Is Dorothy Gale (Oz) the first female adventure hero?

[kenobi_65]

The French girl in those stories was likely a real person (though the stories may be embellished); then again, the OP didn’t specify fictional characters.

[Czarcasm]

Let’s not forget young Wendy Darling, always ready to fly off into the unknown.

[Kimstu]

Even the quintessential “boys’ books” by Horatio Alger Jr., post-Civil War aspirational stories about (mostly) American teenage boys who overcame personal and financial hardship through honest hard work and sterling character, include one narrative with a female protagonist, the sometimes startlingly modern and adventurous Tattered Tom (1871):

[…] granny emerged into the street with Tom in her clutches.
She gave her a vigorous shaking up on the sidewalk.
“How do you like that?” she demanded.
“I wish I was as big as you!” said Tom, indignantly.
“Well, what if you was?” demanded the old woman, pausing in her punishment, and glaring at Tom.
“I’d make your nose bleed,” said Tom, doubling up her fist. […]

[…] there was no place for hiding herself, and no way of getting downstairs without running the risk of rushing into granny’s clutches. In her perplexity her eyes fell upon a long coil of rope in one corner. It was a desperate expedient, but she resolved to swing out of the window, high as it was. She managed to fasten one end securely, and let the other drop from the window. As it hung, it fell short of reaching the ground by at least ten feet. But Tom was strong and active, and never hesitated a moment on this account. She was incited to extra speed, for she already heard the old woman ascending the stairs, probably provided with a hatchet.

Tom got on the window-sill, and, grasping the rope, let herself down rapidly hand over hand, till she reached the end of the rope. Then she dropped. It was rather hard to her feet, and she fell over. But she quickly recovered herself. […]

[…] she had been impressed by the kindness of Captain Barnes, and felt that she should like to please him. Still, there was a fascination in the wild independence of her street life which was likely for some time to interfere with her enjoyment of the usages of a more civilized state. There was little prospect of her taming down into an average girl all at once. The change must come slowly.

“My brother will be very much pleased if he finds that you have improved when he returns from his voyage.”

“When is he goin’ to sea?”

“In two or three days.”

“I asked him to take me with him,” said Tom; “but he wouldn’t.”

“You would only be in the way on a ship, Jenny.”

“No, I shouldn’t. I could be a cabin-boy.”

“But you are not a boy.”

“I could climb the masts as well as a boy. If there was only a pole here, I’d show you.”

“What a child you are!”

“Did you ever read about the female pirate captain?” asked Tom.

“No.”

“Jim Morgan told me all about it. He’d read it in some book. It was a bully story.”

“Such stories are not fit to read.”

“I’d like to be a pirate captain,” said Tom, thoughtfully.

“You mustn’t talk so, Jenny,” said Mrs. Merton, shocked.

“But I would, though, and carry two pistols and a dagger in my belt, and then if anybody sassed me I’d give ’em all they wanted.”

What are the chances that the “female pirate captain” that Tom’s, or Jenny’s, friend told her about was the Fanny Campbell of the 1844 novel mentioned by RealityChuck?

The next day Tom went to school. She was provided with two or three books such as she would need, and accompanied [Mrs. Merton’s daughter] Fanny; for, though several years older, she was not as proficient as the latter.

In the next street there was a boy, whose pleasure it was to bully children smaller than himself. He had more than once annoyed Fanny, and when the latter saw him a little in advance, she said, nervously, “Let us cross the street, Jenny.”

“Why?” asked Tom.

“There’s George Griffiths just ahead.”

“What if he is?”

“He’s an awful bad boy. Sometimes he pulls away my books, and runs away with them. He likes to plague us.”

“He’d better not try it,” said Tom.

“What would you do?” asked Fanny, in surprise.

“You’ll see. I won’t cross the street. I’m goin’ right ahead.”

Fanny caught her companion’s arm, and advanced, trembling, hoping that George Griffiths might not see them. But he had already espied them, and, feeling in a bullying mood, winked to a companion and said, “You’ll see how I’ll frighten these girls.”

He advanced to meet them, and took off his hat with mock politeness.

“How do you do this morning, young ladies?” he said.

“Go away, you bad boy!” said little Fanny, in a flutter.

“I’ll pay you for that,” he said, and tried to snatch one of her books, but was considerably startled at receiving a blow on the side of the head from her companion.

“Just let her alone,” said Tom.

“What have you got to say about it?” he demanded insolently.

“You’ll see.”

Hereupon he turned his attention to Tom, and tried to snatch her books, but was rather astounded when his intended victim struck him a sounding blow in the face with her fist.

“Take my books, Fanny,” she said, and, dropping them on the sidewalk, squared off scientifically.

“Come on, if you want to!” said Tom, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of a fight.

“I don’t want to fight with a girl,” he said, considerably astonished at vigorous resistance where he had expected timid submission.

“You’re afraid!” said Tom, triumphantly.

“No, I’m not,” said George, backing out all the while; “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You can’t do it,” said Tom; “I can lick you any day.”

“How could you do it?” asked Fanny, as the dreaded bully slunk away. “How brave you are, Jenny! I’m awful afraid of him.”

“You needn’t be,” said Tom, taking her books. “I’ve licked boys bigger’n him. I can lick him, and he knows it.”

She was right. The story got about, and George Griffiths was so laughed at, for being vanquished by a girl, that he was very careful in future whom he attempted to bully.

[hogarth]

Marian Halcombe is the smartest, bravest, most resourceful character in “The Woman in White” (1859).

[Fretful_Porpentine]

Book 3 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (first published in 1590) is about the adventures of Britomart, a “lady knight,” and Britomart, in turn, was inspired by Bradamante and several other female knights in Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (1516). These are both big, sprawling epic romances with multiple protagonists and lots of interlocking narrative threads, so I don’t know if either character quite meets the “center of the story” criterion, but they both do all the typical knightly-adventure stuff, and in both cases they’re the main character for a significant part of the work.

[RealityChuck]

@hogarth

Marian Halcombe is the smartest, bravest, most resourceful character in “The Woman in White” (1859).

One of the reasons why The Woman in White is a great novel. She even impresses the villain so much that he ends up sabotaging his own evil plan.

[Kimstu]

Isn’t there a movie or miniseries version of The Woman in White somewhere? Gotta give that a look.

[RealityChuck]

Several film and TV versions, but they tend to miss many of the nuances of the book. There’s a decent version with Tara Fitzgerald as Marian that’s ok, even though she’s not physically right for the role. It’s on youtube.

Collins often had great women characters in his novels and wrote about the injustices of the legal system toward women.

[Greg_Charles]

I’m going to buy that magnet! Thanks, Elendil’s Heir! This is sort of a cool thread and I don’t even remember starting it.