Ever since there have been humans on earth, or more precisely, the male and female species, there has been the omnipresent fatal attraction that goes around by the name of love. It is thus no wonder that writers from time immemorial have featured love in their stories. One of the few early examples includes Indian poet Kalidasa and his poems Sakoontala and Meghdootam. The latter is the tale of an estranged couple, and a cloud who acts as a messenger to the husband, carrying a message to the wife. The descriptions of a lush green India, the beauty of women and the yearning of love between the two makes for charming reading, best read in the Sanskrit original.
Let us cut ahead to many years and look at the legendary Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. The play is a tragic tale of two teenage lovers. Caught between their bloodthirsty families, they still manage to elope, well almost. Juliet takes a heavy drug dose, and her grieving family taking her to be dead, places her in a cask. According to the plan, Romeo arrives at the burial place, waiting for Juliet to wake up. As time passes and the damsel lies dead still, a lamenting Romeo consumes poison and dies. Juliet, horrified and distraught, follows her lover to death. Just how impatient can lovers be…
Anyway, there were many love stories that enthralled readers during the 19th century; one of the most haunting love stories was that of Emily Bronte’s 1847 published Wuthering Heights. The consuming, dark love between Heathcliff and Catherine that cripples and destroys the lives of those around them is unforgettable for depicting where unresolved love can lead to.
We end this article with the most discussed and controversial love story in literature. We refer here to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, first published in 1955. The protagonist in the book, a literature professor is consumed by his obsession for a 12-year-old girl, Dolores, whom he also calls Lolita. Understandably, the manuscript was rejected by several publishers and Nabokov considered publishing the same anonymously. The book has since gone on to be listed as poetic, lyrical and a beautiful story of impossible love.
We could go on and on, but the rest we reserve for another post. As you can see, something as voluminous as love can’t fit into a single blog post.
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