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Literature
If a virtual tour is not good enough for you, (and it should not be!), you can do the real thing. Here are some links for information on Literary Tours for England and for the United States.
These are our best loved characters in literature, created by the authors on this site. We have added a short description of the character and a picture of the actor/actress who has best portrayed them so far. Click the pictures for links.
Richard Jordan as
Jean Valjean
The man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his sister and her children and is put in prison for 20 years and hounded by his jailer. A man who fights a battle against good and evil and gives himself to God
(Les Miserables)
Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre
She grows up poor and obscure and finds love with a rich married man. Torn between her feelings for him and propriety, she flees
(Jane Eyre)
Toby Stephens as Edward Rochester
He lives a secret life all the while romancing his young servant Jane Eyre. A good man who finds himself in a predicament because of a decision made years earlier
(Jane Eyre)
Amanda Root as Anne Elliot
Years earlier she had refused the man she loved after being persuaded she could do better by a friend, only to regret it. They meet again yet she is powerless to let her true feelings be known to him
(Persuasion)
Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth Refused a marriage offer by the woman he loves, he tries to forget her. When they meet again he does not know she still cares for him and rebuffs her. Through letters and other people they learn each others feelings for the other
(Persuasion)
Ciaran Hinds as Michael Henchard After arguing with his wife and then drinking, he sells her to another man. Years later he is Mayor of a small town. his fortune tumbles & he finds himself isolated and shunned
(The Mayor of Casterbridge)
Daniella Denby-Ashe as Margaret Thornton Moved by her clergyman father from south England to the north, Margaret shows disdain for mill owner John Thornton, who she sees beating a man for smoking a pipe in the mill. He loves her, yet she is unmoved by him after he proposes to her
(North & South)
Richard Armitage as John Thornton
Mill owner John Thornton runs his mills fairly and protects his workers to no end. He loves newcomer to the north Margaret Hale, but she refuses him. Later, appearances make her seem like an undesirable match after all. But he finally learns he was mistaken
(North & South)
Colin Firth as Fitzwilliam Darcy
A proud and misunderstood man encounters an intelligent lady with a pair of fine eyes, who he feels is beneath him for many reasons. He tries to forget her but finally proposes because he knows only she can make him happy. She refuses the first time
(Pride & Prejudice)
Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth is a strong young woman who knows what she wants. She will only marry for true love. She is first snubbed, then later proposed to by the proud Mr Darcy. She does not accept him because of her perception of his actions, which it turns out are not entirely true. She realizes she loves him yet cannot tell him unless he proposes again
(Pride & Prejudice)
Claudie Blakley as Charlotte Lucas
Best friend and next door neighbor to Elizabeth Bennet, Charlotte though intelligent, finds herself an old maid. She finally marries Elizabeth's rejected cousin, the silly Mr Collins to save herself from a life of poverty
(Pride & Prejudice)
Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood / Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood
Two sisters were never so different. Elinor is reserved and keeps her feelings to herself, while Marianne wears her emotions on her sleeve. Both fall in love but neither relationship appears to last. In the end the sisters, both having learned from one another, switch their emotional approach to life
(Sense & Sensibility)
Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse
Determined matchmaker Emma, rarely gets it right yet still keeps at it, disrupting and playing with the emotions of friends and others in her circle. She is too busy matchmaking to notice her own match right in front of her face
(Emma)
Justine Waddell as Molly Gibson
Good girl Molly loves the squires' son and he does not know she exists, except as a good friend. When Molly's father marries a woman with a daughter her age, the two become fast friends. Her new sister attracks men like bees to honey, including Molly's friend the squires' son. Molly stands by to see how things unfold, little knowing she will get her man
(Wives & Daughters)
Michael Gambon as Squire Hamley
The irratable and sarcastic Squire has high hopes for his two sons to marry well to keep their estate running well. Not your typical favorite character, but loveable just the same.
(Wives & Daughters)
Megan Follows as Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a young orphan girl who daydreams to escape her dreary world. She reads books and poetry to make life romantic and bearable. Then she is miraculously adopted by an older couple who live on Prince Edward Island. Anne brings a spirit and depth the island has not know before and transforms into a stylish young lady
(Anne of Green Gables)
Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge
Mr Scrooge has become an old miser who stays to himself and refuses to show kindness to his fellow men. One night an angel visits him and they travel together through time to look at Scrooge's life. A change of heart makes Scrooge think twice about the life he has led and he vows to make it up as best he can
(A Christmas Carol)
Winona Rider as Jo March
Josephine March grows up with her three sisters wanting nothing to change as they get older. She is friends with their neighbor's grandson who falls in love with her. It is an unrequited love for Jo cannot love him back. She leaves her home and falls in love with a foreigner. They must reconcile or all will be lost
(Little Women)
Annasophia Robb as Leslie Burke
Leslie is a free spirited and imaginitive young girl who makes friends with Jesse Aarons, and with him creates the imaginitive world of Teribithia to get them through what they are enduring in real life. She is an Anne Shirley type, truly a unique individual, very inspiring to those around her. You want to be around her because she is infectious (in a good way!)
