6 Literary Antiheroines You Will Love

Dorothea (Daughter of the Blood, The Black Jewels Trilogy #1, by Anne Bishop)
One of the most original fantasies I’ve read, with fascinating female characters to boot. Sexual politics and power dynamics between genders pervade every aspect of Bishop’s series. Dorothea is the current Queen—and anyone who dares to defy her ends up dead. She is powerful, ruthless, and totally evil…and I loved her. But soon, a new threat arises to put her power in doubt, by the name of Jaenelle. The journeys of these two women will take them to levels of darkness that will give you goosebumps.

Zenia (The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood)
Margaret Atwood is a mistress of complex female characters, and this gender-swapped re-imagining of a Brothers Grimm fairytale is no exception. Zenia is a villainess who has inserted herself into the lives of three friends and upended their romantic ambitions, finances, and reputations. She is relentless in her pursuit of her own success even if it is at the detriment of others, and there is a part of all of us that roots for her to win.

Becky Sharp (Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackery)
The full title of the novel is actually “Vanity Fair: a Novel Without a Hero”, which makes it perfect for this list, as Rebecca Sharpe (also the protagonist of the infamous Reese Witherspoon adaptation of this novel) is certainly not a hero in pursuit of goodness. She is a woman consumed by her own desires to rise to the top of society, no matter the enemies she makes along the way, or whom she must trample on to get there, including her best friend, Amelia Sedley. Becky finds love with Rawdon Crawley, a man with a thirst for life that matches her own—but when her desires outpace their standard of living, disaster ensues.

Milady de Winter (The Three Muskateers, by Alexander Dumas)
This novel isn’t a romance, but Milady de Winter is such a classic anti-heroine that I couldn’t leave it off! Four soldiers unite to defend the honor of the king against the evil Cardinal Richelieau against the backdrop of 17th-century France. You may have to power through the first part of the book before Lady de Winter shows up, but I promise she’s worth it. A spy for the Cardinal, Milady uses her womanly wiles to surreptitiously prevent the Muskateers from achieving their goals.

Morgaine (The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley)
The story of King Arthur’s rise told from the perspective of the deeply flawed women who surrounded him? Sign me up for this classic fantasy (with some seriously dark romance). Marion Zimmer Bradley re-imagines Avalon as a matriarchal society before Arthur’s rise, and each of the women—including Gwenhwyfar, the Christian Princess version of Guinevere, and Morgaine, the pagan sorceress interpretation of Morgan La Fey—have ambition and desire in spades, that often works against the agenda of the men around them.

Scarlett O’Hara (Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell)
If you’ve seen the classic film adaptation of this novel, you already have an idea of what makes Scarlett an anti-heroine: she’s brash, pursues her dreams and desires in direct opposition to society’s rules, and definitely makes enemies along the way. Desperately in love with Ashley Wilkes at the start of the Civil War, Scarlett is devastated when Ashley marries a kind and simple girl, Melanie, instead. What ensues is a years-long journey that Scarlett believes will eventually lead her back to Ashley, but instead leads her to tragic ends.
Who are your favorite antiheroines?