In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, despite writing this in January, I figured I’d highlight—and rate—a few of my favorite romances in literature—tragic and not-so-tragic, and especially the ones that are certainly questionable. A lot of these can be found with movie versions, even if you don’t feel like reading these classics. Spoilers ahead!

Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

P&P is one of the most classic romantic novels in history. While Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy begin their love story hating each other, Pride and Prejudice ends up being a love story for the ages. Mr. Darcy’s proposal will go down in history, and I will forever love all of the Bennet sisters. However, if you don’t feel like reading all 304 pages of the book, which is not that much, there are multiple on-screen adaptations. The 1995 BBC series is more accurate, but the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley tugs at your heartstrings.

P&P is always a classic in my eyes, and so is their romance. 10/10.

Jane Eyre & Mr. Rochester

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre

Oh Jane, dear. Why are you falling in love with your boss, who keeps his insane wife in his attic? Mr. Rochester tells her that he will get mad at her if she leaves. He also, despite taking in a child, despises the child and does nothing for her—and insults Jane for doing her job. Yet she keeps coming back to him, even after she becomes rich and gains a family with her cousins, who she finds miraculously.

My poor manipulated queen. 8/10.

Mr. & Mrs. March

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women

My favorite old married couple! She waited for him to come home, raising their daughters on her own without an ounce of hatred, always waiting for his letters from the warfront. And he comes home! He’s injured, though. They support their daughters, whether they want to get married (Meg, Amy) or not (Jo), and they suffer through the death of their other daughter, Beth, due to scarlet fever.

Probably my favorite couple in literature. 10/10; no notes.

Scarlett & Rhett

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind

Oh, boy. They are both at fault for the problems in this relationship, but it is mostly Scarlett. She falls in love with someone else for about half of the book and then finally realizes where her heart lies—with her husband. With this romance, however, we get one of the greatest lines in both literature and film when Scarlett is abandoned by Rhett at the very end. She is left to deal with her child’s death all by herself.

Frankly, my dear, 7/10.

Janie & Tea Cake

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

Janie had a lot of husbands. Not all of them were good husbands—a.k.a. Joe Starks, who rarely let her be herself—but Tea Cake was arguably the best. He didn’t have money like Logan Killicks did, but he loved Janie deeply, and she loved him. They spent so much time together, working just to live, and he protected her until the end, until he died in the hurricane. 

Rest in peace, Tea Cake. Janie misses you. 9/10.

Buttercup & Westley

William Goldman’s The Princess Bride

This is the one instance where I will tell you that the movie is better than the book. Please go watch The Princess Bride if you haven’t already. Buttercup and Westley’s story is one for the ages. He’s a farm boy on her farm. He goes away, and she presumes him dead and gets engaged to the prince. Then, when he comes back as an infamous pirate, she escapes from the engagement after a big fight scene and runs away with him. It’s beautiful.

Book is eh. The movie is 10/10 (“he’s only mostly dead!”).

Odysseus & Penelope

Homer’s The Odyssey

The Odyssey is just a whole bunch of cheating. Odysseus goes away for 20 years, and then all of a sudden he thinks he’s not married to Penelope. Meanwhile, Penelope has a whole bunch of suitors because it’s been 20 years and he’s presumed dead. However, she hasn’t strayed once. I always feel bad for Penelope when I read The Odyssey, and it makes it really hard to root for Odysseus.

Sorry Penelope, your husband is terrible. 5/10.