Who is the best Hero in Literature?

[olde_fashioned]

It is a fact universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

I've decided to take a poll and see who everyone's favourite literary hero is. ;-) Mind, I mean the character from the book, not the actors from the movie! Who is the kindest, the best knight in shining armour, the most chivalrous, the noblest? You decide!





[Poll #1021974]

Comments

[aaania80.livejournal.com]

Nice... I was the first so JT has 100% hehe... Anyway - here's why I have chosen JT - breifly.
I think he is much more ineteresting as a man - he had to work hard for his success unlike Darcy who was born rich. And it may be the fact that Gaskell gave us much more insight into John's thoughts than Austen in Darcy's... And I much more prefer the way Thornotn proposed for the first time even though both of them were terrible! As for Rochester - as much as I love Jane Eyre I have never found him as attractive as the other two... And when you come to think of that - he WAS married when he proposed to Jane!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment! And I agree with your answer. I included Rochester to make it interesting.

And although I did consider putting Henry Tilney in the poll, I was afraid he wouldn't stand a chance! ;-P

[dapplegrim.livejournal.com]

I heartily agree with aaania80 and voted for JT for all the same reasons... though I have to echo another user who mentioned a soft spot for Rochester. *g*

[weselan.livejournal.com]

I chose John Thornton - basically for the same reasons as stated above. Although I do have a soft spot in my heart for Rochester.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Aw, well, at least Rochester had the good sense to fall in love with Jane, right? ;-P

BTW -- your icon made me laugh!

Made me think of you

[elainastone.livejournal.com]

Hi!

I found this article that has some great links to past style hair-dos... One of the links has a couple of Regency examples in it.


Various Hairstyle (http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/artman/publish/Femininity_amp_Modesty_16/Help_What_do_I_do_with_my_hair_1262.shtml)

Re: How sweet!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I do like those websites. :-)

[anodiel.livejournal.com]

It's funny. I was thinking about doing something very much like this in my journal.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Were you really? Well great minds think alike, right? :-)

[oldfashioned84.livejournal.com]

yea, you have it up!

This has to be one of the hardest decisions in the world.

I think I love all three of them equally, but I have a feeling that Thornton and Darcy are going to get most of the votes.

So I'll just have to go ahead and vote for your 'favorite' of the three. ;)

[oldfashioned84.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe I was wrong now that I see how the results are coming... lol

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

;-) LOL!! *MY* favourite?!!?? I like Thornton and Darcy both better than Rochester.

I should have said no tactical voting, lol!!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Well! You know my feelings on that subject!!! ;-)

Thanks!

[eggplantopera.livejournal.com]

I find it so ironic that those three names should contest for the "best hero in literature", while all of them (for the better part of each novel) exhibit such un-heroic conduct!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Excellent point! But then during the course of the novel(s) we get to enjoy watching them reform and change. :-)

[themurcurytree.livejournal.com]

i followed this over from sweeping_epics. My choice is none of these. my favorite hero is rhett butler from GWTW, always sorely underrepresented in these sorts of things.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Well, I daresay you're right about Rhett Butler getting as much attention as the ones in my poll. But I did intentionally exclude some popular heroes in favour of the ones I felt might be "the most" popular for the sake of a simpler poll. ;-) Mr. Knightley from Emma and Roger Hamley from Wives & Daughters are only two other examples.

[sabrinafair2.livejournal.com]

I chose Darcy, although it was hard :). Darcy is the image every girl has of the perfect husband, IMO. He's kind, handsome, not to mention rich.

Thornton in a lot of ways is pretty similar to Darcy, but that one scene where he punches that guy is still a bit too strong. (Does he do it in the novel?)

I also really like Rochester, but he's too moody. And locking your wife up--no matter how insane--isn't what I'd say makes a great hero. (Bronte used a bit of Bluebeard's legend, wouldn't you say?) However, Rochester in many ways seems to be (from what I've read/seen), from the other characters much more complex. Not to mention while Darcy's Elizabeth has "fine eyes" and Thornton's Margaret is also said to be pretty, while Jane is usually described as "poor, obscure, plain, and little".

When thinking of this question though (yes I've done so before :) ), I always like to think if we would like them if we met a modern day equivalent of them? Although no matter how much we fantasize over Darcy, Thornton, Rochester, and other literary heroes, it's the heroine who always makes them become the hero we so love. And I'm sorry to say that I'm not that much alike to Elizabeth, Margaret, or Jane.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

That's true. And Thornton most certainly does NOT beat anybody up in the novel. Totally made up. In fact I sincerely doubt if it was even in character -- unless he messed with Margaret. ;-P

I never could warm up to Rochester, but I can hardly fault him for keeping a homicidal maniac locked away. Remember, he didn't have the heart to kill her, and insane assylums in the period were notoriously cruel. What would you have had him do with her? No, I think his sin was in trifling with Jane by trying to make her jealous (Blanche too, for that matter) and for trying to commit polygamy.

If we're talking modern men then I think Thornton would probably be better, wouldn't you? He's got a good head for business while Darcy could get arrogant...

I like Jane Eyre tremendously just not her taste in men. ;-)

[valancy-s.livejournal.com]

Let's see...

Who is the kindest, the best knight in shining armour, the most chivalrous, the noblest? You decide!

KINDEST
Darcy: a grump who never goes out of his way to be kind, except in helping Lydia - which let's face it, he did to impress Elizabeth
Thornton: quiet but very kind to Margaret's parents, orphaned children, etc
Rochester: Gruff to everyone except Jane after they're engaged. Decidedly unkind to Adele, Blanche. Not cruel to Bertha, at least...

CHIVALROUS KNIGHT
Darcy: comes to Lydia's rescue that one time
Thornton: defends his Irish workers at some risk to his own life
Rochester: ...

NOBLE
Darcy: has a good reputation with his tenants. Not so good on the "sparing others discomfort" front.
Thornton: drags his family up from poverty, refuses to risk his workers' paychecks to save himself from having to sell his mill, hides Margaret's lie to the police though his own hopes are crushed...
Rochester: tries to save Bertha

Yeah, I can see why Thornton is coming last in this poll. Mm.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Your comment had me laughing!! When you put it that way, I don't see how there could be any other outcome. What a puzzle that people should like Rochester so much!

[raven-moon.livejournal.com]

I love Rochester, but then, I am a sucker for dark, tormented, conflicted heroes....

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Well who isn't? But Thornton and Darcy are both dark and tormented...and they both have conflicts with their lady loves! ;-)

[prima-donna87.livejournal.com]

Apparently I like the underdog as Mr Thornton is my favorite.:) They are all great but as Mr. Thornton is a hard worked and wonderful I had to go for him.I still cannot believe you did not have Mr Knightley.:(

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Ditto! But I feared having more than one hero from the same author would split the votes too much. *shrugs*

[oldfashioned84.livejournal.com]

Wow, you really have a lot of votes for this!

It looks like Thornton's starting to catch up now

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

:-D *rubs hands greedily*

Yay! Maybe I should cast a vote...

[shanima.livejournal.com]

I was tempted to go for Rochester, because I love Jane Eyre so much, but Thornton is more noble and less unpredictable. Darcy is a little too boring for me.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Do you think Rochester is more interesting than Darcy?

[sabrinafair2.livejournal.com]

Congrats at being mod's choice over @ regency stills!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

What??! That's news to me! Thanks for telling me, and thank you for the congrats! :-D

[banded-becky.livejournal.com]

Nicholas Nickleby?

Haha, I voted for Darcy. He is a taciturn, arrogant arse, but I still think every girl out there dreams of finding her own Mr D. Maybe it's because he's gorgeous, rich and snobby, but has a secret soft side... I'm not entirely sure why he's so attractive. He just is. *shrugs*

Personally though, I think Nicholas Nickleby has got to be the most perfect hero in literature. He's kind, intelligent, caring, generous, honest, determined, self-reliant, confident, charming, modest, and handsome. He really is perfect (aside from the slight tendency to floor people a fair bit. It's generally for good reasons though, so you could just say he's not a pushover). And who could want someone more perfect than that?

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

LOL! I have to hand it to you for the most original "Best Hero" suggestion, as I've never heard Nicholas Nickleby mentioned in any way like that. ;-P

I wonder what it is about Darcy that girls like so much? I like him well enough, but it's Mr. Knightley for me. :-) He's certainly intelligent, caring, generous, honest, determined, self-reliant, confident, charming, modest, handsome, AND rich! LOL!