How Romance Novels Warp Our Perception of Love
Image Courtesy: Strike Magazine Tallahassee
I’m here to tell you that while I love a romance novel just as much (or maybe more) than the next person, I am conflicted by how these books alter our perceptions of love. Romance books seem to provide a perfect escapism fantasy of intrigue, longing, and lust, all written in a way that idolizes love and often seems unattainable.
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I often think to myself, “Why can’t I find love like this? Does this type of love even exist?” Not to say that there is anything wrong with these novels, but many people can relate to post-book disillusionment when contemplating their own love lives. I get so wrapped up in these books myself and forget to take a step back and realize that you can’t always compare people in your life to fictional characters.
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Romance novels tend to glorify an image of true love that always has a happy ending. The addictive nature behind these books stems from our desire to escape reality and invest our thoughts into a story that is often too good to be true. Don’t get me wrong, these stories about true love do occur in the real world, but as a young adult indulging in these stories, find myself let down by the fact that I’m not experiencing the same connections at this current stage of my life. The unrealistic, repetitive arc found in most romance novels also contributes to this feeling of unattainability. As soon as a character is at a low point in their life, the perfect partner magically appears, and the rest is history. It can be a hard pill to swallow when you put the book down and start comparing these fictional characters to your own life.
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Do you ever wonder why you can’t seem to put these books down when you start them? These novels create an addicting storyline that everyone is so invested in. I remember after reading my first romance novel, I immediately returned to Barnes and Noble to pick up three more. Although it may seem like these books only represent unrealistic love, there is still so much beauty behind these stories. It often allows people to fall in love with the idea of love. The thought of finding the person that you would do anything for is something that people should look forward to rather than be afraid of. Romance novels romanticize the idea of love and showcase the beauty of two people who care so deeply for each other.
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I think that we can all agree that reality is just a smidge different than these fictional stories, but people often lose sight of this thought. It can make people feel worse about their relationships and even mask the perception of their current relationships. These novels do create a standard that people should try to apply to their own life, but it is important to not take these stories too seriously and just follow your heart even if it’s not like a traditional book storyline. Never lose sight of accepting true love, but make sure you are not comparing your life to the characters of a book, even though we all want a dreamy fictional character to show up at our door and sweep us away.
Strike Out,
Writer: Bella Ferretti
Editor Noelle Knowlton
Graphic Designer: Taylor Farscht
Tallahassee