100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #61
61. Lena Kaligaris, as seen in the novels The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, Forever in Blue, and Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares as the films Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, portrayed by Alexis Bledel
I love a good series. There's nothing wrong with a single book, but I prefer series because I tend to get fairly invested in characters and like to see their continuing story unfold. I read the first of this series my freshman year of college after my roommate borrowed it from her cousin, and I quickly devoured the next 2 in the series. When the 4th book came out our junior year, we both read it as quickly as possible, and, when I found out there was a 5th book set ten years later released last year, I literally read the entire thing in 3 hours. While certainly a bit starry-eyed, this remains one of my favorite series because of the strength of friendship which exists between the 4 main characters.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants tells the story of 4 girls who have been best friends since birth. Bridget, Carmen, Tibby, and Lena are very different people who love each other fiercely and, the summer after 10th grade, they are spending the summer apart for the first time. After finding a pair of pants which magically fits them all perfectly despite their different body types, they decide to share the pants through the summer by sending them and letters detailing what's going on with them. Each girl has their own standalone story line with some overlaps. And while all the girls are great characters, the older I get, the more and more I love Lena's character arc the most.
Lena is the "shy" one; she is not an athlete like Bridget, outspoken like Tibby, or dramatic like Carmen. A talented artist and incredibly beautiful, Lena is uncomfortable in her own skin and especially with the attention boys pay her. During her first summer, she travels to Greece to stay with her grandparents where she meets Kostos, a handsome boy her grandparents desperately want her to date. Lena is a naturally cautious person and she often keeps Kostos at a distance, which results in frequent misunderstandings and poor communication; when she finally opens herself up to being with Kostos, he tells her he has married a girl he has gotten pregnant during their separation. Lena's story then becomes about her desire to go to RISD and move beyond Kostos, even losing her virginity to a guy named Leo from one of her art classes. At 19, she and Kostos agree that someday will be their time, but that time is not now.
When we pick back up with Lena 10 years later, she is an instructor at RISD in a relatively boring relationship with a nondescript guy named Drew. Her friends and her family are concerned because she is still isolating herself, still keeping the world at bay; Lena's main social interaction is Greek language lessons turned coffee dates with an elderly woman named Eudoxia. After a tragedy in Greece, Lena contacts Kostos for the first time in years and they begin to reconnect via letters and conversation. By the end of the book, she and Kostos have finally found their way back to each other, happy and secure with each other, and Lena is reunited with her best friends in an ideal situation.
To be perfectly honest, when I was younger, Lena was my least favorite of the sisterhood. Compared to Bridget, who always had the most compelling story arcs, Lena was downright dull and her constant lamentations about Kostos and her inability to connect to people seemed so whiny. But now that I'm older, I appreciate Lena's story so much more. It is hard to forge true connections with people, especially when you're uncertain in yourself; you can be the kind of person who is great at maintaining friendships while also completely hopeless at romantic entanglements. Lena doesn't have a clear perception of herself, and, as a result, it colors how she interacts with those around her. Unlike her best friends who, in their twenties, are living these vibrant lives, Lena recognizes she lives essentially like a hermit and largely within her own head. It takes a huge, life altering event for Lena to recognize the need for connection, and Lena literally forces herself to do something entirely out of character (traveling to London with little preparation) to show Kostos how genuine she is in wanting to try again.
What I love about Lena is, of all of the girls, she is the one who grows the most. Lena gets a lot of shit because her storyline is seemingly "all about a boy," but I don't think it is. Kostos is a symbol of the person Lena wants to be: happy, free with her emotions, able to connect, fun loving. Lena wants to be that person, but it also scares her because it's unfamiliar. Lena is never as happy as she is with Kostos, but she also does not know how to be around Kostos all the time because of it. She puts so much pressure on herself to behave a certain way, Lena often forgets to enjoy the moment. By the end of the series, Lena is able to do that, to have the man she wants to be with and the life she wants to live, and, even though it was scary to get there, she put in the time and the work to get there.
And that's kick-ass.
I love a good series. There's nothing wrong with a single book, but I prefer series because I tend to get fairly invested in characters and like to see their continuing story unfold. I read the first of this series my freshman year of college after my roommate borrowed it from her cousin, and I quickly devoured the next 2 in the series. When the 4th book came out our junior year, we both read it as quickly as possible, and, when I found out there was a 5th book set ten years later released last year, I literally read the entire thing in 3 hours. While certainly a bit starry-eyed, this remains one of my favorite series because of the strength of friendship which exists between the 4 main characters.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants tells the story of 4 girls who have been best friends since birth. Bridget, Carmen, Tibby, and Lena are very different people who love each other fiercely and, the summer after 10th grade, they are spending the summer apart for the first time. After finding a pair of pants which magically fits them all perfectly despite their different body types, they decide to share the pants through the summer by sending them and letters detailing what's going on with them. Each girl has their own standalone story line with some overlaps. And while all the girls are great characters, the older I get, the more and more I love Lena's character arc the most.
Lena is the "shy" one; she is not an athlete like Bridget, outspoken like Tibby, or dramatic like Carmen. A talented artist and incredibly beautiful, Lena is uncomfortable in her own skin and especially with the attention boys pay her. During her first summer, she travels to Greece to stay with her grandparents where she meets Kostos, a handsome boy her grandparents desperately want her to date. Lena is a naturally cautious person and she often keeps Kostos at a distance, which results in frequent misunderstandings and poor communication; when she finally opens herself up to being with Kostos, he tells her he has married a girl he has gotten pregnant during their separation. Lena's story then becomes about her desire to go to RISD and move beyond Kostos, even losing her virginity to a guy named Leo from one of her art classes. At 19, she and Kostos agree that someday will be their time, but that time is not now.
When we pick back up with Lena 10 years later, she is an instructor at RISD in a relatively boring relationship with a nondescript guy named Drew. Her friends and her family are concerned because she is still isolating herself, still keeping the world at bay; Lena's main social interaction is Greek language lessons turned coffee dates with an elderly woman named Eudoxia. After a tragedy in Greece, Lena contacts Kostos for the first time in years and they begin to reconnect via letters and conversation. By the end of the book, she and Kostos have finally found their way back to each other, happy and secure with each other, and Lena is reunited with her best friends in an ideal situation.
To be perfectly honest, when I was younger, Lena was my least favorite of the sisterhood. Compared to Bridget, who always had the most compelling story arcs, Lena was downright dull and her constant lamentations about Kostos and her inability to connect to people seemed so whiny. But now that I'm older, I appreciate Lena's story so much more. It is hard to forge true connections with people, especially when you're uncertain in yourself; you can be the kind of person who is great at maintaining friendships while also completely hopeless at romantic entanglements. Lena doesn't have a clear perception of herself, and, as a result, it colors how she interacts with those around her. Unlike her best friends who, in their twenties, are living these vibrant lives, Lena recognizes she lives essentially like a hermit and largely within her own head. It takes a huge, life altering event for Lena to recognize the need for connection, and Lena literally forces herself to do something entirely out of character (traveling to London with little preparation) to show Kostos how genuine she is in wanting to try again.
What I love about Lena is, of all of the girls, she is the one who grows the most. Lena gets a lot of shit because her storyline is seemingly "all about a boy," but I don't think it is. Kostos is a symbol of the person Lena wants to be: happy, free with her emotions, able to connect, fun loving. Lena wants to be that person, but it also scares her because it's unfamiliar. Lena is never as happy as she is with Kostos, but she also does not know how to be around Kostos all the time because of it. She puts so much pressure on herself to behave a certain way, Lena often forgets to enjoy the moment. By the end of the series, Lena is able to do that, to have the man she wants to be with and the life she wants to live, and, even though it was scary to get there, she put in the time and the work to get there.
And that's kick-ass.