(Romeo and Juliet Classic Index 75 This love story rewritten by the great Shakespeare in a comedic form more than four hundred years ago is, to a certain extent, an epic of love rich in humanistic spirit. For centuries, it has been a topic that people never tire of discussing. Under Shakespeare's pen, love transcends everything. It can even surpass family background, status, and family prejudice - things that are still valued by ordinary British people today. Of course, Shakespeare's handling of the age issue of the male and female protagonists in the play is also astonishing. Perhaps a hundred years ago, people still did not understand why love would come so early to a pair of minors, and be so firm that it made the lovers willing to sacrifice their lives for each other. When Juliet first fell in love, she was just fourteen years old. But now, people no longer hold the same view. As people see the trend of younger and younger ages for romantic relationships approaching us step by step, they cannot help but admire Shakespeare's foresight, regardless of whether what teenagers around fifteen or sixteen are experiencing now is truly love. The ending of the play is the most outstanding part. This pair of lovers lost their lives due to a misunderstanding. In the theaters of Victoria's era over four hundred years ago, this scene once left the entire audience silent. But today, such an ending is no longer surprising to modern audiences. In fact, they did not lose their lives because of the misunderstanding but because of their love. There is no need to feel sorry for them. Conclusion: Cruel love is the inevitable path for any great love.
(Venus and Adonis Classic Index 75 In all loves, there are those who succeed and those who fail. This Greek myth is one of such stories. To a certain extent, the love that the handsome youth Adonis felt for himself was no less deep than the love Venus had for him. The only difference is that society could accept Venus's love for him without hesitation, though there was a slight difference in identity and position between them. However, Adonis's passionate love for himself was hard for others to understand. Later generations labeled his behavior as "narcissism," which in psychological studies was categorized as pathological. This is very unfair to the handsome youth himself because all forms of love, as long as they are love, should not be met with indifference or disdain from people. Venus's love for the handsome youth was also commendable. The degree of her pursuit and the urgency of her feelings were something that many proud and self-confident young ladies today cannot comprehend. In modern parlance, one might say, "Being a goddess up to this point is exhausting." The infatuated Venus encountered Adonis, who was indifferent and heartless. From her perspective, she loved the wrong person, but what could she do? Love does not distinguish right from wrong; she simply loved him, and that was that. Venus tried every method available, and the descriptions of desire in the story make today's men and women blush a little. But do not misunderstand; this was Venus's way of showing her love, unrelated to pornography. This story also opened up broader spaces for later literary works on love. In a sense, Adonis did not love himself but a third party. More broadly speaking, all literary works about triangular, quadrilateral, or pentagonal romances since then have originated from a story called "Venus and Adonis." Conclusion: One-sided love always accompanies the rapid destruction of one person and the slow destruction of another.
(Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson Classic Index 80 This is the most talked-about love story since modern times and continues to be widely spread until today. In the nearly thousand-year history of the British Empire, no king had ever abdicated voluntarily. Yet, the reason for his stepping down was two words—love. The woman who made him give up his political position was a twice-divorced American woman. In the eyes of the European upper class, this was nothing short of a betrayal. At that time, European mainstream society could not fully tolerate or recognize such an event. Thousands of the king's supporters heard the radio announcement of the king's abdication, collapsed to the ground in tears. Perhaps their actions also included great respect for this love, watching their beloved king step down from the throne with a sense of helplessness. But everything comes at a cost; the king lost his throne and his kingdom but gained what he cherished most—love. Later, Mrs. Simpson, as the Duchess of Windsor, returned the remains of her husband to Britain for a state funeral. The entire British Isles mourned deeply. By that time, more people had accepted their love than they had decades earlier. People regarded them as a classic example of sacrificing oneself for love. Reflecting on it now, without their love, the entire history might have changed, and the current queen might never have appeared. From the perspective of the nation and ethnicity, abdicating the throne for love is irresponsible, but from a human perspective, it shows treating love as a lifelong belief—the most perfect interpretation of the concept of "human." Conclusion: Love with a price, where the price of love is like Mount Tai to those who despise love, but means nothing to those who cherish it.
(Roy and Mala Classic Index 80 On the Waterloo Bridge in London, a beautiful, melancholic, and moving love story quietly began amidst the roar of gunfire and ultimately ended on this bridge. In reality, this love never ends and will never end. This love story was perfect from start to finish. There were no bad people in this story; we saw only good people. The moment Roy and Mala met at the bridge, their great love began. Roy gazing at the window above in the rain was a stroke of brilliance in their story. The two only asked each other's names while on their way to the church to get married. Everything seemed absurd but was perfectly reasonable. This lightning-fast mature love allowed one person to sacrifice everything out of love for the other, and let the other keep this love forever in their heart. Everyone in this story was forgiving, including Roy's uncle and mother. What was unforgiving was an intangible atmosphere, one that could suffocate a person. This atmosphere tightly gripped everyone, leaving them helplessly watching as harsh reality approached step by step. However, in a sense, Mala's death was the most touching part of the story. Precisely her death made the story immortal. Otherwise, Mala would have become another Jane Eyre, except that Mala faced Roy, who was more romantic and better-tempered than Rochester. And Jane Eyre's story, really cannot be considered a great, classic love story. We might call it a masterpiece of personal struggle, or perhaps a critique of the educational system and class concepts of the Victorian era. The English novelist Jane Austen believed that marriage should be between equals. But Roy and Mala's story went beyond the scope of equal marriage. If we were to awaken this great novelist from her grave and ask her to evaluate the love story of Waterloo Bridge, I think she would find it quite difficult, truly difficult. Conclusion: Eternal love, unable to be together, is the only kind of eternal love.
(Esmeralda and Quasimodo Classic Index 80 In the eerie Notre Dame Cathedral, the bell-ringer was called a beast by people, and the Bohemian woman who fled there to avoid calamity was called a beauty. The love between the beauty and the beast was inherently asymmetrical and had such a stark contrast that it didn't initially evoke much emotion or reflection. However, when people found two bodies embracing each other in the bell tower hundreds of years later, a sense of moved admiration arose naturally. The beauty and the beast embraced each other in the final moments of their lives and never separated again. Quasimodo's love for Esmeralda went beyond the willingness to sacrifice himself. Perhaps from the moment he saw her, he had already handed his life over to her, ready to give everything for the woman he loved in his heart. Even though he knew it might not bring reciprocal returns, and that his death might be like a feather falling into the sea, silent and unnoticed. Fortunately, he received the love of the other, and it was eternal. This love may not be as easily accepted or perfect as other talented youths' love stories, but it is still a story about love, and a profoundly moving one at that. The humanitarian spirit of the revolutionary era is evident here. This story tells us that even people who seem like beasts have the right to love and be loved. Even if two people are far apart, they still have the opportunity to focus on the same goal and be tied together by the threads of love. Conclusion: The most real absurd love, perhaps the word "love" itself doesn't distinguish between absurdity and reality, as long as it's love.
(Happy and Kōji Classic Index 85 In the first half of the 1980s, a story swept across the entire Chinese mainland. From the drawn-out plot, it can be seen that this TV drama mainly focused not on love but rather on family ties. The love between the two characters served as a good prelude to the subsequent tragedy of family ties. Despite its intriguing nature, we must admit it was cruel. It seemed to force people to choose between love and family, a choice that is extremely difficult for humans. Fortunately, the screenwriter resolved our dilemma at a critical moment by letting Happy die quietly. Our thoughts, just as they crossed the ultimate moral bottom line of humanity, were forcibly pulled back by the screenwriter. The love between Kōji and Happy had two interpretations in the eyes of people at the time. One interpretation was that when they discovered they were siblings, their love immediately transformed into sibling affection. Another interpretation was that their love was genuine but impossible to handle in real life, so one of them had to die. Happy's quiet death in Kōji's arms on a boat full of cherry blossoms in the lake could also have two explanations: she died in her brother's arms or in her lover's arms. Regrettably, the majority held the former view at the time. Actually, love is love and does not transform into anything else. No one would doubt that this couple was destined to be together. In fact, the actors playing these roles were a real-life married couple. This is the cruelty of the screenwriter—he set every condition to favor the development of love except one unchangeable factor: they were siblings. A pity for the two lovers who paid so much for their love but were understood by few. They could only hide their sincere love in their hearts, one passing away and the other facing a beautiful lake, reminiscing about their lost love. Conclusion: Impossible love, our society still needs to evolve. We must consider whether morality or love can transcend each other.
(Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai Classic Index 90 This is the most widely circulated love story in Chinese folklore and is still recognized by some people today in terms of romantic psychology. However, men and women today would not be as foolish as Liang and Zhu in ancient times, sitting idly waiting to turn into butterflies. In a modern society dominated by the internet and mobile phones, interactions between men and women are no longer as difficult or inefficient as in ancient societies. People's psychological resilience is also not as weak as in the past. Even today, we can still feel the pain of longing experienced by the two lovers at the time. In fact, this pain feels sweet when you reflect on it, even if it costs one's life, the benefits gained from this sacrifice are irreplaceable by anything else. The reason modern love stories cannot become great loves is that modern couples pay too little, absolutely unwilling to sacrifice themselves. After all, life is the bottom line that modern people can sacrifice, not something to be easily surpassed. The courtship methods in this story are also exciting parts. The female protagonist disguised herself as a man, using landscapes and objects to metaphorically express her love for the male protagonist. This segment of the story is the most discussed because, both in form and content, it surpasses all the characteristics of the era in which the story took place, hinting at a faint taste of modernism. Superficial researchers might find homosexual tendencies in the descriptions. Digging deeper, this is the great power of love, which can transcend all era and conceptual constraints, making people do things that are not understood by contemporary society but are celebrated by future generations. The finishing touch is the transformation into butterflies. Lowly lives often represent freedom. People who yearn for love and freedom often act this way because these two aspects are their lives. Conclusion: Helpless love can only continue in another world.
(Maurice and Paul Classic Index 90 No one would deny the greatness of maternal love, but maternal love is one-sided. If maternal love receives a return, it can only be filial love from children. However, Lawrence strongly challenged this notion in "Sons and Lovers." No one would deny that Lawrence is one of the most important literary figures of the twentieth century, nor would anyone deny that Freud is the greatest psychologist of the twentieth century. But the number of people openly approving of the story told in this work is far fewer than those studying it. Mrs. Morel poured her surging passion into her son, gaining from him the love she could not obtain from her husband. For Mrs. Morel, deep down, she had already regarded her son as her imagined lover. She cared for him, raised him, and did more than any mother could possibly do. She truly regarded her son as the object of her love, which was not merely familial love but largely manifested as romantic love. And Paul also regarded his mother as his lover in his heart, even thinking that as long as his mother was there, he could not find a lover in this life because the lover was already by his side—his mother. In this highly controversial work, people explore more psychological and social levels. Many times, the love intertwined within is interpreted as a plot, a term originating from ancient Greece, which, despite its long history, has been studied for thousands of years without a definitive conclusion. Perhaps humans dare not confront the elements in themselves that are incompatible with real society, or perhaps society has formed a fixed pattern that no one can break. We can only follow the path we have set for ourselves, moving forward without looking back. Conclusion: The most unethical love, yet it is a kind of love, at least a branch of the tree of love.
(Liu Xin and Dong Xian Classic Index 95 The phrase "cutting off the sleeve" is a Chinese idiom we learn as we grow older. From its literal meaning, it is very obscure, and without further research, its true meaning cannot be clearly understood. Liu Xin, the昏君of the Western Han Dynasty, turned out to be a person of true love. When they slept together, and Dong Xian's body pressed on his wide sleeve when Liu Xin had to leave due to urgent matters, he cut off his sleeve to leave without waking his lover. This delicate care and true love for his lover is enough to make anyone from any era feel ashamed. Naturally, his partner Dong Xian was the same. On the second day after Emperor Ai Liu Xin's death, Dong Xian committed suicide at home, still holding the jade seal given to him by Emperor Ai. Unfortunately, this couple was made up of two men, which is the homosexuality despised by many so-called righteous people today. Many of us now, upon seeing the idiom "cutting off the sleeve," interpret it negatively and overlook its expression of love. No one has stipulated that love is exclusively for heterosexuals. Homosexual love may be even more sincere and stirring. Liu Xin and Dong Xian represent this kind of love. Thinking about today, even among heterosexuals, it is rare to find lovers who can be so considerate and loyal to each other. These actions stem from love, and the driving force behind them can only be love. Throughout the long river of human history, homosexual love is not a young love. From the Greeks' tolerant attitude towards same-sex love to the open discussions and practices during China's Tang Dynasty, to the recent legal and societal adjustments in Western countries, we can see that this is not a deviant form of love but one that has not been properly recognized or developed throughout history. Liu Xin and Dong Xian's story deserves to be called a great love. Conclusion: Same-sex love can also be touching, great, and tear-jerking.
(The Little Mermaid and the Prince Classic Index 100 This Nordic love story is undoubtedly the simplest but also the most enduring of all love stories. We might have known this story since we were very young. However, at that time, we did not realize it was a great love story; we only pitied the little mermaid. We did not understand that life, including love, is originally a cruel cycle, and someone always has to do what we ourselves cannot do. A person, loving another, could remain unknown to that person, endure all the pain of loving, bear his indifference, endure his love for others, and finally sacrifice their own life to save the person they love. Such love is unprecedented and unmatched. Fortunately, this admirable Dane described only a fairy tale, otherwise, our world would have indeed evolved to an extraordinary level. The sea is blue, and this blue has a unique charm. Under such circumstances, giving birth to such a great love story is natural. On the beautiful face of the little mermaid, besides paleness, there is also the concern for her lover. On her elegant legs, besides the fresh blood shed for love, there is also the determination to move forward despite all obstacles for the sake of love. This story is a classic among classics. We cannot expect to find even one comparable love story in this world, especially in modern times. But that is our ideal, and this ideal always shines ahead of us, guiding our path forward in the realm of love. Related articles: Ultimate Phone Power-Saving Secrets, Absolutely Usable!!! What Do You Do If You Can't Be Lovers? Feeling!