Skip to main content

"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

They are words everyone hopes they will hear at least once in their lifetime.

Okay, maybe not these exact words, because I really think only Colin Firth can pull off using the word "ardently" and still look sexy...but you get my point. Romance is one of the most popular fiction genres, second only to the mystery/thriller/crime genre. What is it about romance that has people picking up one book after another? Perhaps the answer is, because we fall in love each and every time.


Why do we do this to ourselves?!

I can't be the only one who does this. I am speaking from a heterosexual female perspective, as that's really the only perspective I can speak from, but I am sure this is not a unique event. There are several movie, tv and book adaptations of Jane Austen's work that would suggest that falling in love with literary characters is completely normal (see list below). Also, I have talked to many friends who rant about how handsome Mr. Darcy is
(although, there's just something about the goofy and kind Mr. Bingley that I prefer).

But this is EXACTLY my point!

People fall in love with fictional characters! We think about them as handsome, perfect despite their flaws, the kind of men we wish we would meet in real life. 


Most recently, this happened to me as I read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I found myself falling for Hun-Kame, a Mexican god and the Lord of Death. One might think that this is a peculiar character to fall for, but he is far more complex than his title suggests. A real Mr. Darcy, if you will.

A brief summary:

After a young woman named Casiopea frees Hun-Kame from the chest that his brother imprisoned him in, he enlists her help in the adventure of a lifetime. Together, the two must traverse Mexico and the southern United States to find the items that Hun-Kame's brother stole from him, so that he might reclaim his throne. Set in 1920s Mexico, this book is an amazing and innovative journey, an excellent way to travel from the comfort of one's sofa. Throughout their adventure, Hun-Kame finds himself becoming more human, a truly humbling and eye-opening experience for him, and you cannot help but fall for him as the story progresses.

Or maybe...

Maybe we don't fall in love with the men in these novels, at least not completely. Maybe we fall in love with the relationships; the way the women stand up for themselves, demand that they be treated with respect and be acknowledged for their intelligence and wits as well as their physical beauty. We all know that Elizabeth Bennet is constantly going toe-to-toe with Mr. Darcy, but in standing up to him, she humbled him, and challenged him to acknowledge his faults as well as his attributes. It is this Mr. Darcy, the one who is both proud and humble, that Elizabeth subsequently falls in love with, and we do, too.

Similarly, Casiopea is not afraid to stand up to Hun-Kame. Despite the obvious power dynamic (he is the Lord of Death, after all), Casiopea demands that she be treated with respect, and throughout their perilous journey together, Hun-Kame becomes more humble, and starts to see Casiopea as more than a mortal servant. He becomes more human, and thus, more attractive. 

As we witness the relationship dynamics shift over the course of the story, we as readers start to turn each page hoping that the next page will tell us whether or not the characters are finally together. We want them to succeed in love! We want to see them work, because in our hearts we desire to be treated the exact same way, and experience that kind of love.

Is that dangerous?

I cannot decide whether or not falling in love with fictional characters is a good or bad thing! Does this give us an unrealistic expectation of men? Does it allow us to give those who hurt us too many chances to "change?"

Or, do we in turn create the high standards we should have by reading novels such as these? When a woman demands to be treated well, and her love interest actually sees her as she truly is, is that not empowering for us as readers? I would like to think that seeing characters at first disagree, but continue to look past their first impressions of each other, and learning that they can be wrong, gives us an evolving image of what love is. 

As long as readers understand that life is seldom (if ever) like a romance novel, and don't base all of their actions off of novels, I don't see why indulging in romance fiction is bad. Obviously, it depends on what novel you are reading. I guess I should read more in order to investigate this...

Unfortunately, I will have to leave a "Romance Novel Reading Project" for another time. For now, I dive into the most popular genre by travelling to Norway with Jo Nesbo. I have only read 40 pages and I am already terrified! Oh well. Have any recommendations for me? Would love to hear your thoughts! Email me at theopinionatedbookworm@gmail.com.

Books Discussed:

  • Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (4/5) A story full of adventure and Mexican mythology, something very new and exciting.
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (5/5) Classic. No words to describe. 

Adaptations based off Jane Austen books:

  • Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (also a book, written by Seth Grahame-Smith)
  • Austenland (Classic example of a present-day woman falling in love with Austen men)
  • Bride & Prejudice (Bollywood adaptation)
  • Jane Austen Book Club (Book by Karen Joy Fowler, six people connect over their love of Jane Austen...the movie is hilarious, the book has dark moments, both good)
  • Clueless (Movie)
  • Unleashing Mr. Darcy (Hallmark movie)
  • Christmas at Pemberley Manor (Hallmark movie)
  • Lost in Austen (girl falls through a door into Pride and Prejudice, tv show)
  • Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Play, absolutely hilarious interpretation of Mary Bennet's character <3)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kamila Knows Best

One of the biggest regrets I had during 2021 was that I let my blog slip through the cracks...which is a pity, because I like to blog. Therefore, I have decided to write once more (hopefully more than once), because I want to talk about Kamila Knows Best  by Farah Heron. You may recognize Heron's name from her previous works: The Chai Factor  and Accidentally Engaged. Both of these novels were well written, humorous, and heartwarming, but I loved them all the more because they are set in Canada and written by a Canadian.  Kamila Knows Best  stays true to all of these points. Set in Toronto, this adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma was faithful to the original while adding twists and turns that are accurate for a modern retelling. Kamila is an accountant who loves her father, friends, dog and career deeply, but all of these things means she is too busy for a serious relationship -- or so she claims. Kamila also fancies herself a matchmaker, and takes pride in the fact th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The End of the Reading Rut

This reading rut I was in was a painful experience that unexpectedly came to an end when I picked up Seven Days in June  by Tia Williams. I was taken on an unexpected journey, torn open while reading about the love story of Eva and Shane. Now that the story is over, I wish it had never ended. 7 days to fall in love, 15 to forget Fifteen years after Eva and Shane first fell in love, they meet again during a writers panel hosted by a mutual friend. Although they had not spoken to each other since their love ended, they were forever in each other's thoughts when writing their respective novels, a fact that only they were aware of. Even after so many years, their feelings are still electrifying, but one question remains, can they overcome the events of the past? Sometimes, reading a romance novel can seem formulaic, but this story broke every formula I have ever experienced in my literary adventures. Each chapter told me something about Eva and Shane that I genuinely did not expect. On...
Post a Comment
Read more

"So, do you miss coffee?"

Today is Monday, and I have tasked myself with the near impossible goal of writing an adequate blog post (and subsequently an Instagram post) before I have to go to work.  Why does this task have such an intense deadline, you may ask.  Well, I read this book, and I just cannot wait to talk about it.  What would you miss... ...If you were an astronaut tasked with observing other planets in the galaxy? Try to remember, that it takes about fourteen years to get back to Earth, and just as long for a message to be sent or received. Thus, any news you receive is over a decade old, and you must spend the time you are not working in torpor, which slows your body's aging process as you move from planet to planet.  This is the mission Ariadne and her crew are set with in Becky Chambers' novel, To Be Taught, If Fortunate . Although the chemistry of the crew allows them to operate more as a family than as coworkers, they still face challenges during their decades lo...
Post a Comment
Read more