I Hate Romance Novels
Let me get one thing straight from the start: I am a huge believer in romance---in the sex you can't get enough of and the person you can't stop thinking about, in fantasies about sharing the dominatrix whip and then some ice cream afterwards, in being turned on by arguments about Lacan and Freud and fights about existentialism and religious doctrine.
That's my idea of romance. I prefer the "give and take" to the "giving of the soul." I prefer the knowledgeable lover to the frightened virgin. I prefer a man who lets me take control once in awhile.
I think this is why I cannot abide romance novels.
I have tried. I mean, hey, I like smut. I like porn. I like comic books. I even like inane horror films and poorly made Shannon Tweed flicks. I appreciate them for the shiny plastic mental raincoats that they are. I even appreciate Fabio---in a plastic Ken-doll sort-of-way.
So, I tried to like romance novels. Well, let me amend that: First, I tried to read a romance novel.
In the first chapter, the "hero" screwed the maid in the downstairs parlor, freshened up a bit, and then welcomed his new female ward to the household. Now, given my generic knowledge of the date movie---and cross-applying clichés to the romance novel---I knew the following:
1.) The ward was going to be shocked and appalled at his libertine behavior, and, yet, be strangely attracted to it.
2.) The hero was going to be shocked and appalled at the revelations of his own libertine behavior, and, yet, be strangely attracted to his young ward, a mere "child," of course.
3.) Her innocence was going to win him over.
4.) His arrogance was really hiding a broken heart that she could fix, and, therefore, win him over.
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G.) And, finally, why is everything so difficult? I know a "relationship" is right when it's easy and comfortable and still has sexual spark. But, without angst and drama and fights and bodice rippings galore, can the people in these novels really survive? After the thrill is gone, can you really imagine the lord of the manor and the young female ward having anything at all to talk about beyond her decoration of the downstairs parlor? Please. He'll be back to the maid in less than a year.
So, take back your romance novels and give me the Romantics that I love instead: William Blake, William Wordsworth, Walter Scott, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They may have been pompous and arrogant, but one could say their tinges of misogyny and male superiority were products of time, place and ego. The mostly female-authored, "modern" romance novel, sadly, has no such excuse.
McKercher, William R., ed. The U.S. Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights
...y vigorously. The full extent of his innocence is seen when he helps Schmuel with finding his father, and the ending of his life due to this. From the reader’s perspective again we see through this, that what is actually wanting to be said is that we should accept everyone for who they are. We shouldn't discriminate others for being different to us, but, instead, like children, forget the differences and befriend each other, in any case.
The narrator was accused of being a threat to the Brotherhood. He was given the choice of either becoming inactive in the Brotherhood completely or lecturing on the "woman question" in another neighborhood until an investigation into his loyalty was conducted. The narrator was rewarded with an important insight into his character. Many women believe that he would understand them and their needs, because of his talks about women and their place in society. The narrator is able to realize that these girls are seeing him only as they want to see him instead of how he really is. This was an important realization for the narrator to make, but the discovery of his true self was still unfound
"Romance." Def. 3. The Merriam Webster Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2004. 630. Print.
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It is sad that three of the marriages in the novel ended up as unhappy
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