Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures,” and as the founder of The Nice Girls Rule Movement and author of Bitch? Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, I wonder if Mr. Emerson would agree that the “nice girl” heroine in fiction doesn’t get the kudos she deserves in real life.
Fables promote nice girls finishing first and praise them for morality and valiance, but reality applauds the opposite. In fiction, like Cinderella, we see the good girl getting the man, the castle, and the sexy glass heels, but the reality of our culture’s current climate is that the evil stepsister seems to be getting what the nice girl deserves.
If Ralph was right and fiction does reveal truth, then let’s celebrate some of fiction’s most famous nice girls and encourage each other to believe that the beauty of behaving well does have a happy ending.
Jane Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the classic tale of unsuspecting love and fairy-tale endings. And despite the wide variety of lovable and intricate characters, the “nice girl” among them would have to be Jane Bennet. While her mild temperament and sweet-to-a-fault disposition almost cost her the love of Mr. Bingley, we were never happier for her when he finally did pop the question. Without conniving or gold digging, Jane Bennet reveals that you can have it all while keeping your heart in the right place.
Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables
Anne Shirley isn’t your typical nice girl. An orphan who grew up in a world where she was considered daft, Anne was often overlooked and misunderstood. A spirited redhead with a temper to match, she gets into trouble at school, irks her adoptive mother, and of course butts heads with her ultimate love, Gilbert Blythe. But her fiery attitude isn’t rooted in meanness. She desperately wants to be “angelically good,” but her vivid imagination always gets the better of her. An academic whiz, bosom friend, and kindred spirit, Anne Shirley is a model nice girl who teaches us you don’t have to be like everyone else to follow your dreams.
