Fifteen of the most interesting male characters in Jane Austen's novels

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Melissa Albert ranked, "in ascending order from cads to dreamboats, [fifteen of the] romantic leads (and wannabes) of Austen’s brilliant books." Number two on the list:

Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

He’s the Big Kahuna. The White Whale. The Man All Women Want Men to Want to Be. As the most overexposed (or perhaps just exposed?) romantic hero in literature, Darcy’s name has become synonymous with a certain kind of man: the hard exterior coating the sweet, shy core, the “jerk till you get to know him” who has probably inspired countless people to wait out unworthy crush objects, hoping their rudeness is a sign of secret, Darcy-like wonderfulness. I’m far from immune to his appeal (brooding good looks, great family values, nice house, code of honor, 10,000 a year), but snappy, bright Lizzie Bennet may find herself working double time to keep dinner conversation going.

Read about another entry on the list.

Pride and Prejudice also appears on Molly Schoemann-McCann's list of ten fictional men who have ruined real live romance, Emma Donoghue's list of five favorite unconventional fictional families, Amelia Schonbek's list of five approachable must-read classics, Melissa Albert's list of recommended reading for eight villains, Jane Stokes's top ten list of the hottest men in required reading, Gwyneth Rees's top ten list of books about siblings, the Observer's list of the ten best fictional mothers, Paula Byrne's list of the ten best Jane Austen characters, Robert McCrum's list of the top ten opening lines of novels in the English language, a top ten list of literary lessons in love, Simon Mason's top ten list of fictional families, Cathy Cassidy's top ten list of stories about sisters, Paul Murray's top ten list of wicked clerics, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best housekeepers in fiction, ten great novels with terrible original titles, and ten of the best visits to Brighton in literature, Luke Leitch's top ten list of the most successful literary sequels ever, and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Norman Mailer. Richard Price has never read it, but it is the book Mary Gordon cares most about sharing with her children.

The Page 99 Test: Pride and Prejudice.

--Marshal Zeringue