Don’t be like Kim Kardashian West and look at Shakespeare's Cleopatra as a role model instead – that’s the message to schoolgirls from a Wimbledon headteacher.

Jane Lunnon, from private school Wimbledon High, says young women can learn more about self-confidence and image from the portrayal of the Egyptian queen in Shakespeare's play than from the reality TV star and queen of the selfies.

Teenagers should look beyond celebrities who are a “lot to do with inches - either column or physical” or “known for the size of their diamonds” to heroines who show you can be strong but flawed.

Speaking at the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, held in the Bard's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, Mrs Lunnon said: "I think Shakespeare was saying with Cleopatra that you are allowed to be flawed and powerful and brilliant and still have enormous influence.

"The thing about Cleopatra is it's ... about image and how she sells the myth of Cleopatra. Kim Kardashian is selling the myth about Kim Kardashian.

"Shakespeare's Cleopatra did the same thing ... a lone female voice when all the other women in Antony And Cleopatra are basically powerless.

"It sounds trite to say she had enormous self-confidence, but that's what you would be getting kids to recognise - how I see myself and what I project."

Prompted by a poll at school which found girls were more likely to consider Kardashian West and pop star Taylor Swift to be their role models rather than education campaigner Malala Yousafzai and US First Lady Michelle Obama, Mrs Lunnon has launched a scheme where pupils will study Shakespearean characters and re-imagine them in contemporary surroundings in an effort to channel some of their more desirable characteristics.

A mother to two teenage daughters, Mrs Lunnon said: "I have nothing against them but I wonder to what extent Kim Kardashian as a role model is a lot to do with inches - either column or physical.

"It''s well documented there is a paucity of role models that are speaking to girls at the moment in Western society and it made me think where else can we look for them?

"As an English teacher I'm very used to using Shakespeare as a great source for intellectual stimulation and exploration - but really probing and using Shakespeare as a pastoral educational tool I thought was really interesting and, in particular, Shakespeare's characters as role models."

Pupils will also study protagonists from comedies As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night to learn from the way they deal with adversity.

Mrs Lunnon said: "Look at Rosalind, look at Beatrice, look at Viola, the capacity in challenge and dilemma and pain, to love, to be vivacious, to be resourceful, to be resilient - they embody it so vividly, and that is a really powerful message.

"It's not that terrible things happen to them, it's how they respond."

Do you agree with Jane Lunnon that schoolgirls should model themselves on characters such as Cleopatra rather than celebrities? What other female inspirations do you think girls should look up to? Add your comments below.