in beauty. She is a woman with no limits, as she sends her huntsman to kill her prettier step-daughter, Snow White. When he returns she eats what she believes are Snow White’s lungs and liver—thankfully her huntsman has a conscience and doesn’t kill Snow White but a boar instead. In her determination to kill Snow White, the Evil Queen commits a horrific series of acts.
What makes the Evil Queen truly terrifying though is how she is a reflection on today’s society. So many young people are controlled by vanity; we can only hope that no one starts ripping the organs from prettier people’s bodies. If you hear anyone say “mirror mirror”, you know to run in the other direction.
The Evil Queen is memorable because she is imbedded in our minds from childhood—she really is a monstrous woman, which is indicative of the fact that she has inspired the creation of many other evil female characters over the years.
The White Witch
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
A half-giant, half-genie—can you get any more powerful? Try a half-giant, half-genie, tyrant who has a Secret Police, a network of secret spies, and is not afraid to give out horrific punishments. The White Witch is a deceiver; she appears to be human, but she isn’t. This is what makes her particularly frightful because Narnia is a place where everything is as it appears to be—the act of deception is a part of her uncanny evil.
The White Witch is ruled by fear and that fear manifests itself in evil acts. The most terrifying thing about her though is that she seems to have a way of making other people do things that are influenced by their existing feelings and desires—take Edmund, for example—revealing that each of us have a bit of evil in ourselves. Everyone is deceiving, some of us just hide it better, and the White Witch holds the mirror up to society.
Titania Queen of the Fairies
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare
Titania is an example of a strong female character who isn’t afraid to stand her ground. She shows herself to be compassionate and gracious by taking a young boy into her care, and she shows passion and determination when she refuses to give the boy to her husband, Oberon. It is here that we see the beginning of a battle between two very strong and persistent characters.
As a strong-willed and powerful woman, Titania breaks the conventional depiction of female wives when she fails to act submissively towards her husband—not only being controlling in the story but actually controlling the story itself. While it is easy to love the strong personality of Titania, it is almost comical how easily she loses herself when spelled into loving Bottom, whose head has been transformed into that of an ass. Even in that relationship Titania asserts her dominance; however, when the spell is reversed it seems that she has successfully learned her lesson and takes her place besides her husband as the submissive wife. It is interesting to see how a strong woman reacts when her pride has been damaged.
Titania Queen of Fairies is memorable as the queen that had it all before it was all tricked away from her.
Don't forget to check out the companion piece to this article: Memorable Male Royal in Literature.
