Researching a variety of female characters that aren’t your typical damsels of yesterday or the physically “strong” female characters so common today definitely makes for a fascinating afternoon. Why? I discovered that taking literature outside of the equation limits the actual number of introverted or shy female characters in media drastically (I couldn’t even find any lists). Perhaps these timid females are just considered too “boring” in modern day to be written into television or films very often (or dare I even say the sexist phrase: too “Mary-Sue?”).
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I mean think about it, how often (lately) have you seen that shrinking violet character too frightened to speak? Or even a character that doesn’t know how to socialize well? Or maybe she’s simply just introverted rather than extroverted. Perhaps shyness creates too human of female characters to be written on a regular basis. There are plenty of shy male characters interestingly enough. I don’t know about everyone else, but it is time to demand more variety in our female characters. Enough with the sassy, the quirky, the flirty, the girlfriend who doesn’t feel quite real, and the perfect feminist icon of “strong,” (everyone should read the article on “I Hate Strong Female Characters” Here). We need more introverted and shy female characters.
Let’s allow some shy girls to break into our stories more often. Until then, if you are longing to watch a movie or show (maybe you too are an introvert like myself) with female characters that aren’t your typical extroverts (or less awkward introverts), here are just 40 of the great shy female characters (sorry no anime) in film and television.
Interesting fact: many of these introverted and shy female characters stem from literature written at least over 50 years ago.
TOP 40 Introverted and Shy Female Characters
(Alphabetical Order)
#1: Ada Monroe from Cold Mountain
Content Note: This is Rated R.
#2: Amelie from Amelie
Content Note: This is Rated R.
#3: Amy Dorrit from Little Dorrit
#4: Annie from Being Human
#5: Bella Swan from Twilight
#6: Belle from Beauty and the Beast
#7: Beth March from Little Women (1994)
#8: Carrie from Carrie
Content Note: This is Rated R.
#9: Cassandra from I Capture the Castle
Content Note: This is Rated R for non-sexual nudity.
#10: Cecily from Road to Avonlea
#11: Charlotte Vale from Now, Voyager
#12: Daisy from Downton Abbey
#13: Davina from The Originals
#14: Dorothy “Dot” Williams from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
#15: Fanny Price from Mansfield Park (1999)
#TIE WITH 15: Fanny Price from Mansfield Park (2007)
#16: Felicity from Felicity
#17: Fran from Strictly Ballroom
#18: Hannah from Everwood
#19: Ingrid Beauchamp from Witches of East End
#20: Jamie from A Walk to Remember
Great list! I’ve seen most of those shows and agree they make interesting characters. Everyone doesn’t have to be an extrovert. I agree, the emphasis on “strong” female characters now feels stock and rote. We need more widely diverse characters overall.
Don’t forget Adrienne from Rocky.
Introversion is not shyness. Most of these characters aren’t shy but introverts.
Belle is in no way ‘shy’. She’s just intelligent and introverted. Maybe she comes across as shy because she’s not your standard Disney ball of energy, but she’s not shy by any standards.
I used shy as a general term. If you read my introduction, you can see that I was including introverted in the conversation. Though I do think Belle does not come across as being comfortable socially.
You raise a fair point there. I wouldn’t call her introverted personally, more… somewhere in the middle, i.e. ambiverted. She’s awkward around some of the characters, i.e. Gaston, because he only really wants one thing from her, and of course wants to make her life a living hell when she refuses him.
Disney ball of energy? It’s not like Belle is the only Disney Princess to be introverted. Cinderella, Aurora, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, and Elsa would also fall under the introverted category. And I agree that Belle is not shy; Not even around Gaston.
Kiara Westford -“Rules of attraction”(Simone Elkeles- I know this is a shallow novel, but I fell in love with the style of the author.)
Linda Owens- “Beastly”(Alex Flinn)
Anne Elliot- “Persuasion”(Jane Austen)
Angela Weber- “Twilight”(Stephenie Meyer)
Harriet Pomeroy-“Ravished”(Amanda Quick)
Penelopa Marbury- ” A rogue by any other name”(Sarah MacLean)
Anna Wren-” The Raven Prince”(Elizabeth Hoyt)
In my opinion , these would be the characters who stood out by their shyness .It’s just a personal opinion , of course
Ooh, what about Allison from “The Breakfast Club”?
Also Christine Daae, from the Phantom of the Opera
Thank you so much for this list! I am, and always have been a painfully shy woman. I used to wish I were more extroverted, but I now accept the fact that I’m not. I now feel that my shyness gives me a unique, mysterious vibe.