What These 3 Literary Heroines Can Teach Us About Being ‘Perfectly Imperfect’

Photo by George Milton from Pexels

The truth that human beings are imperfect, fallible creatures is undeniable. Moreover, despite this indisputable fact, many of us struggle mightily with perfectionism. We strive to be perfect. We obsessively (and pridefully) try to let nothing slip through the cracks in work, in appearance, in relationships, in any aspect of life. This perfectionist tendency can be especially crippling when it prevents us from admitting our shortcomings or asking for help.

Yet many of our most cherished and admired literary heroines are anything but perfect.  

In a 2018 article, author Gracy Olmstead elucidates some of the benefits of reading literature. One of her points is that literature connects the reader to both mystery and reality. She quotes author Flannery O’Connor, who says, “The type of mind that can understand good fiction is…the kind of mind that is willing to have its sense of mystery deepened by contact with reality, and its sense of reality deepened by contact with mystery.” In other words, literature can change the way we view our lives and the world.  

According to Olmstead, another advantage of reading literature is that it stirs the moral imagination. She cites Russell Kirk, who “suggests that literature teaches us what it means to be fully human — by instructing its readers in ‘their true nature, their dignity, and their place in the scheme of things.’”

Kirk, writes Olmstead, “isn’t … calling for preachy literature; indeed, he notes that ‘the better the artist, one almost may say, the more subtle the preacher.’”

In creating relatable literary heroines who are “perfectly imperfect,” authors such as Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Baroness Orczy, among others, achieve this subtle preaching and teaching, and their stories and characters emerge as fitting illustrations of these lessons about mystery, reality and the moral imagination. This is arguably why their creations are effective teachers about perfectionism.

Here are three examples of literary heroines who fouled up but arose humbler and more whole from the experience.

01 | Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey (by Jane Austen)

Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey (2007)

Catherine is a naïve, callow teenager immersed in fashionable society for the first time and struggling to discern the characters of the worldly people around her. She has a proclivity for reading Gothic novels and also possesses a lively imagination.

These two qualities form a treacherous combination, and she allows her affinity for mystery and romance to lead her to dreadful conclusions about the father of her beau Henry Tilney. When her suspicions are made known and the truth revealed, she is deeply ashamed and humbled by her rash judgment.

Catherine repentantly admits her mistake and grows as person, showing us in the process that sometimes our errors are the catalyst for personal development and maturity.

02 | Margaret Hale from North and South (by Elizabeth Gaskell)

Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale in North & South (2004)

Margaret is notably virtuous, though touched with a bit of pride. She is courageous, selfless, and concerned about social justice. However, she, too, succumbs to a fault when she finds herself lying to the police to protect her brother.

Although her motive is one of love for a family member, she is guilt-ridden by her lie and the lack of faith in God that she believes led to her sin. She is genuinely contrite, asking forgiveness from God and eventually reconciling with the novel’s hero, John Thornton, in whose esteem she feared she had fallen because of her transgression and other attending circumstances.

Margaret reminds us that everyone, even the seemingly strongest and most righteous, have faults. The important thing is to seek forgiveness.

03 | Marguerite Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel (by Baroness Orczy)

Jane Seymour as Marguerite Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Marguerite is charming, intelligent, and possesses great beauty and strength of will.  She also has character flaws. Her overweening pride has estranged her from her husband, Sir Percy (who also labors under some pride), and prevented her from explaining a tragic past misjudgment to him.  

This story is set during the drama and danger of the French Revolution, and Marguerite finds herself and Sir Percy in a life-and-death situation, which causes her to examine her behavior and faults and vow to turn over a new leaf. She must utilize all her natural strength and intelligence as well as newfound humility to make things right with her husband. 

Marguerite’s moral journey exemplifies the lesson that love requires humility and honesty and that making amends is sometimes uncomfortable and self-sacrificial but immeasurably worthwhile.

In short…

Catherine Morland, Margaret Hale, and Marguerite Blakeney are not alone in guiding us through the perils of perfectionism. They are joined by numerous literary sisters, such as Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne Shirley, and Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, who also are exemplars of perfectly imperfect heroines.

All are different in character and situation, but all offer a similar liberating lesson, one that helps us to understand our “true nature, identity, and place in the scheme of things.” We should always try to do our best and to overcome our flaws, but we will always have moments of weakness in which we falter and fail.

We never will be perfect. The key is having the humility to admit our mistakes and emerge from the fray a better version of ourselves. It may not be as neat and tidy or as adventurous as in a book, but the example of these literary leading ladies may just assist us in becoming the heroines of our own lives.

Books mentioned in this article: