Quintessential Doll is the mysterious moniker of producer and multi-instrumentalist Steph Linsdell.
Her latest single, the haunting ‘Beautiful Violence’, is based on the original Little Mermaid story, which is quite dark but was re-imagined for Disney. As a lyricist, Linsdell isn’t a stranger to using mythic figures in her songs to represent our hopes and fears. The sea nymphs in ‘Beautiful Violence’ represent the destructive voices from within that entice and terrify us when our souls are most vulnerable and volatile.
On that note, Steph has shared five inspirational female characters from myths and fairytales with us.
5. Belle (Beauty And The Beast)
'Beauty And The Beast' was probably my favourite, classic Disney movie as a kid. Belle is cool because she doesn’t fall for a pretty face, and doesn’t tolerate brutish behaviour. She’s the only princess who reads and loves books, so she’s more than just a Disney princess who sings to cute forest animals.
4. Athena
Athena is the Greek goddess of courage, inspiration, justice, war, art, strength; basically anything that holds power. That’s pretty badass. If that’s not enough, she banishes the boys (Odysseus and his soldiers) for mucking up her temple, yet guides them out of disaster and trouble during the Odyssey.
3. Luna Lovegood
Okay, I know that the Harry Potter series is not technically mythology or a fairy tale, but it deals with magical creatures so it should count. Luna Lovegood is the epitome of cool. She doesn’t give a damn when other people mock her. Being a nonconformist with a strong sense of individuality makes her a pretty inspiring character.
2. Hermione Granger
Hermione may have been a mere muggle but she kicked many a wizard’s arse. She did not stand for institutional gender bias, and her badass antics saved Harry and Ron countless times. Who figured out how to destroy the Basilisk? Who learned how to control time? Who warned Harry that going to rescue Sirius was a trap, but he didn’t listen anyway. Without Hermione, the Boy Who Lived would be dead many times over.
1. Eowyn, shieldmaiden of Rohan
I’ll admit that I’m a LOTR nerd, and Eowyn has always been the character I connected with the most. She is undervalued by the men in her country: she is delegated to being a nurse maid while her brother Eomer gets to go out to fight and do all the things she wants to do, and gets stalked by the creepy Wormtongue.
When Aragorn tells her to stay behind while her brother and uncle go to war, she rebels by putting on armour and rides to war anyway. She comes face to face with the Nazgul King (who thinks himself immortal). The Nazgul King threatens her with death and torment. What does she do? She laughs at him, tells her that she is a woman, and stabs him IN THE FACE and kills him.
Quintessential Doll plays the Triffid Young Blood #2 at The Triffid (Brisbane) 20 May.
Quintessential Doll
