My blog is directed to the gentleman who made the rather bold statement about love being one sided. After my essential shock, I must admit that I started to think about the concept in more detail. At first I thought, what a totally insane statement! I was a little offended. How could someone make such a claim!? However, after giving it some thought, I admit I must agree. Yes, in these modern times, romance seems to be a bit one sided in both real life and in literature. Perhaps it is because of the stereotype that men must be strong and aloof, while women must be emotional and mysterious... However, I do not believe that it has always been as such. Literature through the middle ages capture a specific charm called courtly love traditions. The man meets the woman and will physically die if he cannot have her. He must prove his love by completing some impossible task. Surely that is not so one sided! There are many tales in The Mobinogion where the story follows this basic outline. It is a tradition older than writing itself!
Romance seems to transcend time. It has morphed from courtly love to an obsession in the Renaissance plays, novels, and poems. Perhaps the best example is to use is Jone Donne, a metaphysical poet. He talks about love transcending death in many of his poems. While he also talks about both the physical and spiritual lust he has for his wife. Even when they are separated, or angry with each other, their love still exists in the macrocosm that surrounds the world. Before he marries his wife, he incites her with lusty words by using the symbolism of blood as it mixes inside a flea. She squashes the flea in order to prompt him. He responds by merely saying that the flea is unimportant. It is a game of love that lasts as long as the lovers are spiritually connected to each other. To use the cliche phrase, I suppose, it takes two tango! There can be no romance if it is strictly one sided. Or at least that was once the case for more aged literature.
