Princess
Criteria
Webster defines “Princess” as, the daughter of a
sovereign, a woman of grandeur. This description fits many of the heroines
in the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. My desire was to create a web site
featuring just a handful of the favorites so I further defined the term
“Princess” to reduce the number to a manageable size. This was a tough
job—yeah, right; like being a judge in a Miss America Contest. I decided to
conduct personal interviews with each candidate in a quiet one-on-one setting,
but that’s a fantasy for another story.
Criteria to make the top
7
- The
first requirement is that they be the leading-lady of the series.
There can be only one Princess of Mars, for example, and everyone knows
Dejah Thoris is that person. However, other beautiful and exotic noblewomen
shouldn’t be disregarded just because they aren’t in the first book, so
I have featured them on the second page of this site, cleverly titled, “more
Princesses.”
- She
must be a member of royalty. I felt daughters of Chiefs were close
enough. This eliminated such ladies as Harkas Yamoda, the daughter of
psychiatrist Harkas Yen on Poloda, and also, Na-tul, the beautiful cave girl
sought after by Nu, son of Nu.
- She
must hail from another planet or lost race. I felt that this criterion
would ensure an exotic flavor to the list, even though my own incomparable
Princess is a homegrown Virginia girl. This cut the likes of Jane Porter of
Baltimore, Wichita Billings of Arizona, and heroines of the historical
novels.
- Lastly,
I felt that they should be beautiful (which eliminated no one) and
of strong moral fiber. Goodbye La of Opar. She should have her own site
anyway, and the Jeddak
Who Never Sleeps has probably already done that.
Leading Ladies that don’t qualify as Princesses are
listed on the honorable mention page.
This effort is not an attempt to list every ERB female character.
---von
Horst
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