Happily Ever After? Happily Never After....

“When Love speaks, the voice of all the gods 

Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony” Love’s Labour’s Lost 4.3

Recently I have come to realize the term “romantic” has taken on an entire new meaning. Today people hear romantic and they think sweet lovers and happily ever afters, every story ending in a smile, but the truth is not every romantic story gets a happy ending. Not every prince and princess end up riding off into the sunset, not every Cinderella finds her shoe, and not every sleeping beauty is awakened by true love’s first kiss. My point is not to rain down cynicism on those stories. I love a happy ending, but I also love a tragic one. Romance isn't always defined by the story ending in vows of forever and the promise of a bright future.

“For never was a story of more woe…” Romeo and Juliet 5.3

I am willing to prove my point to you. Some of the most romantic stories in history didn't end in rainbows and smiles. I think everyone would agree that Romeo & Juliet is one of the most famous romances ever put to paper, but it ends in death. Triston & Isolde, is yet another love story that ends tragically. Antony and Cleopatra, Guinevere and Lancelot, Robb and Talisa, Ned and Catelyn, Tyrion and Shae (that was for you GOT lovers like me) Jay and Daisy, Wash and Zoe, Paris and Helen, and how can we talk about sad endings without mentioning Jack & Rose? (Make fun if you want Titanic is the bomb.com). As my high school AP History teacher would say, You can’t swing a dead cat in the literary world without hitting a tragic love story.

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love” Hamlet 2.2

These poignant tales of love aren't considered any less romantic because they don’t end happily, in fact I would guess that they are held in an even higher regard because the loves are cut short. In today’s world of RomComs and a “let’s try to please everyone attitude” we have forgotten what the love stories are really about. Each one of the above tales are filled with prose of devotion, soliloquies of everlasting love, and the sacrifices those lovers made for each other, and they are beautiful. Sometimes romance is a slow burn simmering throughout a lifetime, other times it’s a flash of light meant to brighten our world for a fleeting moment, and sometimes it’s taken away from us tragically leaving one lover behind forever changed. My point is this, the length of a romance doesn't determine its value. It’s not always about the destination, sometimes it’s about the journey, and the journey is beautiful.