Top Ten Literary Couples

And it's Tuesday again! Woot Woot! I've had an absolutely crazy week (grading 75 freshman essays, holding 2 Plagiarism hearings, writing 2 chapters of my thesis (under major professor duress!!) and spitting out a semi-decent conference paper...*dies*) and I have a ton of craziness still ahead of me. But NO WAY am I missing my Top Ten Tuesday Post!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week we get a new topic to ponder, list, and explore.


This week's theme is "Favorite Couples in Literature."  I'm so excited to see what everybody else writes for this. The best literary relationships (in my mind) are the ones that sweep us off our feet and make us really feel the passion and the struggle. I think the types of relationships a reader 'falls in love with' say a lot about that reader, their dreams, and their image of 'the perfect couple.'

My Favorite Love-Bugs (in no particular order)

1. Jo and Laurie from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I know they don't end up together... but they SHOULD HAVE!!! I love their playful, sweet relationship and absolutely hate that that little whippersnapper Amy messed things up.

2. Elizabeth and Darcy- Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice I have a thing for witty, independent, strong minded heroines falling for the complicated, silent, brooding, misunderstood leading man. Lizzy and Darcy are kind of the poster children for this.

3. Daine and Numair from Tamara Pierce's The Immortals Series Now normally I find the teacher/student thing kind of creepy, but I could not have imagined Daine ending up with anybody else. Numair's funny, brilliant, protective, curious, and (sometimes) humble. He's kind of my perfect nerd-guy.

4. Beatrice and Benedick from Wm. Shakespeare's As You Like It  Much Ado (Thanks for catching my brain-fart Allie!). Beatrice is one of my favorite literary characters of all-time and I would have been pissed if Shakespeare had married her off to some fluffy, air-brained twit. Benedick has just as much spunk and sass as Beatrice-- I'm sure their married life was chaotic (and probably involved a lot of chucking of crockery and witty repartee) but they totally deserve one another.

5. Lucy Snowe and M. Paul Emanuel from Charlotte Bronte's Villette Lucy hides her heart beneath a thick layer of calm self-control; M. Paul wears his heart on his sleeve (or pinned to his forehead, or on the tip of his tongue... wherever it will be most obvious). She's cool and collected, he's fiery, passionate and unpredictable.  I did not see this relationship coming (neither did Lucy), but absolutely adored it while it lasted.

6. Sayuri and Nobu-san from Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha I know most people think the Sayuri-Chairman thing is more romantic and more 'epic,' but I always loved Nobu's dedication to Sayuri, his willingness to be honest with her (especially when no one else would tell her what was what), and his desire to teach her to be practical and to stand on her own two feet. Sayuri was awful to him a number of times throughout the book (ungrateful little grrrr)... but I think she underestimated what she had.

7. Leah and Anatole from Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible Leah and Anatole come from wildly different backgrounds and have different views of the world and their place within it... but they find a way to make love work through these challenges (and many many many more struggles). Their relationship is never easy or uncomplicated and they may never be able to fully see eye-to-eye but they're willing to sacrifice everything for love.

8. Vivaldo and Ida from James Baldwin's Another Country This is another one of those "When Worlds Collide" relationships. Vivaldo and Ida never seem to agree on anything, and they constantly struggle (particularly Vivaldo) to figure out what the other one is thinking and why they do what they do. Their relationship is bound up in racial, class and gender tensions but even with all that working against them they continually fight to 'keep love alive'.

9. Kambili and Fr. Amadi from Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's Purple Hibiscus This almost doesn't count as a relationship.. you know that Kambili and Amadi love eachother deeply and that they see the other as their link to a better understanding of beauty and joy in the world, but circumstances and self-less ambitions force them apart. Part of Amadi lives with Kambili forever though...

10. Cal and Abra from John Steinbeck's East of Eden I'm fascinated by Cal's character in this book. I hate him and love/pity him periodically throughout the story. He's a smart, emotional guy who has been royally messed up by his upbringing and his competitive relationship with his brother (Cal and Aron are based on Cain and Abel.. fyi). Abra is really one of the first people who can reach Cal and help him get over his anger and fear. It's a beautiful, incredibly painful and heart-wrenching story. You're never fully cheering for him, but your heart goes out to him anyway.