Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Fictional Couples.

Every Tuesday is Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, there is a topic and bloggers create their list of their "top ten!"

I am a big list maker, so I love this idea!

This week's topic is our top ten fictional couples from literature. I thought this was going to be easy for me, but I found I had a hard time narrowing it down to my top ten. Anyway, I persevered, so I hope you enjoy my list and consider joining in!

*I should note there might be slight spoilers for these if you haven't read them, but nothing that will ruin the book for you if you do.


1. Beatrice and Benedick from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. This is my favorite play and I love the banter between the two. Their witty arguments and conversations make the play, and distract us from Claudius and Hero, and their whining. :)

2. Penelope and Odysseus from Homer's The Odyssey. How could I leave these two off the list? I mean, we can brush aside that little part where Odysseus and Calypso have their thing and focus on the connection between these two. Penelope waited 20 years for Odysseus to come back to her, and Odysseus fought all kinds of monsters to be reunited with his love.

3. Etienne Lantier and Catherine in Emile Zola's Germinal. While they may not have the most beautiful and romantic relationship, it was still a relationship that grabbed my heart. The scenes near the end of the novel were so beautifully written....if you haven't read this book, you NEED to.

4. Lily Bart and Lawrence Selden from Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. This is another set of tragic characters who cannot find the courage to express their feelings for each other. Their relationship develops slowly, and painfully, until the ultimate tragic end.

5. Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara from Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. I can't believe it took me so long to read this novel, but I love their relationship! Constant strain, fighting, passion....what more could you ask for!

6. Anne and Frederick from Austen's Persuasion. I could just have easily put Elizabeth and Darcy here, but I am a bigger fan of the more mature and lasting relationship found in Austen's later work. I related to it far more than the P & P relationship! And that letter? Oh boy....

7. Gatsby and Daisy from Fitzgerald's The Great Gastby. While I wasn't a huge fan of this the first time I read it, as I have gotten older I have begun to appreciate the power of the green light and Gatsby's love for Daisy. The end of this novel captures that feeling of a lost love and what we do to try and attain someone.

8. Macy and Wes from Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever. My favorite Dessen novel, I have always felt that the relationship between these two characters was the most mature and realistic. The way they fall for each other is simple and heart-warming. It reminds me a lot of some of those early conversations I had with Matt when we began dating.

9. Beauty and the Beast in Robin McKinley's Beauty. The tale of Beauty and her Beast is one of my all-time favorites (and I am in love with the Disney movie). McKinley manages to take this classic tale and make it real. I love the connection between these two characters, and the growth they both show from beginning to end.

10. Jamie and Claire from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. The love story in this series is EPIC. The characters have such a deep and passionate love that I adore. And wouldn't adore Jamie? I remember reading this and telling Matt that if Jamie was real he would have some competition. :)