Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and TV shows as a teenage amateur sleuth.

A cultural icon, Nancy Drew is cited as a formative influence by several women, from Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor[9] and Sonia Sotomayor to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton[10] and former First Lady Laura Bush.

[11] Feminist literary critics have analyzed the character's enduring appeal, arguing variously that Nancy Drew is a mythic heroine, an expression of wish fulfillment,[12] or an embodiment of contradictory ideas about femininity.

[citation needed] Affluent (her father is a successful lawyer), she maintains an active social, volunteer, and sleuthing schedule, as well as participating in athletics and the arts, but is never shown as working for a living or acquiring job skills.

"[36] The original Nancy Drew is sometimes claimed: "to be a lot like [Benson] herself – confident, competent, and totally independent, quite unlike the cardboard character that [Edward] Stratemeyer had outlined.

"[44] Mason also criticizes the series for its racism and classism,[45] arguing that Nancy is the upper-class WASP defender of a "fading aristocracy, threatened by the restless lower classes.

"[46] Mason further contends that the "most appealing elements of these daredevil girl sleuth adventure books are (secretly) of this kind: tea and fancy cakes, romantic settings, food eaten in quaint places (never a Ho-Jo's), delicious pauses that refresh, old-fashioned picnics in the woods, precious jewels, and heirlooms… The word dainty is a subversive affirmation of a feminized universe.

"[47] At the bottom, says Mason, the character of Nancy Drew is that of a girl who can be "perfect" because she is "free, white, and sixteen"[16] and whose "stories seem to satisfy two standards – adventure and domesticity.

[49] Although Harriet Adams felt that these changes were unnecessary, she oversaw a complete overhaul of the series, as well as writing new volumes in keeping with the new guidelines laid down by Grosset & Dunlap.

[4] For example, in the original version of The Hidden Window Mystery (1956), Nancy visits friends in the South whose African-American servant, "lovable old Beulah… serves squabs, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, piping hot biscuits, and strawberry shortcake.

"[60] One reviewer noticed, "Millie [Mildred Wirt Benson] purists tend to look askance upon the Files series, in which fleeting pecks bestowed on Nancy by her longtime steady, Ned Nickerson, give way to lingering embraces in a Jacuzzi.

"[6] Cover art for Files titles, such as Hit and Run Holiday (1986), reflects these changes; Nancy is often dressed provocatively, in short skirts, shirts that reveal her stomach or cleavage, or a bathing suit.

In an extreme example, in the book Deadly Doubles, the fate of an entire nation and millions of lives are at stake, a character is tortured and strangled off-screen, and Nancy and her allies are nearly killed on five separate occasions.

"[70] Some, mostly fans, vociferously lament the changes, seeing Nancy as a silly, air-headed girl whose trivial adventures (such as discovering who squished the zucchini in 2004's Without a Trace) "hold a shallow mirror to a pre-teen's world.

The books, written under the Carolyn Keene pseudonym, are targeted to readers aged 8–12 and primarily follow Nancy, with her friends Bess and George, solving both violent and nonviolent crimes.

[citation needed] Consistent with other Stratemeyer Syndicate properties, the Nancy Drew novels were written by various writers, all under the pen name Carolyn Keene.

[82] Other volumes were written by Walter Karig, George Waller, Jr., Margaret Scherf, Wilhelmina Rankin, Alma Sasse, Charles S. Strong, Iris Vinton,[83] and Patricia Doll.

As styles changed over the next few years, Nancy began to appear in glamorous frocks, with immaculately set hair, pearls, matching hats, gloves, and handbags.

Using Gillies's wife for a model, Nancy reflects the conservative 1950s, with immaculately waved hair and a limited wardrobe – she wears a similar sweater, blouse, and skirt ensembles, in different combinations, on most of these covers.

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall shows an assertive Nancy leading more timid friends up the front steps of the haunted house and marks a transition to later illustrations.

Frankie Thomas stated that he believes he and Granville had made five films, not four, while Harriet Adams wrote in August 1939 to Mildred Wirt, the ghostwriter of the books at the time, that "three have been shown in this area, and I have just heard that a fifth is in production.

[119] To promote the film, Warner Bros. created a Nancy Drew fan club that included a set of rules such as "must have steady boy friend, in the sense of a 'pal'" and must "take part in choosing own clothes.

Produced by Nelvana, Tracy Ryan starred as Nancy Drew, who is now a 21-year-old criminology student, moving to New York City and living in an upscale apartment complex called the "Callisto".

Nancy solved various mysteries with Bess (Jhene Erwin), a gossip columnist at The Rag, and George (Joy Tanner), a mail carrier and amateur filmmaker.

[141] The pilot, written by Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, revolved around Nancy investigating the death of Bess Marvin, and reentering the NYPD after taking leave.

[149][150][151] In October 2017, Phelan and Rater brought a redeveloped pilot to NBC, where the plot now revolved around a middle-aged Nancy who wrote her adventures into novels has to team up with her former friends to solve a murder mystery.

[180] Many prominent and successful women cite Nancy Drew as an early formative influence whose character encouraged them to take on unconventional roles, including U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor;[181] TV personalities Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters; singers Barbra Streisand and Beverly Sills;[182] mystery authors Sara Paretsky and Nancy Pickard; scholar Carolyn Heilbrun; actresses Ellen Barkin and Emma Roberts;[183] former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; former First Lady Laura Bush;[10] and former president of the National Organization for Women Karen DeCrow.

"[191] Nancy's father not only imposes no restrictions on his daughter, but trusts her with both her own car and his gun (in the original version of The Hidden Staircase [1930]), asks her advice on a frequent basis, and accedes to all her requests.

Some critics, such as Betsy Caprio and Ilana Nash, argue that Nancy's relationship with her continually approving father is satisfying to girl readers because it allows them to vicariously experience a fulfilled Electra complex.

The fact of a character's being a school-girl reminds "the reader, however fleetingly, of the prosaic realities of high-school existence, which rarely includes high adventures or an authoritative voice in the world of adults.