Abstract
Children’s novels like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Coraline by Neil Gaiman are important pieces of literature to analyse as their impact and popularity has already reached and impacted millions of young children. With these tropes in mind, the central focus of this thesis looks at how progressive female protagonists are an important component in children’s literature in combating sexism and gender bias and the ways in which they do so. It is especially important for readers that self-identify with female protagonists to have progressive role models, as it can shape their self-identity and self-esteem. By examining these three popular children’s novels, this thesis will demonstrate changes in how female characters are portrayed throughout the decades, the importance of these changes and the ways in which children’s literature encourages its readers to think critically about the content that they absorb. Applying a feminist theory and gender schema approach, this thesis looks to analyse the way in which the home, gender stereotypes, and the concept of self directly impacts the child reader, and the real-world implications in their creation of a self-identity based off of the protagonists in the stories they read.