John Irving answers a question about writing believable female characters: Sue Shearer Dalrymple posted: Your female characters are very realistic whereas I have found that many male authors female characters are rather one dimensional and only exist to add to the male protagonists story. Why and how do you think you are able to do this? John Irvings response: “There have been no lack of important and memorable characters created by male writers—at least, not in the past. Sophocles created terrific women characters; Shakespeare, too. Emma Bovary is why Flaubert called his novel Madame Bovary. (Who can even remember Charles?) Hester Prynne is what makes The Scarlet Letter so strong. Hardy’s Tess is both heroine and victim. Estella and Miss Havisham are more memorable from Great Expectations than Pip; maybe Magwitch (or Jaggers) is the most memorable character in that novel. But so much of contemporary fiction is plagued by being memoir-based; so-called autobiographical novels lack a lot of imagination. What I’m saying is that male novelists and playwrights should be able to imagine and realize female characters; the writers of the past did so, routinely. I don’t think it’s remarkable that my female characters loom large, and are strongly represented in my novels; what surprises me is the lack of imagination in many contemporary novels and plays. It’s what comes of writing about yourself.”
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:06:26 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015