Here is an updated bracket for our Literary March Madness as we prepare to move into Round Two, which I'm planning on posting tomorrow. Now that we've shuffled off a few of our less worthy authors (sorry, Derek Walcott...) we're starting to be presented with some truly intriguing match-ups. First off, of course, will be #1 Jane Austen versus #8 Emily Bronte. My first thought is that this pits the creators of two of the most iconic - and parodied - male protagonists in the history of English literature against one another. I'm speaking, of course, of Heathcliff and Colin Firth Mr. Darcy. In many ways, Bronte's Heathcliff is a romantic reaction against the straight-laced Darcy. Emily's sister, Charlotte, famously wrote of Austen: "Miss Austen being, as you say, without "sentiment", without poetry, maybe is sensible (more real than true), but she cannot be great." Burn! We don't want no sensible heroes in our moors - give me something true! Indeed, there are many glaring contrasts between Darcy and Heathcliff, but here's the one I want you to keep in mind: Heathcliff is an orphan. Darcy has an annual income of £10,000. OMG! WWMD? (...think about it...)
Of course, these are just two of many of the great characters that we'll be asking you to judge over the next week or so. We've got Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter and Jane Eyre of Jane Eyre, Pierre Bezukhov (War and Peace) taking on Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird) in an "honor-off", Behemoth the demonic cat, and, of course, everyone's favorite pedophile, Humbert Humbert!
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