Praise For Fictional Mothers

Happy Mother's Day (and Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, coincidentally) to all! :D I thought it might be fun for Mother's Day to explore some of my favorite moms fiction has to offer - care to join me? :)Because mother character so rarely get applauded, I would love for anyone and everyone to add any they can think of in the comments, even their own story's mother characters! Because we need mom characters - they are the ignored heroes of the stories. Without them, would we even have the heroes?

Queen Frigga from Thor

M'dear friend Megan has already pointed out each and every one of this amazing mom's qualities, both as a character, and as a mother here, and I couldn't agree more! Frigga is strong in the midst of weakness, and is the glue to a broken vase, so to speak. No family in fiction that I can think of is quite so broken up as Frigga's at that start, and yet no mother in fiction that I can think strikes me a stronger in the situation.

Mrs. March from Little Women

Ya know, I'd always felt, even as a little girl reading the story, that there was something special about Marmee. She was every bit as caring as a real life mother, and had a character all her own, which is an attribute sadly lacking in many fictional mothers. She seemed almost the definition of a mother - caring, but fierce in her own way as well. And I must say that a good few words of Marmee's advice have stuck with me quite determinedly through all these years. After all, Mother knows best - and Mrs. March is no exception!

Galadriel from Lord of the Rings

Perhaps for most people, mother is not the first thing that comes to mind when they think Galadriel. They might think 'Ring-bearer,' 'Forest-queen,' or even, perhaps, if their mind is inclined to agree with the stupid movie Gimli's ramblings, 'Elf-witch.' Putting aside that last one, she is all of these things. But also a mother. And a mother primarily. You know, without her, there would be none of Arwen and Aragorn. Because there wouldn't be Arwen. While the movies ignore it quite blatantly, Arwen is the granddaughter of Galadriel, child to Galadriel's daughter, Celebrian. And, you know, once I found out, I was never really able to think of Galadriel in any other way. She just seems like a mother, though her role as one is quite hidden in LotR. But the truth is, motherhood isn't glory. But it's goodness. And that I am sure even those who at the start of this thought like Gimli would agree Galadriel has. Because, believe it or not, she was a mother before she was ever an 'Elf-witch.' ;)

 Resa Folchart from Inkheart

Okay. I'll admit it. I was never a big fan of Resa, even having watched the movie basically since it came out. But, honestly, she deserved my fandom. She was a mother whose motherhood was torn from her, and what did she do? She didn't just move on. She didn't make a new life. She didn't try to get glory for herself. She spent her every last ounce of effort - even unto slavery, imprisonment, and almost death - to be a mother again. She used every power within her just to get back to her child. Now that's a determined mother. I think she deserved my fandom.

Eudora from The Princess and the Frog

There's unfortunately not a whole lot about Eudora in the movie. She's Tiana's down to earth, hard-working, wise-woman Mama, and that's most of what you get. But that's enough. Even just the little bit you get of her, you can tell a lot. She worked herself to pieces just to raise Tiana. She's been poor, widowed, and been through quite some trouble. And, even though Tiana was a good worker like her mother, Eudora always had to try and convince Tiana of what she really needed. And though it seemed never to work, she kept on trying. And finally, it worked. Finally, throughout a chaotic sequence of events, Tiana remembered her mother's words and finally found what she needed.

We Need More

Sure, there are good mother characters out there. But they're few and far between. Most of them are from old or obscure books, and are not commonly known. I've tried my hand at making some - and sometimes met with some measure of success. Queen Gianna from The Clarion Call (previously, Alagna) is a mother who actually has a good relationship with her children, Anwynne's mother in The Pain of a Memory, though little-mentioned, actually cares about her daughter, despite Anwynne's own rather uncaring character, and Felicia from Clarion Call actually has a relevant role in the story. But these are not enough. So I'm calling all of you *cue Uncle Sam picture* to write mother characters. Good ones. Intimate ones. Real mothers. Will you answer?

What do you think? Can you add any other good mothers in fiction who need praise? Have you written any mother characters? Are you willing to answer the need for more?