What
is Romance?
• In OF “romaunt” and
“roman” meant, ‘courtly romance in verse’ or ‘a popular book’. Thus romances in
verse were works of fiction or non historical. In the 13th century a
romance was almost any sort of adventure story of chivalry or of love.
Gradually more romances were written in prose. It is principally a form of
entertainment. It may be didactic or incidental. It is a European form,
influenced by collections like ‘The Arabian Nights’. It is usually concerned
with characters that live in a courtly world, remote from the everyday. There
are elements of fantasy, improbability, extravagance and naivety. It also
suggests elements of love, adventure, the marvelous and the ‘mythic’. It is
used loosely to describe a narrative of heroic or spectacular achievements,
chivalry, gallant love and deeds of derring-do.
• Romances are generally composed of the constant loves and invincible courage of heroes, heroines, kings and queens, mortals of the first rank, and so forth; where lofty language, miraculous contingencies and impossible performances elevate and surprise the reader into a giddy delight.
History
·
This branch of
literature has been around for some time, so there's a substantial history to
discuss. However, for matters of simplicity, we'll be looking at three broad
periods in the genre's lengthy development - ancient, medieval, and modern - to
get a sense of where it comes from and where it might be headed.
·
Though not yet
written in the Romantic tongue, Greek novels of the 1st to 4th centuries A.D.
laid the foundations for what would become known as 'romantic' literature. Of
such novels, only five remain, one of which is Heliodorus' Ethiopian Romance. In this novel, the author employs several
epic conventions such as the use of lofty or exaggerated language to
demonstrate the noble virtues of Ethiopia's countrymen.
·
During the
Middle Ages we discover the romantic literature that we're perhaps most
familiar with, in which tales of knights and chivalry abound. The romantic
works of this period generally belonged to one of three groups, one of which -
the Matter of Rome - recalled its ancient epic and mythic origins with such
examples as Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. The remaining two groups - the Matter of
Britain and the Matter of France - centered on the tales of Arthurian legend
and the historical but embellished life of Charlemagne, respectively.
·
The death of
romance as it had been for over a millennium occurred with the publication of
the first part ofDon Quixote in 1605, which satirized the idealistic
virtues of knight errantry against a much harsher reality. Cervantes'
masterpiece prompted a shift toward realism, and the romance genre accordingly
suffered, almost dying out entirely until the late-18th to mid-19th centuries.
At that time, Gothic writers adopted the genre and steered the romantic flights
of fancy in a much darker direction. A perfect example would be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
·
Nowadays, it's
easy to find a variety of works that might be classified as 'romance.' Many of
them, of course, focus on some aspect of romantic (and sometimes erotic) love,
which is what most readers would associate with the genre today. However, even
modern Harlequin paperbacks and more religious romantic stories continue to
have readers expect the unexpected, from fortuitous twists of fate to the most
improbable instances of happenstance.
Characteristics
·
There are
several common characteristics of the romance genre. First is their popularity.
Until the shift toward realism beginning in the early 17th century, works in
the romance genre enjoyed much widespread popularity. Since the re-invigoration
of the genre with Gothic romances of the 19th century, romance literature has
regained and is even broadening its popular appeal, accounting for almost $1.4
billion in book sales in 2008 alone!
·
Secondly,
romances have been so popular through the ages because they're primarily
intended for entertainment purposes, and so the vast majority is almost
entirely fictional - despite some even being loosely based on historical
events. Romance goes further than other fiction genres, though, and breaches
the realm of fantasy, either blatantly with the appearance of elves and
wizards, or more subtly through the recurrence of the improbable.
·
And also, with
so many fantastic elements involved, it should be no surprise to find use of
language that's exaggerated or 'over the top.' These and other stylistic
choices often cause romance writers to linger on points of little consequence
while glossing over those that might normally give us more pause - for example,
agonizing over a love poem, but quickly leaving a dying friend to right some
injustice.
Genres
·
Gaslight romance,
another name for gaslamp fantasy, featuring fantasy set at a time of
approximately 19th technology
·
Hellenistic
romance, or Ancient Greek romance, a modern term for
the genre of the five surviving Ancient Greek novels
·
Heroic romance genres
·
Chivalric romance (also
called heroic romance), a genre of medieval and Renaissance narrative fiction
·
Planetary romance,
a genre of science fiction consisting of adventure tales on exotic planets
·
Scientific
romance, an archaic term for the genre of fiction
now commonly known as science fiction
·
Romance (music),
a type of ballad or lyrical song
·
Romance (meter),
a metric pattern found in Spanish ballads
·
Romancero,
the corpus of such Spanish ballads, or a collection of them
·
Romance film,
a genre of film of which the central plot focuses on the romantic relationships
of the protagonists
·
Romance novel,
a genre of novel that focuses on romantic love
·
Romantic
comedy film, a hybrid genre of film centered on a comic
romantic relationship
·
Romanticism,
or the Romantic period/era, an artistic and intellectual movement in the late
18th and early 19th centuries, including
·
Romantic music,
the musical style used by Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner and other late 18th
and 19th-century composers
·
Romantic poetry,
the poetic style used by Schiller, Blake, Keats, Wordsworth and other late 18th
and 19th-century poets
·
Romanticism
in science, a movement in science during the Romantic
period
·
Russian romance or
Russian Gypsy song, a type of sentimental art song with hints of Gypsy
influence that was developed in Imperial Russia
·
Scandinavian
romanser, classical art songs, equivalent to the
German Lied
·
Shakespeare's late romances, the later plays
of Shakespeare that mix tragic and comedic elements
Medieval Romance
Literature
Works of
medieval romance literature were widely popular between the 5th and 16th
centuries, and represented the bulk of major literary output at the time. There
are examples of the genre composed in prose as well as in verse, with some of
the earliest being poetic works closely resembling the verse epics of Ancient
Greece and Rome in both form and content.
By the 17th
century, the popularity of the genre was already dwindling, and writers were
beginning to explore other avenues of expression. You might say that medieval
romance literature received its final deathblow in 1605 and 1615 when the two
parts of Don Quixote were published. The most notable work of
Miguel de Cervantes is actually a satire that contrasts the chivalrous deeds
performed in previous romance works with the bounds of reality. Let's take a
look now at some of the characteristics of medieval romance literature that
Cervantes would have satirized.
Cycles
Many (though
certainly not all) of the works of medieval romance belong to one of three
distinct cycles, or groups of tales based on the same frame
story. In other words, a cycle uses the same essential story through all its
permutations. Two of the story cycles are the Matter of Britain and the Matter
of France, denoting their countries of origin. However, there's also the Matter
of Rome, which is not so much regional as topical in its reference, as we'll
discuss momentarily.
Subject Matter
The most prominent
subject matter of medieval romance literature is knightly exploits, like
chivalry and adventure, but to what end are such feats attempted? Perhaps the
primary motivator in the genre is the pursuit of courtly love, though this
aspect is not what gives the genre its name. Romance is actually Old French for 'from the Romantic
tongue' (i.e. Latin-derived languages). Within these stories, there is also a
prevalence of improbable, miraculous, or even mystical events, objects,
and people.
Style
The most notable
feature of the genre's style is the authors' use of elevated, what we might
call exaggerated, language. Authors of medieval romance literature typically
used elevated language because they saw their work as thematically on par with
their ancient epic predecessors. While employing such florid and lofty speech,
it's no far stretch to imagine that the dialogue and pronouncements of the
characters are rather melodramatic.
There are also
stock scenes that are typically inserted into these works; for instance,
there's the 'knight's triumph' or the classic 'damsel-in-distress,' either of
which can usually be a great source of the story's improbability. This sort of
hyperbolic, high-stakes action, though, was purposeful since authors knew it
would draw readers in. Let's take a look at some examples of medieval romance
literature that have been drawing readers in for centuries.
Examples: La Chanson de Roland
La Chanson de Roland,
a literary chanson de geste from around 1100, is one of the earliest
major works of French literature in existence and is most often attributed to
the Norman poet Turold. As many other examples from the Matter of
France, The Song of Roland centers on one of the most renowned paladins, or knights in Charlemagne's court.
Particularly,
this poetic romance's focus is the Battle of Roncevaux in A.D. 778, which was fought between the
armies of Charlemagne and Basques. Turold, however, has taken some poetic
license with the historical facts, making the arrogance and death of Roland and
his subsequent avenging by Charlemagne much more dramatic and significant than
any of the events of the battle actually were.
Romance Plays
Defining Shakespeare’s plays as ‘Romance plays’ is a relatively new affair. Shakespeare’s plays have traditionally been classified as ‘tragedies,’ ‘histories’ or ‘comedies’ but as time went by and scholars began to regard him as the greatest English writer of all times, his plays were studied more carefully by academics, researchers and critics. It became difficult to accept the old categories because many of the plays refused to fit into those categories, so they began to be described in different ways.
Defining Shakespeare’s plays as ‘Romance plays’ is a relatively new affair. Shakespeare’s plays have traditionally been classified as ‘tragedies,’ ‘histories’ or ‘comedies’ but as time went by and scholars began to regard him as the greatest English writer of all times, his plays were studied more carefully by academics, researchers and critics. It became difficult to accept the old categories because many of the plays refused to fit into those categories, so they began to be described in different ways.
As Shakespeare approached the end of his career he became
more interested in some of the ideas that he had touched on in the earlier
plays. Shakespeare used themes like the
redeeming qualities of nature as opposed to the corrupt staleness of city and
court life; the regeneration that the younger generation represented; and
encounters with spiritual experiences. Instead of flawed characters dying as a
result of their deficiencies, as we find in the more Aristotelian models like Macbeth, they could be redeemed by a daughter or by nature or by a combination
of both. The character was able to repent for his mistakes and bad deeds and
was allowed to live, to embark on a new life that those things had taught him.
Those late plays had elements of comedy and tragedy as
well as having a wider view of life. They have become a new classification,
named Romance Plays by scholars. The plays that usually fall into
that category are Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. These plays are also called ‘tragicomedies.’
The things that
these four plays have in common are that some conflict or injustice that
occurred a long time ago is resolved; the death of the perpetrator avoids death
by heartfelt and full repentance; and that extraordinary occurrences like
shipwrecks, improbable disguises and supernatural events act as dramatic
devices. The plays also feature the re-unification of divided families. Whereas
in comedies there is a happy ending where all the characters are paired of in
love and happiness, there are pairings and happy endings in the romance plays
but always with the dark shadows cast by the unpleasant events that lurk in
everyone’s memory.
Although one
finds beautiful poetry in all of Shakespeare’s plays he seems to be making a
special effort to be poetic in the romance plays and the beautiful passages of
those plays are favorite recitation pieces and have been put to music by some
of the top composers of the past half century.
Supernatural and
fantastiC literature
From Dickens’s urban underworlds and
the polite society of Jane Austen to the radical politics of William Blake and
the fantasy worlds of the Brontë sisters, explore 23 iconic authors from the
Romantic and Victorian periods.
Romantic Novels
• According to the Romance Writers of America,
the main plot of a romance novel must revolve about the two people as they
develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship. Both the
conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core
theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also
contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main
characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an
"emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.”
• Some romance novel authors and readers believe the
genre has additional restrictions, from plot considerations (such as
the protagonists' meeting early on in the story), to avoiding themes (such
as adultery). Other disagreements have centered on the firm requirement
for a happy ending; some readers admit stories without a happy ending, if the
focus of the story is on the romantic love between the two main
characters (e.g., Romeo and Juliet). While the majority of romance
novels meet the stricter criteria, there are also many books widely considered
to be romance novels that deviate from these rules. Therefore, the general
definition, as embraced by the RWA and publishers, includes only the focus on a
developing romantic relationship and an optimistic ending.
• The formats are- Category Romance, Single-title
Romance, Contemporary romance, Historical romance, Romantic suspense,
Para-normal romance, Science-fiction romance, Fantasy romance, Time-travel
romance, Inspirational romance, Multi-cultural romance, Erotic romance.
Romance and
Picaresque
• Near the end of the 14th c. Chaucer
satirized romance by means of burlesque in his tale of ‘Sir Thopas’. Occasionally, after Chaucer, we find examples
of satire on the conventions and sensibilities of the romance, but not until
Cervantes’s “Don Quixote” was the whole idea and tradition ‘sent up’. The first part of “Don Quixote” was published
in 1605 and the second in 1615. This book is unquestionably the principal work
to display the incongruities of romance. It does so by making fun of the
conventions of chivalry and contrasting them with the realities of ordinary
life. Cervantes’s masterpiece had a considerable influence on the picaresque,
narrative of adventure and on the novel in general during the 19th c. In many
ways “Don Quixote” is an early example of the anti-hero or the non-hero.
Romanticism vs.
Realism
Romanticism
1820-1865
|
Realism
1865
- 1914
|
Characters may be “larger than
life” -- e.g. Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones,Natty
Bumppo, Ralph Hepdurn, Bartleby
|
Characters resemble ordinary people -- e.g.
Huck Finn, Editha, Frederick Winterbourne,Daisy Miller,
Sylvia, Louisa, Edna Pontellier
|
Plot contains unusual events, mystery, or high
adventure -- e.g. Poe's stories, Melville’sTypee
|
Plot is developed with ordinary events and
circumstances
|
Ending is often happy
|
Ending might be unhappy
|
The language is often “literary” (inflated,
formal, etc.)
|
Writer uses ordinary speech and
dialect -- common vernacular (the everyday language spoken by a
people)
|
Settings often made up; if actual settings are used,
the focus is on the exotic, strange, mysterious -- e.g. Melville’s
Marquesas islands (S. Pacific), Cooper’s woods and frontier, Poe's gothic
chambers
|
Settings actually exist or have actual prototypes
|
Writer is interested in history or
legend -- e.g. Irving, Poe
|
Writer is interested in recent or contemporary life
|
Gender
and Idea of Sexuality
•
Romance has always been a normative of gender relationship. During Medieval
Period there are gallant knights rescuing the “Damsels in Distress ” (e.g.-”Sir
Gawain and The Greene Knight”, “Le Morte D’Arthur” etc.). In Renaissance
Romance we find the influence of Petrarchan romance that is a form of platonic
love where the beloved (lady love) is idealized or worshipped on a pedestal. (E.g.-Sidney’s “Astrophel and Stella”,
Spenser’s “The Fairie Queene” etc.). In the poems of Metaphysical poets there
are touches of intellectual romance. The symbol of ‘Phoenix’ is actually the
symbol of consummation of love and carnal desire fulfillment. (e.g. - Donne’s “Canonization”, Marvell’s “To
His Coy Mistress” etc.). The Restoration Romances are sentimental romances full
of scandals, sexual innuendos (e.g.-”The Way of the World” etc.). In the Victorian Romances there is more
psychological insight and during this period we can see much more women
novelists were flourishing. The Victorian age was the age of novels and the
novels, written by the woman writers, from their point of view became very
popular in the common masses and specially the women readers. The Romances,
written after World-War was very limited in number and the sense of hollow cast
and alienation was very prominent here. The distorted psychology, revealing
more sense of body than emotion was evident. The Modern Rom-com Fictions are basically the
stories of teenage chocolate romance, between a boy and a girl (e.g.-”P.S. I
Love you”, “Anything for You Ma’m” etc.). Another form of romance are the
Erotica- which is based on erotic romance (e.g.- D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady
Chatterley’s Lover” or “The Fifty Shades of Gray”, Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” etc.).
Conclusion
• In social context, the realistic portrayal of
romance has been embellished with ideal fictionization of the human
relationships in a sugar quoted airy atmosphere of existence. But romance has always been a subtle element
in art, literature and life-and will always be.
Citations
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