Edward Cullen: One of the top 10 great romantic figures in fiction

In fact, consider other great romantic figures in fiction, and a pattern starts to form: Mr Rochester? Lying toad. Mr Darcy? Emotional cripple. Edward Cullen? Controlling, and, frankly, creepy. In real life these characters would have most sensible women running for the hills. Yet confined within a book’s pages, they are strangely alluring. Perhaps it is their inaccessibility (the person who, on a blog dedicated to listing one’s favourite fictional crushes plumped for Hazel from Watership Down will know all about that). Or perhaps it’s what happens when reality is tossed aside in favour of imagination.

But while many of the great romantic figures in fiction would make for poor company, there’s no denying their charisma. Here is our list of the top 10, from high-brow to chick lit.

Edward Cullen [4th on list]

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (2005 – 2008)

Sparkly and unusually pale because he is, to all intents and purposes, dead, our vampire friend wouldn’t, on paper, make the ideal boyfriend. And yet to Bella Swan, and millions of Twi-hards across the world, Edward is perfect. Perhaps it’s his old-fashioned, chivalrous charm (he is more than 100 years old), or his unwavering devotion to Bella that has him creeping into her bedroom at night to watch her sleep. Either way, it is enough to override his less appealing characteristics; such as his appetite for blood; his cold-as-marble body or his aforementioned penchant for, er stalking.

 
Twilightish