The Picara

Courtesan and criminal, thief and trollop, warrior and wanderer the picara embodies the continuing archetypal pattern of a woman s autonomy. She is the sly sharpster in Defoe s heroines such as Roxana and Moll Flanders. With an ancestress like Becky Sharp, the picara evolves into Scarlett O Hara before finding a comfortable niche as the female hero in fantasy written by women. The Picara traces the development of this character, from an autonomous woman in a harsh patriarchal society to the female hero of the modern fantasy novel."