1. Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes, poets
2. Emily Dickinson & Death
For Emily: Long white dress, pale face, a low bun, zero social skills
For Death: Grim reaper costume
Take it further: Emily should be rushing away from Death, incapable of stopping. Every so often, Death should stop. For Emily.
3. F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald, power couple trainwreck
4. Persephone & Hades, classical mythology
For Persephone: Pomegranates, pomegranate seeds, pomegranate juice, despairing pout
For Hades: Flames, skulls, and strappy sandals
Take it further: Have Hades drag Persephone around the party.
5. Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennett, Pride & Prejudice
6. Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialists
7. Jay Gatsby & Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby
Jay: Signet ring, douchey cane, pale linen suit, inability to read social cues from women, money
Nick: Nice boy sweater, bowtie, slicked-back hair, sense of wonder and amazement at rich people
Take it further: Flirt with each other all night, because come on.
8. Nurse Barkley & Lieutenant Henry, A Farewell to Arms
For Barkley: Nurse costume, pregnancy (optional)
For Henry: Soldier costume, wounded arm, typewriter
Take it further: If it rains, stand at the window and discuss how dead you feel inside. Speak only in clipped sentences. Use no adjectives.
9. Charles & Sebastian, Brideshead Revisited
10. Nick & Amy Dunne, Gone Girl
For Amy: Pretty blonde hair or wig, WASP-y attire, Cool Girl affect, YA fiction novel
For Nick: Salt-and-pepper hair, button-up shirt with top buttons undone, "Find Amy" button, shadiness
Take it further: With a supremely dysfunctional relationship dynamic.
11. Lancelot & Guinevere, Le Morte d'Arthur
For Lancelot: Knight costume, corrupt sense of honor
For Guinevere: Princess costume, aggressive sex drive
Take it further: Go as a threesome with King Arthur. Instead of wearing above costumes, have Lancelot and Guinevere wrapped naked in a bedsheet together. Leave King Arthur crying by the punch bowl.
12. Giving Tree & The Boy, The Giving Tree
For Giving Tree: An apple, some hearts carved into your trunk, total kindness to all
For The Boy: Red overalls
Take it further: Allow partygoers to carve their names into you. Dote on the Boy's every need.
13. Scarlett O'Hara & Rhett Butler, Gone With The Wind
14. Virginia Woolf & Vita Sackville-West, writer & socialite
For Virginia: Frumpy dress, loosely-tied hair, wedding band, Roman nose
For Vita: Wide-brimmed hat, gender-bending outfit, lots of jewels, family money
Take it further: With societal condemnation of your sexual inclinations, causing you to stay in a sexless marriage instead of fulfilling your probable lesbian impulses.
15. Salome & John the Baptist, Salome
For Salome: Sexy dancer outfit of any sort will do
For John: Bloody neck due to severed head, pale face due to being dead. Extra points for weird facial hair growth pattern and long dark hair.
Take it further: Carry John on a golden plate the entire evening while laughing maniacally and winking at all older men.
16. Anaïs & June, Henry and June
17. Franny & Zooey
For Franny: A fur coat that seems a part of your being, cigarettes, The Pilgrim's Way
For Zooey: Towel wrapped around waist, fresh razor blade, rich boy shaving cream, terrible movie script and a well-worn letter
Take it further: This isn't a romantic duo. They're siblings. Spend the whole night bitching about your dead brothers.
18. Tomas & Sabina, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
For Tomas: All-black outfit, serious eyebrows, doctor's stethoscope, promiscuous air
For Sabina: Black lace bra and panties, bowler hat, paint-splattered Oxford
Take it a further: Bring a mirror along. When people can't guess your costume, place it on the floor and bend over it provocatively, as though the answer to your existence depends upon it.
19. Reverend Dimsdale & Hester Prynne, The Scarlet Letter
For the Reverend: Clerical gowns, hypocrisy
For Hester: A scarlet letter A, literally all you need is a scarlet letter
Take it further: Actually conceive a child out of wedlock. Get an A tattooed on your chest.
20. Girl & Dragon Tattoo, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
For Girl: Moody face, facial piercings, dark clothes, NO EYEBROWS
For Dragon Tattoo: Dragon costume!
Take It further: Keep the dragon on your arm all night to ensure others understand your clever play on this Swedish classic.
21. Estragon & Vladimir, Waiting for Godot
22. Innocence & Experience
For Innocence: Baby costume
For Experience: Sexy costume of any sort will do, glasses are a bonus
Take it further: With hallucinatory drugs.