2001-11-30

love in literature

     The theme of love has been a recurrent one in the literature. Its role is important because love will always offer different twists and turns that will make any plot more interesting. Love is a particularly interesting subject because it sounds simpler than it actually is. We like to think that love stories are always very sentimental. We know that the woman and the man are going to live happily ever after by the end of the book, but sometimes the situation is different. I’d like to tell about the greatest love stories in the literature.

     The first one is “Romeo and Juliet.” This is probably the most famous lovers ever. This couple has become a synonym for love itself. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy which was written by William Shakespeare. Their love story is very tragic. It is the tale of two teenagers from two feuding families who fall in love at first sight and then marry. They become true lovers and then lost all for their love.  Their deaths unite their feuding households.

     The second love story is the story of Tristan and Isolde. It has been told and retold a lot of times. Isolde was the daughter of the King of Ireland. She was engaged to King Mark of Cornwall. King Mark sent his nephew, Tristan, to Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall. During the voyage, Isolde and Tristan fell forever in love. Isolde did marry Mark of Cornwall, but could not stop to love Tristan.  When King Mark finally learned that they love each other, he forgave Isolde, but Tristan was banned from Cornwall. Tristan went to Brittany and met Iseult. He was attracted to her because of the similarity of her name to his true love. He married her, but did not consummate the marriage because of his love for the "true" Isolde. After falling ill, he sent for Isolde in hopes that she would be able to cure him. If she agreed to come, the returning ship's sails would be white, or the sails would be black if she did not agree. Iseult, seeing the white sails, lied to Tristan and told him that the sails were black. He died of grief and Isolde died soon after of a broken heart.

     The last story is the story which was written by Charlotte Bronte “Jane Eyre”. It is famous tale, where friendless characters find a cure for loneliness in each other's company. Jane is an orphan employed as a governess to the very rich Edward Rochester. The improbable pair grows close as Rochester reveals a tender heart beneath his gruff exterior. On their wedding day, a horrified Jane discovers that Edward is already married. Heartbroken, Jane runs away, but later returns after an accident when dreadful fire has destroyed Rochester's mansion, killed his wife, and left him blind. Love triumphs, and the two reunite and live happily.

     In conclusion I'd like to say that all these three stories show that the subject of love plays an important role in literature and will continue to be the most important topic in future writings.  New ideas and small improvements to older traditions will make love an interesting theme in the years to come. We can already easily acknowledge the importance of love in the history of our literature.