Starflower
Literally in Love: 8 Famous Couples in Literature
In the mood for reading? In the mood for love? Let yourself be inspired by these famous couples in literature! We have put together a list of famous couples in literature and selected a quote from each work that you can use as a love quote:
The 8 most famous couples in literature:
- Romeo and Juliet
- Tristan and Isolde
- Cathy and Heathcliff
- Pierre Bezukhov und Natascha Rostova
- Cyrano and Roxane
- Rhett Butler and Scarlett O´Hara
- Orpheus and Eurydice
- Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet
No surprises here – Shakespeare’s star cross’d lovers belong on every list of famous couples. Despite – or maybe even because of – the fact that their love has no happy ending, they are firmly rooted in collective memory as THE most famous example of a love that knows no boundaries and that no earthly forces can dicorce.
Love quote from Romeo and Juliet:
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow”
William Shakespeare, Romeo und Julia
The myth of the couple that falls in love doe to a mix-up involving a love potion and a royal couple destined for marriage, is one of the most famous love stories of all time and has been written and re-written countless times. But this famous couple isn’t granted a happy ending either: Tristan dies due to a deceitful ploy and news of his death kills Isolde.
Love quote from the film Tristan and Isolde (2006):
“If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.”
Tristan und Isolde
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë deals 
with the passionate love between Cathy and her adopted brother Heathcliff. Both feel an intense bond, considering each other soul mates, but their love is as destructive as it is indestructible. The Twilight-Saga recently brought Wuthering Heights new popularity, as the heroine of the vampire story is constantly reading a battered copy of the novel.
Love Quote from Wuthering Heights:
“He shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, but because he’s more myself than I am.”
Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
At the moment the Oscar-nominated “The Last Station” is about the couple Leo and Sofia Tolstoi. In War and Peace, Tolstois historical epic, there is more than one love story. Pierre and Natascha are the most prominent couple, and they are actually granted peace as a couple, after many years of war and emotional turmoil.
Love Quote from War and Peace:
“Love hinders death. Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love.”
Leo Tolstoi, War and Peace
In Cyrano de Bergerac the hero donates his romantic poetry to a rival, for fear that beautiful Roxane could never love him anyway, due to his unattractive exterior. She falls in love with the words, presented by the other man, but when she finally recognizes the inner beauty and that Cyrano is the man she truly loves, it’s too late.
Love Quote from Cyrano de Bergerac:
“A kiss is a rosy dot over the ‘i’ of loving.”
Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac
Gone with the Wind is 
mainly known as a film, but the novel was already a bestseller and the couple Rhett and Scarlett was already famous before they made it to the big screen. Even if their love story is turbulent, the ending is open enough to allow for a bit of hope.
Love Quote from Gone with the Wind:
“I wish I could care what you do or where you go but I can’t… My dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
The love of Orpheus is literally stronger than death, which has contributed to the fact that this story has inspired many poets, artists and composers, along with the fact that Orpheus was an artist himself. After the death of his wife Eurydice, he descends to the underworld to bring her back. The only condition: he mustn’t turn around until they reach the surface. When he does turn to check on her, he loses his love forever.
Love Quote from Orpheus and Eurydice zum Valentinstag:
“No crime was thine, if ‘tis no crime to love.”
Alexander Pope, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day
The most famous example of the proverb “The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.” or rather: The sarcasm and wit of lovers (in this case Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth) is the renewal of love. In the end, they live happily ever after, as do most couples in this Jane Austen novel.
Love Quote from Pride and Prejudice:
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
