...undergraduate student studying sociology at UQ. My job here today is to talk to you about the comprehensive topic of love and in particular unrequited love in the 21st century. Love in all its splendour is complex. No one could ever doubt that the most empowering emotion is to be in love. To be embraced, accepted and wanted but with being in love comes the emotional risk that the person you want to spend the rest of your life with might not want the same. When that happens love is often conflicted with pain, suffering, and jealousy which are all second-hand emotions of love. So how exactly do you deal with loving someone who doesn’t love you back? Why is it so hard to get over it and come to grips with reality? What’s preventing us from healing from such a deep wound, knowing the pain can often be unbearable? Love hurts. Love stinks. Love is blind. At some point in life, we’ve all experienced the pain poets and songwriters have written about for ages. Usually, it’s because we’ve loved someone who hasn’t loved us back. Feeling so emotionally invested in something we’re being told doesn’t even exist is often the most excruciating pain.. Yet we endure it. Why is that? The purpose of this seminar is to investigate the connection between love and pain from before the year 2000 up until today. Three texts will be explored and used as examples to investigate the power of unrequited love and its second hand emotions. These are 500 days of summer (2009) written by Scott Neustadter, Directed by...
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...Sorrowful and unrequited love are very similar types of love, expressed in poetry when a poet is feeling sad or has lost someone. Wind and Window Flower by Robert Frost and When We Two Parted by Lord Byron are two poems that express this type of love. In the poem Wind and Window Flower by Robert Frost the poet talks about unrequited love rather than sorrowful. The poem explores not being able to be with someone and losing them forever. The word “Breeze” and “Flower” are repeated many times throughout the poem and this emphasizes the fact that the people cannot be together. Lines 3-4 explain, who, and what the flower and breeze are. “She a window flower;/And he a winter breeze.” Because the reader knows that the flower is the girl and the breeze a boy the use of repetition on these two words emphasizes the...
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...Christina Rossetti – Unrequited Love Many of Christina Rossetti's poems seem to evoke a sense of thwarted or unrequited love, however in terms of ‘Jessie Cameron’ this unrequited love is reversed into an untypical situation in this patriarchal society of Rossetti’s era. Jessie is described as a ‘careless, fearless girl'. Her ‘mirthful' nature prompts her to take chances and sometimes become ‘heedless' about what she says. Her outgoing personality stands in direct contrast to traditional expectations of a Victorian maiden who the audience would expect to perhaps be of timid or demur characteristics. , Rossetti defies conventions, in said patriarchal society, she gives Jessie an identity, whereas in the Victorian era a girl like Jessie could cease to exist. Jessie demonstrates a sense of female empowerment when Rossetti refers to her as “fearless” a word which is not necessarily associated with power, or even a trait which would be considered as attractive; however it actually serves to set her apart, something that makes her different, and in the eyes of her rejected lover, indeed attractive. This love is so unrequited, to the extent that not once is his name mentioned; he is only known to the audience as the “neighbor’s son”. She does not want to acknowledge him, she is avoiding any form of intimate connection, in fact any form of connection whatsoever. However, this could also be interpreted to illustrate the distance between the two, and to prove they have no relation at...
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...Unrequited Love: It Can And Will Hurt Ever feel your emotions grow so strongly for someone, it feels as if you have allowed your fantasy to develop a perfect picture of you and this person of interest? Did you ever feel your heart break from that person’s rejection just as bad as it would had you developed a relationship, or even an affair with them? If you are nodding your head right now, you have experienced what is called “unrequited love”; a love or desire for someone, which unfortunately is not mutual. Unrequited love is believed to be something quite common. Many fictional stories have been written around the theme, and many songs have been sung about it. However, in reality, you probably will not find many non-fiction books on the shelves about it. To my own knowledge, there has been only one book written on it as a whole, which deals with both sides of unrequited love; the point of view of the one who feels it, and the point of view of the one who receives it, and more than likely rejects it. Other than that, most of the time you will only find articles online giving you a step by step guide on how to deal with it and move on. While all the advice is valid and has merit, to someone going through all the difficulties and challenges it probably sounds like worn out clichés. You probably sit there and wonder how is it that they can make the process of getting over it sound so easy, when you spend your every waking moment thinking about that special someone who “stole”...
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...Love is usually described by the public as a feeling of warm, personal attachment or deep affection, commonly related to a parent, child, or friend. Love can bring two people together in a scene where it is them against the world, but it has also torn people to such an extent where their emotions are left like shredded up confetti. This can leave one believing in ridiculous and painful thoughts such as ‘Was it all a lie,’ or even thinking about themselves as unlovable. These two kinds of love can be identified as romantic love and its undesired counterpart, unrequited love. I find it ironic how love can be as romantic as writing beautiful poems under the stars and then crying yourself to sleep because your admirer “just don’t love you that way.”These two feelings of deep affection contradict each other in terms of reciprocation, but both can and have lead to chaos in stories, such as in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare....
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...Even though most readers find Nick’s feelings towards Gatsby of a more platonic sort; nevertheless, there are several readers who find Nick’s feelings romantic because of the way he speaks, thinks, and acts towards and around Gatsby. The events of their first meeting, lunch date, and Gatsby’s death will help to further prove the romantic desires that can be found deep within Nick’s mind. When they first meet, curiosity sparks almost immediately within Nick, revealing his subtle desires. They first meet face to face at one of Gatsby’s famous parties, though Nick knows not what Gatsby looks like. After Nick has been told, by the man himself that he has been speaking to Gatsby he immediately begins to observe his neighbour. Nick describes Gatsby’s smile as understanding—“…much more than [understanding]. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.” (p.46). That is merely the beginning of a rather lengthy description that even teenage girls keen on describing men would not feel the need to repeat. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, may have wanted the readers to have a vivid image of Mr. Gatsby painted inside their minds, but having Nick as the writer/narrator makes Nick seem a fair bit interested. Later, during that very same conversation, Gatsby excuses himself to take a phone call and the moment Gatsby is out of ear shot, Nick finds himself questioning Jordan Baker. “Who is he?” (p.50), “where is...
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...The idea of love that is expressed by Romeo is the most important idea in Act. 1 because it displays the ambiguity behind the meaning of love. Romeo describes the grief that unrequited love has caused him: “‘Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes’” (23). By using the metaphor that love is a fume made from sighs, Romeo implies that love is a result of sadness; the comparison to fumes also hints that love is ambiguous and mysterious. Romeo then speaks of the smoke of love being cleansed or purged of impurities. This is essentially the gracious side of love and one where feelings of attraction are mutual between two people. This side is always mentioned and thought of when love is spoken of,...
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...Firstly, I think Romeo’s love was influenced by its previous feelings towards another girl. The Montague was indeed, just before the party during which he met the young Capulet, sorrowing about his dear Rosaline, an unseen character in the movie. At the beginning of the movie, we can see him talking to those closed to him such as Mercutio and Benvolio about his dismay at the lady not loving him back. We can see by its saddened eyes and his desire for solitude that he is truly affected by its unrequited love. He really seemed to think that she was the one. However, at the Halloween party, all of this pain is suddenly vanished at the sight of Juliet across the aquarium. He automatically falls in love with her, without thinking about Rosaline....
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...the reader an insightful look into the perils and consequences of unrequited love. This is demonstrated in several characters in the book. Of these, the relationship between Adam and Cathy most prominently displays the perils of unrequited love. John Steinbeck’s defines love most eloquently in “East of Eden”. Sometimes a kind of glory lights up the mind of a man. It happens to nearly everyone. You can feel it growing or preparing like a fuse burning toward dynamite. It is a feeling in the stomach, a delight of the nerves, of the forearms. The skin tastes the air, and...
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...“Cat in the Rain” is a short psychological story by Ernest Hemingway. The plot revolves around an American couple on a vacation in Italy; there isn't any preface to the story, we know nothing about the couple’s past. The narration starts straight off when the young woman sees a cat hiding from the rain in the hotel yard. At first sight the setting is ideal: a cozy room on the second floor, a lovely view from the window. However, there is one thing which spoils the whole picture, and that is the rain, which is why the couple stays inside. Rain is also often associated with sadness; to bring home this air of melancholy, parallel constructions are used: "The rain dripped from the palm trees. The water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slippedback down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain ". The abundance of water is not accidental either; the rain, the sea, the pool – water symbolizes something inevitable; water is everywhere: it is on the ground, it is pouring from the heavens as though the nature weeps for something. This might also be regarded as a case of parallelism, since as the story progresses we realize that the feelings of the girl are not that positive. Here author also uses alliteration of sounds [r], [l]: "Rain dripped from the palmtrees, the sea broke in a long line in the rain", it brings the rhythm to the description of the weather. The conflict starts to unfold when the girl notices a cat in the rain...
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...Persistence, hope, and determination are some of the greatest human traits; but they can also be our downfall. Separately, these traits harbor great potential, but together they can lead to desperation and chasing after unrequited love. Relationships are the greatest example of this, specifically the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. He spent his whole life stumbling after a girl who enticed him with the merest hint of love, yet fell short when it mattered most. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the unwillingness to let go of his feeling for Daisy was the real cause of Gatsby’s death. Gatsby’s denial of the changes between him and Daisy are prevalent but subtle. It’s been years since he and Daisy were courting each other, yet...
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...Grant Kemp is one of the guys trying to find love on The Bachelorette with JoJo Fletcher, but now news is coming out that he left behind his longtime girlfriend to be on the show. A source went to Twitter and shared that she is a friend of the girl that Grant Kemp left behind to be on the show and she isn't holding back. Reality Steve actually shared this tweet on his page as well. So far, the girl that Grant left isn't speaking up, but you never know when she will decide it is time to share her side of the story. Erin Aschow shared that she doesn't normally blast people like this, but Grant was dating a friend of hers and she is obviously upset. Erin says that the girl he was dating was amazing, but the way that Grant Kemp left her was not at all. She revealed that Grant actually broke up with her and didn't explain why and even...
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...Romeo & Juliet Essay Alysa DeGeorge Coach Smoak English 1 5/15/18 People know Romeo and Juliet as a love story, but they also know that it is tragic. Love between a partner isn’t the only type of love in this story. There is love between close friends, family and also there is love given but not received. “Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is where Juliet lives, and every cat, dog and people, every unworthy thing. Live here in heaven and they may look on her, but Romeo will not” Before Juliet, Romeo had fallen in love with the one he was supposed to marry but she didn’t feel anything for him. The same was happening to Juliet but it was her who didn’t feel anything, no connection between her and the guy that was set...
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...and new, then the all-day hopeful lightheadedness, and behind it all, dull as a blown-out light bulb, the fact of the word never.” (ll. 5-7 p. 1). The quote is from the nameless main character in Ali Smith’s short story “Erosive” from 2003. As the quote implies Ali Smith tells the story of unrequited love. Through post modernistic techniques he portrays the main characters coping with hopeless love. A distinctive feature of post-modernistic literature is that they are often open to interpretation. The story can therefore be analyzed in multiple ways, and the observations I have made are not “set in stone”. The main character in “Erosive” is a first-person narrator who falls in love with a girl he sees on the street.”(…) it is as if someone hit me across the back of the head with a baseball bat or plugged me into a socket whose powers light up my whole body.” (ll. 8-9, p. 153) He paints a picture of himself being struck by lightning, to describe his feelings towards the girl. The metaphor especially underlines the intensity of his emotions, given that lightning is a particular strong force. However, the girl he’s in love with does not love him back, and as the title indicates, his love has an erosive impact on him and his mental state. Ali Smith uses a tree to symbolize his state of mind. “The larger new leaves, the fronts of which look clear and clean, have insects packed like bricks on their undersides and the edges of several leaves have been rolled firmly in on themselves...
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...Peter Tim Soriano Mr. Chalmers ENG 4U 16 December 2013 Illusion and Mendacity In Tennessee Williams’ plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, several characters suffer by lying and by being unaware of reality. Both plays demonstrate and signify the themes of illusion vs. reality and mendacity through past trauma, alcohol abuse, and through strained family and marital relationships. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick is an example to all of these factors through his past with his friend skipper, his abuse of alcohol, and the lack of love he shows for his wife, while in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche encounters similar problems as Brick with her past trauma and her alcohol problem. The two plays share many similarities in terms of themes but at the same time also share significant difference. In the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick is troubled with his past memories that he tries to keep a secret. He mourns the death of his best friend Skipper and the death pushes Brick into a world of imagination and mendacity. He avoids talking about Skipper and when his wife Margaret who is been trying to fix her relationship with Brick brings up the memory of his friend Skipper. Brick gets upset and says, “One man has one great good true thing in his life. One great good thing which is true! – I had a friendship with Skipper. – You are naming it dirty!” (Williams 44) Brick is furious with Margaret as he threatens her with physical abuse before he mentions the one greatest...
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