My Favourite Literary Couples

When Blogchatter put out this interesting prompt for their monthly #TBRChallenge, I just couldn’t resist penning my thoughts on it! Having been an avid reader ever since I could comprehend words, I cherish my books like they are my best friends. Hence, it’s only natural to feel that some characters from my favourite books are part of me. Over the years, I have read thousands of books and formed intimate relationships with hundreds of characters. And today I would love to share my favourite couples from the literary world. I’m not sticking to the literal meaning of “couple” as two people who are romantically involved – though of course, there will be that too – but I plan to include duos that play so well off each other that they almost define each other as characters. So, without further ado, here is my pick of the lot:

Unrequited Love: Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler from ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell

Honestly, when I first read the prompt, the only ‘literary couple’ that came to mind was Scarlett and Rhett from ‘Gone with the Wind’. Ironically, despite their powerful love story, this couple doesn’t end up together in what is probably one of the last century’s most debated book endings. But before I can speak of the couple, I must speak of my love for the book. I’m aware that the cancel culture brigade has ripped it to shreds, but I choose to see it as a book written to reflect its time. Plus, I can’t ignore the hours and hours of reading pleasure this book gave me as a lonely and rather insecure teenager. I read and re-read my favourite bits (all of which were scenes between Scarlett and Rhett) till my copy of the book was in literal tatters!.

Now, what is so compelling about their unrequited love story? Scarlett is a stubborn and spoilt woman who has her heart set on a man she can’t be with because he’s betrothed to someone else. In an attempt to spite him, and later as a matter of convenience, she marries two other men for whom she has no feelings. All through her other marriages, there is also a ‘blackguard’ of a man towering over her life. This is Rhett Butler, who despite his unfavourable reputation, has fallen head over heels in love with the much younger Scarlett, even though she keeps putting him off. About two-thirds of the way into this over 1000-page book, Scarlett and Rhett marry each other, yet she still doesn’t see how he dotes on her and lets her live life the way she is accustomed to. She finally sees this at the very end of the book, and at the risk of giving out spoilers, it doesn’t go down too well.

I must admit that I cried buckets at the end of this book. 15-year-old me just couldn’t imagine that two people who love each other so much and understand each other so well, don’t end up together. It’s only now that I’m in 30s that I see this situation occurs very often in life. Love is indeed a strange, strange emotion.

Gone with the Wind

Forbidden Love: Meggie Cleary and Father Ralph de Bricassart from ‘The Thorn Birds’ by Colleen McCullough

Before there was the ‘Twilight’ series and thousands of other books like it, the theme of forbidden love was explored beautifully in ‘The Thorn Birds’, a novel from the 1970s. Meggie Cleary is just a child when the handsome young priest Father Ralph encounters her for the first time. As she is neglected by her family, he loves her like his own. But when she grows up, she realises that her love for him isn’t fraternal – it’s romantic. He leaves their small village in an attempt to get away from temptation, and she ends up in a disastrous marriage with a man just because he looks a bit like Father Ralph.

Many years later, she finds Father Ralph in an obscure place and despite their tremendous age difference and difference of station (he is a man of the cloth and isn’t allowed to have sexual relations), they end up in a brief romantic encounter. This leads to the birth of a son whose true paternity she hides from Father Ralph. Time goes on and when their son dies an untimely death, Meggie finally confesses the truth to Father Ralph who himself succumbs to a broken heart soon after.

It’s a long and convoluted story but I loved it because their love is so real and palpable despite their best attempts to thwart it. For die-hard romantics like me, it was confirmation of the fact that love doesn’t conform to societal notions but beats to its own rhythm.

The Thorn Birds

Traditional Love: Roop and Sardarji from ‘What the Body Remembers’ by Shauna Singh Baldwin

The first time I fell deeply in love with an Indian love story was when I read this book. This one, though traditional, is also unconventional. Sardarji, as he is known throughout the book, is an influential landlord who owns thousands of acres of land in Rawalpindi before the Partition of Punjab. He is rich, well-educated and has the world at his feet, but his wife Satya remains childless. After many years, goaded by his sister and the expectations of society, he decides to marry a second time. A young village girl called Roop – barely 16 years of age – is chosen for the purpose. At the time, he is 42.

On the face of it, this may seem like a story of oppression, child marriage and all the ills that come with it. However, there blossoms a very sweet kind of love between Roop and Sardarji, built on romance and respect in equal measure. The first wife detests her and attempts to make her life miserable, yet as Roop bears Sardarji three children, their love becomes stronger with time. The true test of their love, however, is the Partition, during which they are separated for months, but fortunately find each other and resolve to build a new life together in Delhi.

This book offered me a glimpse of what marital love could be like between equals. I feel it also guided me in the choice of my own husband!

What the Body Remembers

Intellectual Partnership: Hercule Poirot and Capt. Hastings from the Hercule Poirot Detective Series by Agatha Christie

Most people who are familiar with my blog will know of my love for Hercule Poirot, and my ongoing Project Poirot series. So, how could I not mention my favourite non-romantic partnership in this list?! Hercule Poirot is a genius detective who has never been wrong about a case. His partner in a large number of these cases, is his much younger English friend Capt. Hastings. It’s tempting to compare the two to the OG pairing of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but I think Poirot and Hasting’s equation is fundamentally different.

Hastings has two very important roles to play in this relationship. In his characteristic bumbling manner, he often makes astute observations that lead Poirot to solving the case. Also, his almost caricature-esque ‘Englishness’ makes Poirot seem even more foreign, and also often captures the backdrop and the timing the book is set in very well. Hence, this pairing of Poirot and Hastings is an important and unforgettable one.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Unspoken Love: Lily Potter and Severus Snape from the Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling

This is certainly an unusual pair to include in this list, but I was very keen to round off this post with five couples, and I just couldn’t think of a fifth one that I absolutely love. So, instead I thought of my favourite books. The Harry Potter series is of course right up there, but the more obvious couples from that book don’t really merit a mention in this list because they were sweet but blah. However, one unusual relationship on which the entire premise rests in a way, and which only comes to light towards the very end of the series, is the tender and unrequited love between Harry’s mother Lily Potter and his (at first) most loathed nemesis Professor Severus Snape.

When they were kids at school together, Severus was bullied for being different and his greatest enemy was James Potter – Harry’s father. The only true friend he had at the time was Lily who always defended him and cared for him. Though she later chose to marry James, Severus never stopped loving her and vowed to protect her child after her death. And he did it admirably – dying himself in the process. This level of commitment to a person who is no longer alive is astounding to say the least, but it’s so touching and beautifully portrayed. No matter what his personal feelings toward James (and as a consequence, Harry) were, Severus’ love for Lily surpassed them all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

That’s it from me on this very long post! Have you guys written on this subject for Blogchatter’s #TBRChallenge too? Do let me know. I would love to check your posts out!

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This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’  hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Bohemian Bibliophile.

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This post is part of the Bookish League blog hop hosted by Bohemian Bibliophile

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