sign in sign up
<<
Home , Edward Ferrars

Jane Austen’s Heroes and Scoundrels Ranked

A few days ago I did my blog post over ranking ’s Heroines. I had a lot of fun picking and choosing which female characters would go where in the list. I have decided to do the same thing today, but with Austen’s men. Now, like the blog post about her heroines, I will only be talking about the main love interests in the stories. Which means that there will be more characters listed here than in the one about heroines. Basically, if they were interested in the main character or the main character was interested in them (or if everyone thought they liked each other *cough* Frank Churchill *cough*) they ended up on this list.

14. Mr. Willoughby: Breaking one of our main characters hearts? Check. Getting someone pregnant and then abandoning them? Check. Going after a rich woman because he got disinherited for knocking up a girl? Check. Willoughby is one of those Austen characters that does a complete 180. At the beginning, you are thinking that he is a good character that the main heroine would be lucky to end up with and in the end, it turns out he’s the lowest of the low.

13. George Wickham: Picking between Wickham and Willoughby for the worst Jane Austen Male character proved harder than I’d thought. However, Wickham is slightly less awful than Willoughby is. Still, he’s a terrible character. He seduces and almost elopes with Georgiana Darcy, and then successfully and seduces Lydia Bennet. He’s also a liar and I cannot stand him at all. In fact, Wickham and Willoughby should really probably be tied on this list. They are that awful. 12. Henry Crawford:

https://media.giphy.com/media/IoE793OWE9Jyo/giphy.gif Henry Crawford is the brother of Mary Crawford and when the two of them move into the neighborhood it turns the lives of the main characters in Mansfield Park upside down. Henry starts off the novel by flirting with the Bertram sisters, including Maria who is engaged to be married. He then goes on to decide that he is going to make Fanny Price fall in love with him and does everything in his power to get her to love him back. It doesn’t work however and he again turns his sights on Maria Bertram only for the world to find out about their affair. You can see why I don’t like him, right? 11. John Thorpe: This man possesses no manners whatsoever and is just downright annoying. He also decides he’s in love with Catherine Morland when he doesn’t even know her and then does all sorts of things to keep her to himself. He also assumes she is going to be rich and only pursues her for that reason. 10. Mr. Collins: Mr. William Collins might be the most annoying and slightly disturbing character Jane Austen ever wrote, but he isn’t a bad guy. Sure he’s socially awkward and doesn’t know how to propose to a girl, but I have to believe that his heart is in the right place. Plus, he provides a good chunk of the humor found in .

9. Frank Churchill: Sure Frank Churchill acts as if he loves so no one will suspect that he is engaged to another girl, and he was immature quite a bit of the novel, but no one can deny that he brought a lot of fun to Emma. Plus, he seemed to grow up a lot by the end of the book and character development is always something I can get behind.

8. Captain Wentworth: Couldn’t really get into Persuasion, but this man’s love letter writing skills are on point. I have a thing for letters so if you can write them and well I will probably like you as a person. 7. :

https://media.giphy.com/media/OuRQXTZ7b8wSs/giphy.gif I love Colonel Brandon. He spends like 99% of the novel just being a good guy in love with a girl that refuses to look at him as anything other than an old man. Of course, he can be a little rough around the edges, but he still ends up with Marianne in the end.

6. Edmund Bertram: Don’t get me wrong, I love Edmund Bertram, but he spent over 75% of the novel not using his common sense. Still, he’s a loyal friend to Fanny Price in Mansfield Park and he treats everyone with the respect they deserve. He also doesn’t agree with doing anything his conscience tells him is wrong. He’s a good guy, but I don’t like him as much as the rest of the men in this group. 5. Mr. Bingley: Mr. Bingley is like an adorable puppy dog. He’s nice and while I didn’t find him to be an exceptionally interesting character he is genuinely a good guy and I will like that any day. 4. Edward Ferrars:

https://media.giphy.com/media/E1y9qjCiwdn1e/giphy.gif

Edward Ferrars is a sweetheart. He’s kind, loyal and literally seems to have no faults. He even keeps an engagement with a woman he doesn’t love anymore for the honor instead of being with Elinor who he really loved. Of course, in the end, Elinor and he end up together which definitely made my heart happy. 3. Mr. Darcy:

https://media.giphy.com/media/oMkpLAjTbXmAU/giphy.gif Mr. Darcy is amazing not because of who he is at the beginning of the Pride and Prejudice but because of who he is at the end. Jane Austen has some great character development in her stories and Mr. Darcy is no exception. However, he has to win the award for ” How to Offend the Love of Your Life Through a Proposal in Which You Offend Her and Judge Her Family.” Still, he learned from his mistakes and strives to make things right. 2. Henry Tilney:

https://media.giphy.com/media/gNPKevWaJoBHO/giphy.gif I love Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey. He is definitely the most fun and sarcastic of the rest of Austen’s leading men, but he s also kind and loyal. He even goes all the way to Catherine’s home after his father kicks her out for not being as rich as he thought she was. He’s just a great character. I definitely like him for his sarcasm though.

1. Mr. Knightley:

https://media.giphy.com/media/1VZFZqjRFqALK/giphy.gif I don’t know why I like Mr. George Knightley so much, but I do. As some of you already know Emma is my favorite Austen novel. Now there isn’t anything so extraordinary about Knightley, but he is just a good guy. He’s selfless, kind. doesn’t think less of people who aren’t in the same social class as he, and he keeps Emma in check. He’s truly like Emma’s best guy friend helping her while also trying to lead her in the right direction at the same time. He’s just a great character!

I hope that you all enjoyed my ranking of Jane Austen’s Male Characters. I had a lot of fun writing this list and figuring out where I wanted the characters to go. I now want to know, do you agree or disagree with my list and why? Please put your responses in the comments down below. Love, Baleigh