Friday, March 31, 2006

I was thinking about my favourite romance heroes in an idle moment and wondering, if I could only have one, which I would choose.
The trouble is, they all have different things going for them, so I decided to give them points for fantasy lover (FL) good husband material (GHM) family man (FM) fun and games (FG) and stability and security (SS). I’m not sure SS has a place in a fantasy hero, but it helped bump up the points for Freddie (from Heyer’s Cotillion) so I left it in. I also threw in a few villains to see how they fared. Here’s how they did:

Darcy FL 10, GHM 10, FM 7, FG 7, SS 10 TOTAL 44
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Rochester FL 10, GHM 6, FM 4, FG 6, SS 8 TOTAL 34
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Mr Knightley FL 4, GHM 9, FM 10, FG 5, SS 10 TOTAL 38
Emma by Jane Austen


Heathcliff FL 10, GHM 0, FM 0, FG 7, SS 4 TOTAL 21
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte



Rhett Butler FL 9, GHM 7, FM 7, FG 7, SS 6 TOTAL 36
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Willoughby FL 7, GHM 2, FM 2, FG 8, SS 4 TOTAL 23
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Freddie Standon FL 2, GHM 8, FM7, FG 6, SS 10 TOTAL 33
Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
Col Brandon FL 1, GHM 7, FM 7, FG 6, SS10 TOTAL 31
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Wickham FL 6, GHM 1, FM 1, GH8, SS 0 TOTAL 16
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen


Scarlet Pimpernel FL 10, GHM 9, FM 7, FG 9, SS 9 TOTAL 44
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy




Of course, the results would have been very different if I’d added a category for flannel waistcoats, which would have boosted Col Brandon’s score enormously :-)but it looks like my favourites are Darcy and the Scarlet Pimpernel. Who are yours?

Amanda Grange

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does FG (fun and games) include GSOH (good sense of humour)? Because Henry Tilney definitely has it, and Lord Damerel (Heyer's Venetia) should score well for that (among other things).

Lois said...

I only know a couple of the ones listed, but in any case, I totally agree with Darcy being number one! But admittedly, I don't know much about the Scarlet Pimpernell, except that I probably spelled it wrong just now, and that I heard of the name. :) Oh, and come to think of it, there were mentions of him in the book " The Secret History of the Pink Carnation." And that's all I know about him. But still, how can one say no to Mr. Darcy? :)

Lois

Anonymous said...

Captain Wentworth does it for me every time, (I admit it might just have a teeny bit to do with the naval uniform!) and I agree with Laura's Lord Damerel too.