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

[fair-terentia.livejournal.com]

Henry not stand a chance? Impossible! Of course, if you'd titled the poll "Nicest literary hero"... ;)

[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]

Hey -- I didn't say *I* don't like Henry, I was only afraid that vs. Darcy he'd lose out. And that would have been rather upsetting, right? ;-P

[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)

[fair-terentia.livejournal.com]

Ahh, now I see your reasoning. Mr. Darcy shouldn't miss out- it probably would divide the vote! I was just teasing- I've seen your lovely NA icons!

[anodiel.livejournal.com]

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

[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

[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]

I was afraid if I included all the Austen heroes then none of them would win, for splitting the votes up. ;-) Who would you have voted for if I had?

Thanks! I always admire yours as well. And I love your header! :-)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

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

[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!

[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]

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

Re: How sweet!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[raven-moon.livejournal.com]

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

[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!