9.08.2010

Literary Heroines Who Ended Up With The Wrong Man

I saw this on a friend-of-a-friend's blog, and thought the idea was so brilliant that I made my own list. This is only my opinion, so please feel free to disagree and/or to add to the list! And now, without further ado, I bring you my list of literary heroines who ended up with the wrong man:

1. Jo March from Little Women
I don't care what anyone says, Jo and Laurie were meant for each other. I think my heart died a little when Laurie married Amy, and Jo ended up with the old boring guy.

2. Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility
I know he's a royal jerk, but I wish Willoughby could have straightened out and committed to Maryanne. They were such kindred spirits. And I wish Colonel Brandon could have ended up with someone who really loved him in return, and was not so obviously more compatible with someone else.
3. Olivia from Twelfth Night
Olivia and Orsino are both so dang melodramatic- they would be perfect together. (Granted, this paring would leave Viola and Sebastian together, and that wouldn't be very kosher seeing as they're twins and all.)
4. Mary Bennett from Pride and Prejudice
Poor girl. She and the awkward Mr. Collins would have made such a delightfully righteous couple. I was always secretly hoping they would end up together, but alas. He ends up with poor Charlotte.
5. Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Pray Love
This is cheating a little bit since Liz is not a fictional character, and I really have no right to tell real people who they should be with. (Though I do claim the absolute right to completely dictate the lives of fictional characters.) Anyway, I was bugged that she decided to try and make it work with the wealthy, foreign businessman. Hasn't she ever seen a chick flick? The steamy foreign affairs never last.

6. Tommy from Never Let Me Go
This is also cheating as Tommy is a hero, not a heroine. Still, I was so sad that Tommy and Kathy didn't get more time together. Freaking Ruth.
7. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind
This one is tricky since she ends up with no one. But I would have liked to see a reconciliation with Rhett Butler, her obvious match. It was implied that they do eventually return to each other, but this reconciliation has never been actually produced on print or on film. I'm still waiting for closure.

8. Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to doom Christine to a life with an unstable stalker, sexy as the Phantom's voice is. I'm just not the biggest fan of Raul. He has no personality in the book, and he's not much improved in the movie either.
9. Katniss Everdeen from Mockingjay
I won't spoil the ending here for those of you who haven't finished it yet. Suffice it to say, WHAT THE CRAP.

10. Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls
Total cheating: This is a TV show, not a book. But I still think Rory should have ended up with Dean. I couldn't close out this list without throwing that in there.

5 comments:

  1. I really hate that spoiled brat Amy for ending up with Laurie instead of Jo. I don't think I'll ever get over that.

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  2. Mostly I agree with you. I'm not sure about Dean though. I always kind of thought of him as a whiner. I kinda liked Jess, even though he was sort of a punk.

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  3. Missy you are a reading fiend! Did you see Eat Pray Love? I can't bring myself to go see in in the theaters because I know it just won't be the same as the book.

    Bre

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  4. Bre, I haven't seen the movie either! I'm always suspicious of movies made from books- they are almost always a regression in my eyes.

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  5. So, do you get credit in your Masters program for reading these or do they expect you to come to the program having already read this stuff?

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