Well, well, well! It seems I was not alone in crushing on Disney’s foxy Robin Hood! My brother and I were obsessed with this movie when we were young, but years apart. (Trouble is 10 and a half years younger than me.) My poor parents had to suffer through countless viewings of this movie not once, but twice.
I am continuing this series of fictional crushes, mostly because I am indeed curious to see where crushes intersect and where they don’t. It appears everyone loves a good rogue. Now, do they love a good man?
Gilbert Blythe, or as my mother and I call him, The Perfect Man.
Gilbert Blythe is an enduring favourite of young girls. I know this for certain because my mother and I both agree that he is The Perfect Fictional Man, and Mum and I, uh, don’t always agree on what makes a man attractive. While I adored my Outlaw of Sherwood Forest, Gilbert was truly my first literary love.
My mother had an omnibus of Anne books which included ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, ANNE OF AVONLEA, and ANNE’S HOUSE OF DREAMS in one volume. (Why those three? I have no idea.) I devoured the first two when I was young and then wandered off when I got to HOUSE OF DREAMS because married people were boring.
I was probably six or seven or so when I first read GREEN GABLES and AVONLEA and from the start I had a total crush on Gilbert. Even at that tender young age I could see that he only called Anne “Carrots” because he wanted her to pay attention to him. WHY WOULDN’T SHE PAY ATTENTION TO HIM? Couldn’t she see that he was smart, cute, AND awful nice?
Of course she came to her senses by the end of GREEN GABLES and she spends most of AVONLEA being good chums with Gilbert. I could see that Gilbert was in love with Anne, but Anne (as we had previously established) is oblivious. BUT! The end of AVONLEA gave me hope that she would finally see the light of how awesome Gilbert is.
Except the next book in the omnibus was HOUSE OF DREAMS, in which Anne and Gilbert are MARRIED.
WHAT. WHAT. How cruel were the publishers in this omnibus to deny me the most “romantic” book of the ANNE series? (Seriously, ANNE OF THE ISLAND is my favourite.) I don’t care about marriage and babies; I wanted to read about HOW Anne finally came to her senses! (In all honesty, I detest books with marriage and babies.)
ANNE OF THE ISLAND was exactly as romantic as my nine-year-old self had dreamed and to this day it’s still the only book relationship to make me feel all fluttery. That I had a crush on Gilbert was a given, but now that I’m a little older, I wonder how much of my crush on Gilbert was because I could see how right he was for Anne? How good he was to her?
Things I appreciated about Gilbert:
- He has a sense of humor. I love that one of his gifts to Anne was a pink heart necklace on a gold chain, calling back to the time he tried to make up for calling her “Carrots” by giving her a candied heart. Also, Anne discovers after being courted by Roy Gardner that “making her laugh” trumps “making her swoon” every time, especially since “making her swoon” wasn’t really working.
- He’s smart. Well, duh. Some of the enjoyment I got out of the Anne/Gilbert dynamic was their acknowledged rivalry on the academic battlefield.
- He’s a good friend. This is quite important. Passion can fade, but friendship is forever.
- He calls Anne out on her bullshit. Gilbert has his own boundaries, which I appreciated. When Anne was being an idiot, he told her so, as any good friend (and lover) ought to do. He wasn’t mean or cruel; he was honest.
Looking over that list, I realize that the qualities Gilbert possesses are what I look for in both real life and in fictional characters. A sense of humor, intelligence, loyalty, and honesty. Even if my mother and I can’t agree on what makes a man “attractive”, we do agree on those core values, hence why we refer to Gilbert as The Perfect Man.
Other Perfect Men in fiction have included Peeta Mellark from THE HUNGER GAMES, Samwise Gamgee from THE LORD OF THE RINGS (you betcha Sam was my favourite character and the one I wanted to marry), and Simon from Cassandra Clare’s THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series. Steady, steadfast characters have always been tops, but Gilbert Blythe was the first one I ever fell in love.
What about the rest of you? Do you like what Mum and I dub “Perfect Men”? Or do you think they are bland and boring?
I’m pretty sure I had that exact same omnibus, and I’m pretty sure we got it from Sam’s Club.
Yep, those 4 qualities are It exactly. I found It in Gilbert, I found It in Peeta too, and I found It in my real life guy (yay! only sometimes he’s a little heavy on that 4th one…).
Anne was probably one of my first literary crushes too, but in an I-aspire-to-be-LIKE-her way, not an I-aspire-to-be-WITH-her way.
I WAS Anne, red hair notwithstanding. I was of the same idealistic, dreamy sort with a penchant for writing ridiculous stories with ridiculously named heroines. I never wanted to be her, mostly because I WAS her.
Bear certainly possesses all four core values, but I actually think he falls into a different category, which I discuss later. :)
Hehe. Well, I think I’m a kindred spirit, but I’m not actually *like* Anne, you know? We would totally be chums, though, and I’m way cooler than Diana!
I can’t wait to hear about Bear’s category, hehe. This whole series is actually really fun!
Kindred spirits FTW! I know Diana was Anne’s “bosom buddy”, but my absolute favourite of Anne’s kindred spirits was Philippa Gordon, a.k.a. Phil. If I weren’t Anne, then I was probably the most like Phil.
Bear is, as Sarah Rees Brennan might say, a Pastry. :)
Gilbert Blythe has been my number one imaginary literary boyfriend from the moment I read those books.
Oh Gilbert! So smart! So loyal! So agreeably human! I disagree that he’s a Perfect man – perfection doesn’t have intense rivalry with the Girl Who Spurned You Twice – but I like him all the better for his flaws.
I like his flaws at well; he’s not without pride and sometimes stupid behavior (going after the girl who ignored you for 3 years and then refused your first proposal probably isn’t the smartest move). I suppose he’s not “perfect” in that he has no flaws; it’s that he is “perfect” for my fictional stand-in Anne. :)
Clearly I’m missing out on the Gilbert-ness; I did not read the Anne of Green Gables series when I was little. *ducks tomatoes* What can I say, I’m ashamed. :)
I have to admit that my real-life crushes are different from my fictional crushes. In real life, I agree that all of those qualities must be present in a crushy man: intelligence, kindness, niceness, politeness, sense of humor and so on. The Perfect Man. In fiction, I like men who I would NEVER go for in real life. I’d never date a rogue in real life, even though I fall head over heels for them in books. While I love the drama/adventure they bring to stories, I haaaate drama in real life (with a passion). Wouldn’t touch a troublemaker with a ten-foot pole in reality–I like them vanilla. ;) But in fiction, I don’t think I would’ve had a crush on Gilbert Blythe (of course, that might change if I read the books!). A bit too bland…I want them to have those nice qualities (smart, kind, respectful, etc) *and* some spark of mischief/rebel/arrogance. I like fiction boys with an edge to them, some haughty attitude (which I would hate iRL, oddly) and stubbornness, ones who get themselves into hot water quite regularly. For example, Mal and Cap’n Jack Sparrow would be major turnoffs for me if I met them in real life. But somehow in fiction they’re AMAHZING. :D
One exception might be Sydney Carton. I’d fall for Sydney Carton iRL and in fiction. :)
I don’t like drama, either in fiction or in real life. My fictional and real life crushes often intersect, but not always. At heart, I think I need a character (and a person) with a steadfast core, because I myself am so often a flighty flibbertigibbet.
Oh, I am a sucker for rogues in real life too. :) Bear has a bit of a mischievous/adventurous streak. He’s the one who got me into skydiving after all. I love my Teddy Bear because he’s a gruff grizzly (I always think of him as a polar bear though), but he totally has a core of sweetness and steadfastness that draws me to the characters I love in fiction too.
I wouldn’t be for Jack Sparrow in real life. (He was my favourite character, but didn’t have a crush on him as much as I crushed Elizabeth-I’m-a-Pirate-KING-thankyouverymuch-Swan.) Bad hygiene.
YES! I adore how persistent Gilbert is. I think that’s why I love Peeta as well. Actually, I think I love Peeta more, but maybe I just need to read Anne again. As for LOTR, I didn’t fancy anyone in that series, they were all a bit odd for me. Hobbits, harry feet, meeeh. Now, I’m definitely going to have to get my hands on The Mortal Instruments Series. It’s been on the To Be Read list for too long. I should move it over to the Am Reading list. Maybe I’ll get it for Christmas?
Oh, Gilbert! *swoons*