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(2013
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2013 #2b: Short Essay (Favorite Term) |
LITR 4232 |
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Britini Pond
The All-Encompassing Romance
As a literature major and an avid reader I
walked into this semester thinking I knew what a “romance” was in regards to
literature. I expected a romance to equate to a novel, mostly written by women
and that had steamy love scenes, a damsel in distress and of course the knight
in shining armor would appear right when the damsel needed him the most -- but I
was mistaken. Now, do not be misled, all
of those things do occur in today’s generalized idea of a “romance novel” as
common literary tropes. Surprisingly, however, when one breaks down the literary
definition of a romance they are affronted with descriptions such as “action”
“physical journey” “desire/loss” “escapism/capture”. These words encompass so
much more than what is typically thought of when the word romance is used to
describe a type of literature. These words take the stereotypical, cliché,
romance novel and turn it in to something that is even more fictionally
impressive.
My love for reading started long before my
choice to go after a degree in literature. I have read hundreds, and hundreds,
of romance novels of every genre – paranormal, futuristic, historical, erotic
and young adult. All of these novels had the typical things one would expect to
find inside a romance novel – the proverbial damsel in distress, knight in
shining armor coming to her rescue etc. But, what sets these romances apart, in
my mind and according to the literary definition, is that these novels were not
just a woman’s romance in their make-up. All of these novels had adventures,
rescues, desire and loss – some so powerfully written that it moved me to tears.
The ability for the authors to take the adventures of werewolves and vampires,
which to any other audience probably sounds silly and immature, to a place where
the reader is completely invested in the characters well-being adds to the
literary quality of these adventures and makes the genre and the title of
romance as encompassing of so much more than a woman’s love story.
This semester I read a short excerpt from a novel titled
The Lamplighter. The first two
chapters give readers a look into the life of a small orphaned child, Gerty, as
she depends solely on an old woman, Nan Grant, who cares nothing for her, for
her survival. Gerty is physically abused, mistreated and eventually left out in
the cold of the night to fend for herself – and if she cannot do so then death
seems to be her only other option. It is hard to really tell from the first two
chapters of the novel what kind of story it will shape up to be, it could be a
work of “realism” that is working to shed light and bring attention to the
problem of adoption laws, or lack thereof, during this time in America.
Regardless of the novel’s intent, the first two chapters themselves are a
romance. This is a little girl who has been abandoned and left all alone at the
tender age of 8 – this is “loss”. Gerty wishes and hopes for someone to love her
and is desperately in need of someone to show her that the world is not always a
bad place, that there are nice people. A sweet old man, True, brightens Gerty’s
day and when she is cast out by Nan Grant. True takes her home with him – this
is indicative of a “physical journey”—as Gerty leaves the only home she has ever
known to live with True. This is also indicative of “desire” because Gerty has
wished for someone to love her. In these first two chapters we also see True as
the proverbial “knight in shining armor” for Gerty. True rescues Gerty from her
horrible circumstances and provides her with a warm night’s sleep and a full
belly. These aspects of the story take the novel from whatever its original
intent might have been and turn it into a romance even without having the
stereotypical love story between a man and woman.
Another short story that I read this semester that has all
the makings of being a romance, but is not really classified as such is
Rip Van Winkle. Now, everyone knows
the very popular story of the man sleeping for twenty years and waking up not
realizing that he had been asleep for so long, but when looked at under the
scope of the literary definition of what a romance is in its make-up –
Rip Van Winkle embodies many of the
same characteristics. When Rip goes out on his walks through the woods he is
taking physical journeys. When Rip falls asleep and, as far as his family is
concerned never returns home, his wife and children must have felt his loss as
they most likely were perceiving him to have died. When Rip wakes up and
realizes that so much time has passed, he also feels the loss of his family and
feels desire for things to just be as they used to be. Rip waking up in a new
town surrounded by new people and new expectations this is another example of a
physical journey or action that is taking place during the story. There is not
the commonly seen damsel in distress or knight in shining armor in
Rip Van Winkle but many other traits
in the story do resemble that of a romance.
Romance is an all-encompassing term that has
been simplified to project only images of love and woman-only novels, when at
its origins, this is simply not the case. When one takes the definition of a
romance, as originally defined as a literary term, they realize that a romance
embodies so many different characteristics that just about everything that is
available for reading in today’s society can, in some way, shape or form, be
classified as a romance. Since starting my degree in literature I have always
felt that my literary knowledge (in terms of what I had read) was very lacking
because it is made up mostly of woman’s stereotypical romance novels. However,
after learning that romance is a more encompassing term than society gives it
credit for, I no longer feel inadequately read compared to classmates because I
am well read in a genre that is so richly embedded with action, love, loss,
journeys, escapes and happily ever after’s – that there is not much I can say I
have not encountered in the pages of a book.
