Misfit Romances

I admit it....I like Twilight. A lot. It is on the list of my top ten favorite books. (The other books in the series, not so much.) I've been a bit puzzled that I like it so much. It doesn't have much in common with my other favorite books, and I don't have much in common with most of the Twilight fan girls (although there is a fan group called Twilight Moms). The first thing I noticed when I started reading it was that it was a lot like Wuthering Heights: An obsessive love affair between two misfit type people. I don't like Kathy or Heathcliff, so that eliminates WH from any favorite book list of mine. But Edward and Bella are all right, especially for each other, and from the moment they saw each other I started wanting them to be able to be together. The similarities of the two books got me thinking about that particular romantic formula, the two misfits who find and fall in love with each other. What is it about that which is so intriguing? There are a lot of books and movies that have used it. A quick scan of some that I can see from where I'm sitting, and others I remember: Jane Eyre, Return To Me, 27 Dresses, Shrek, My Fair Lady (another unlikeable couple. Eliza is sooo annoying, and not even Dolittle's own mother likes him) Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, Stardust.... the list could go on and on. And if you add in the movies where the misfit romance is a subplot, or where only one of the romantic pair is out of step with the world, it is hard to find a story that doesn't use this formula.