My first crush was on Harry Potter. I was six years old and convinced that someday I would meet someone who was just as heroic and kind as that boy (and just as adorable as 11-year-old Dan Radcliffe.) Obviously, my taste in *men* changed as I got older, but one thing remained the same: fictional men continue to steal my heart. I’m twenty years old and still have a crush on the Weasley twins. Not James and Oliver Phelps -- Fred and George Weasley.
The problem with having a crush on fictional characters, though, is that they give you the most unrealistic expectations! We read about these grand, romantic gestures and hope that a man will someday do something like that for us. For many (OK, all) men I met on my travels through books, there will always be a place in my heart.
1. Noah Calhoun, "The Notebook"
Of course Nicholas Sparks’ famous Noah Calhoun is the first on our list. He’s the fun-loving, laugh-out-loud, small-town boy that us quiet, bookish girls can’t help falling in love with! He takes risks and goes for what he wants. He’s passionate, he dances in the street and he’ll even be a bird for you. He’ll be a bird for you. He writes a letter to Allie every day for a year, never giving up on their love. Unfortunately for those of us living in the real world, men like Noah only exist in Nicholas Sparks novels. But we still love you, Noah. Even when we figured out that you’re super unrealistic, it wasn’t over… it still isn’t over.
2. Jay Gatsby, "The Great Gatsby"
Jay Gatsby spent a large portion of his life trying to become the man that he thought Daisy deserved. While their love story is a tragic one, it showcases and embodies that ever-present cliché, “love makes us do crazy things." Gatsby did everything in New York out of the sheer hope that Daisy might one day re-enter his life. He even takes the fall for her in the end by losing his life for a hit-and-run that Daisy committed. He loves her more than anything, and because of that love, wanted to give her everything.
3. Wesley, "The Princess Bride"
What’s a list of men to fall in love with without a pirate, am I right? Wesley is the epitome of “bad boy” with a soft spot for his one true love. He spends years building up a fortune with which to marry Buttercup, only to spend the rest of the novel rescuing her from dangers like Vizzini the Sicilian, the Fire Swamp, Prince Humperdinck and…Buttercup. Wesley is a swashbuckling romantic, who knows that even death can’t stop true love -- a fact that he proves by literally returning from the dead to rescue Buttercup (again.)
4. Augustus Waters, "The Fault in our Stars"
He took her to Amsterdam. I implore you to find a more grand and romantic gesture than that.
5. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, "Pride and Prejudice"
*Swoons* This list would not be complete without Mr. Darcy. Though he is first introduced as a snobbish, elitist fellow, referring to Elizabeth Bennet as “barely tolerable," Mr. Darcy will worm his way into your heart and never leave. He’s the kind of person who wants only what is best for the people he cares about. He’s not standoffish -- he just doesn’t “have the talent of conversing easily with people [he has] never met before." He has an insanely close relationship with his sister and he essentially saves the good name of the Bennet family when Lydia runs away with Mr. Wickham. He says things to Elizabeth like, “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you,” and, “You have bewitched me, body and soul." If that doesn’t make you swoon, you’re lying. He proposes to Elizabeth twice, showing his true and undying love, but also agrees to leave her alone if she refuses him the second time. This shows that he values her happiness over his own. There is, in fact, only one real problem with Mr. Darcy… He isn’t real. *Sobs*
