IT is a tragedy. She had liked him the first time she saw him. He grew to like her after some time. He passed her by. She kept looking out for him. This is the kind of story in real life. The kind of romance story most people are familiar with in REAL life—where nothing much happens really, because of all kinds of factors. Bad timing, assumptions that everything is just a phase, that you don’t really fall in love at first sight like in the movies, that you cannot find that one just by looking into each others’ eyes, the list goes on. For all kinds of reasons, romance novel sells because these things don’t happen in real life. But the biggest reason, probably, is cowardice. Afraid to take a chance, afraid that the other person will think it foolish. Afraid to be wrong. That is the tragic love story I am about to tell you. It is generally agreed that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is most tragic of all love stories. But that is only because everyone is too afraid to look at their own lives and see all those sad stories—much sadder than Romeo and Juliet because, so much could have, might have, would have happened, IF ONLY.
------
He died for her. She killed herself because life would be unbearable without him. The reason why they are generally agreed to be the most tragic couple is because of people’s reluctance to face up the grim reality of the sad business called ‘love’. In fact, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the happiest ending a love story can possibly have. Most fairy tales which end with “and they lived happily ever after” are at best incomplete. They lived happily ever after, EXCEPT for those occasional quarrels, threats of divorce and times when they hate each other so bad, they wondered why they got together in the first place. Other than all those tears, anguish, disappointment, insecurities, they “lived happily ever after”. And it is never ever stated how long happily ever after lasted. They lived happily ever after for one week before they….
Luckily for both Romeo and Juliet they had not yet gotten to that stage where their love is put to the real test, much worse off than any parental objection they might ever face.
-------
But I side track, I was going to tell the saddest love story possible. It is not a ‘Romeo and Juliet scenario which happens once in a million. And in Douglas Adam term’s it is so improbable that a certain William Shakespeare wrote it into a play which became universally declared the saddest love story the world can ever behold. Even the famous improbability drive would have some trouble with this. The saddest love story which I am about to tell, would bring even Shakespeare to shame for staging such a falsity and cheating the whole world over and over again for centuries.
-------
The saddest love story involves an ordinary girl, any generic guy, a random chance provided by fate for them to meet, biological chemistry: enough to get them thinking about each other all the time, and the rest has to do with being human. Our pride, our fears, our hesitance, our fantasies, our desires, our everything else. Fate is too often maligned or (worse off) being made scapegoat. The following might provide a certain measure of discomfort, but if you do feel affected it is all perfectly normal.
“Dear Aunt Agony,
I have liked this boy since I was 13, but he does not know. He treats me as his friend and I am afraid to express my true feelings after all these years. I think of him all the time. I just wish things could have turned out differently. I am so sad.”
“Dear Diary,
I saw him again. I will be graduating soon, so we might never meet each other again.”
“Congratulations on your wedding day, to my best friend (I do so envy the bride) Don’t forget me. If you ever need help I’ll always be around.”
Most are even simpler.
The story is just a blank. Possibilities missed and chances lost. Too insignificant to become a true regret, yet, still leaving a certain wistfulness. Of things we wished we could have done to make the ending different. OR choices we are sometimes force to make without certainty. Like being led blindfolded to a chasm and asked to make that leap of faith.
To jump over the moon.
That Romeo and Juliet do not have to come to that leap and have consumed themselves in their destructive love is their fortune. Most of us mere mortals still need a moment of insanity and a steadfast belief to make things happen for better or for worse.
------
He died for her. She killed herself because life would be unbearable without him. The reason why they are generally agreed to be the most tragic couple is because of people’s reluctance to face up the grim reality of the sad business called ‘love’. In fact, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the happiest ending a love story can possibly have. Most fairy tales which end with “and they lived happily ever after” are at best incomplete. They lived happily ever after, EXCEPT for those occasional quarrels, threats of divorce and times when they hate each other so bad, they wondered why they got together in the first place. Other than all those tears, anguish, disappointment, insecurities, they “lived happily ever after”. And it is never ever stated how long happily ever after lasted. They lived happily ever after for one week before they….
Luckily for both Romeo and Juliet they had not yet gotten to that stage where their love is put to the real test, much worse off than any parental objection they might ever face.
-------
But I side track, I was going to tell the saddest love story possible. It is not a ‘Romeo and Juliet scenario which happens once in a million. And in Douglas Adam term’s it is so improbable that a certain William Shakespeare wrote it into a play which became universally declared the saddest love story the world can ever behold. Even the famous improbability drive would have some trouble with this. The saddest love story which I am about to tell, would bring even Shakespeare to shame for staging such a falsity and cheating the whole world over and over again for centuries.
-------
The saddest love story involves an ordinary girl, any generic guy, a random chance provided by fate for them to meet, biological chemistry: enough to get them thinking about each other all the time, and the rest has to do with being human. Our pride, our fears, our hesitance, our fantasies, our desires, our everything else. Fate is too often maligned or (worse off) being made scapegoat. The following might provide a certain measure of discomfort, but if you do feel affected it is all perfectly normal.
“Dear Aunt Agony,
I have liked this boy since I was 13, but he does not know. He treats me as his friend and I am afraid to express my true feelings after all these years. I think of him all the time. I just wish things could have turned out differently. I am so sad.”
“Dear Diary,
I saw him again. I will be graduating soon, so we might never meet each other again.”
“Congratulations on your wedding day, to my best friend (I do so envy the bride) Don’t forget me. If you ever need help I’ll always be around.”
Most are even simpler.
The story is just a blank. Possibilities missed and chances lost. Too insignificant to become a true regret, yet, still leaving a certain wistfulness. Of things we wished we could have done to make the ending different. OR choices we are sometimes force to make without certainty. Like being led blindfolded to a chasm and asked to make that leap of faith.
To jump over the moon.
That Romeo and Juliet do not have to come to that leap and have consumed themselves in their destructive love is their fortune. Most of us mere mortals still need a moment of insanity and a steadfast belief to make things happen for better or for worse.
posted by Nippy at 11:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home