Bad boys of literature
So I was watching Becoming Jane again with my friend Becca. You probably know that Becoming Jane is a movie loosely based on the life of Jane Austen. While I don't really care for the movie, watching it did make think about the leading men of the many books I read. This and some recent things that have happened with one of my friends and her "bad boy phase" ex-boyfriend, made me wonder if the whole re-vamping of a bad boy into a good one is plausible (and vice-versa with bad girls, hey there are some Scarlett O'Haras out there).
Before I go on let me clarify, the "bad boys" I am referring of are the rakes, the manipulators, the cheaters, need to go to anger management types...you get the picture...right?
I know it must happen sometimes, I remember my fifth grade teacher telling me that her and her husband met in High School or something like that and she turned him around (he was on drugs, or something like it). But I hear many more stories of people who try to change someone and end up getting burned. Is it realistic to have the Fanny Price and Henry Crawford couple live happily ever after. Could the love of Fanny really had not lead Henry to stray down the road? I don't really think so but others do (from the message boards I have been reading about it).
My next step is to go down and investigate how many books I have where the heroine "reforms" her wayward lover. Mansfield Park obviously will not be a good example. Not even Wuthering Heights with stormy Heathcliff, because Catherine marries another guy in the end, so no reformation there. Where are these examples that I know are out there?
And don't even try to put Mr. Darcy, or Henry Thorton in the running, these guys are just a little prideful. Not bad boy criteria.
Here is what I can think of right now:
Beauty and the Beast
Jane Eyre (Duh how could I forget this one)
Takumi (for those who read Nana, still not perfect)
Before I go on let me clarify, the "bad boys" I am referring of are the rakes, the manipulators, the cheaters, need to go to anger management types...you get the picture...right?
I know it must happen sometimes, I remember my fifth grade teacher telling me that her and her husband met in High School or something like that and she turned him around (he was on drugs, or something like it). But I hear many more stories of people who try to change someone and end up getting burned. Is it realistic to have the Fanny Price and Henry Crawford couple live happily ever after. Could the love of Fanny really had not lead Henry to stray down the road? I don't really think so but others do (from the message boards I have been reading about it).
My next step is to go down and investigate how many books I have where the heroine "reforms" her wayward lover. Mansfield Park obviously will not be a good example. Not even Wuthering Heights with stormy Heathcliff, because Catherine marries another guy in the end, so no reformation there. Where are these examples that I know are out there?
And don't even try to put Mr. Darcy, or Henry Thorton in the running, these guys are just a little prideful. Not bad boy criteria.
Here is what I can think of right now:
Beauty and the Beast
Jane Eyre (Duh how could I forget this one)
Takumi (for those who read Nana, still not perfect)