Elle Woods is a fictional character who is the lead protagonist of most media revolving around the Legally Blonde universe. The character originated in the 2001 novel, Legally Blonde, by Amanda Brown. She is an attractive blond sorority girl from California. She obtains admission to and attends Harvard Law School in an effort to rekindle a relationship with a shallow boyfriend who had ended the relationship before heading there himself. She eventually earns her Juris Doctor, and the respect of her peers, marries a man who is more mature than her initial boyfriend. In the sequel to the original film, she works on Capitol Hill. Woods was portrayed in both films by actress Reese Witherspoon. In a Broadway theatre adaptation of the first film, Legally Blonde - The Musical Woods has been portrayed by five different actresses in different stagings of the show. They were Laura Bell Bundy, Bailey Hanks, Becky Gulsvig, Sheridan Smith, and Jessica Jung.

The character is mentioned, but not seen, in a later direct-to-video sequal, Legally Blondes, which portrays the adventures of two English cousins of Elle Woods.

[edit] Character arc

The character arc of Elle Woods is a transition from a ditzy sorority girl who believes that her happiness is dependent on the man in her life, to a confident law student who realizes that her happiness is contingent on the successful development of her own abilities. Because of the completion of this personal journey in the first film, there is no appreciable character arc for Woods in the sequel.

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