The Reality Of Romantic Love

Marriage is described as two people as partners in a personal relationship. There are two typical ideas of marriage that we know today. The first one that comes to mind is the one we all know, based on love, but there is another one that some may not even know of and its arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is not typically in our culture we know but in different cultures arranged marriages are their normal marriage. Throughout this essay, I will discuss the importance of realizing cultural diversity and how we apply the perspectives we gain from cross-cultural comparison to our own experience using central concepts about marriage to compare and contrast marriage in several cultures.

F. Scott Fitzgerald stated, “There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.” Although this is true, and there are as many types of love as people who experience them, there are key elements needed in creating the “true love” each of us strives to possess. Psychologist Robert J. Sternberg explains these vital components in his Triangular Theory of Love. According to his theory, love is comprised of intimacy, commitment, and passion. Different types of love are the result of the various combinations of these elements. His metaphorical theory helps to define and explain the theme of various types of love presented in Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, and Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence.

1862 England (Victorian Era) was somewhat of an uptight society, especially compared to today. The majority of people, especially those in the upper class, were expected to be utmostly prim and proper and follow societal norms at all times. This included love, or what love was defined as during the period. George Meredith, in his poem aptly titled “Modern Love”, sets a scene where a husband and wife are sleeping side by side, both reflecting sorrowfully on their melancholy marriage. Meredith argues in this poem that the institution of modern love is inherently flawed, by exposing to the reader that while the husband and wife still care for each other, they want to leave each other because they are both scared of “modern love”. By doing so, Meredith is able to justify his overarching message that applies to all: love is a feeling that cannot be artificially replicated, and attempting to do so is only a detriment.

In some cultures, people didn’t marry for love and those who did were looked down upon; whereas in modern times, it’s the opposite in many parts of the world. Coontz tells of a culture where,“A Taita man normally marries a love wife only after he has accumulated a few more practical wives” (255). This shows the different perceptions of marriage between the Taita peoples, who let men remarry several times in loveless marriages, and those of certain religions that forbade divorce, as well as today’s society where people often marry for love the first time around. The perceptions differed in that some societies believed in remarrying and marrying without love, while others didn’t. Coontz explains some very different marriage traditions than what Bennett says is normal and right-A man and a woman who fit traditional gender roles- as shown in his essay, “Complementary nature of men and women-and how they refine, support, encourage, and complete one another” (272).

than Americans do. In addition, the authors found cultural differences and cultural similarities among the U.S. Residents, Russians, and Lithuanians. For instance, for the U.S. interviewees friendship and comfort love are important features of romantic love. According to the authors, one of the main purpose of this journal article is to answer the question that romantic love is cultural universal or not based on the data collected from the participants (De Munck, Korotayev, De Munck, & Khaltourina, 2011, p. 27). Indeed, everyone has a different meaning of the term romantic love. Certainly, it is important for couples to talk to each other of ways to overcome any conflicts that may arise in a relationship. People who avoid conflicts by avoiding

The science of love When do you know if you fancy someone? What does love do to your brain chemicals, and is falling in love just nature's way to keep our species alive?  We call it love. It feels like love. But the most exhilarating of all human emotions is probably nature’s beautiful way of keeping the human species alive and reproducing. With an irresistible cocktail of chemicals, our brain entices us to fall in love. We believe we’re choosing a partner. But we may merely be the happy victims of nature’s lovely plan.

Since ancient times every culture has had its unique standards of beliefs. This paper has studied two countries with different traditions when it comes to marriage and also examines the overall culture of the two countries. Marriage is a sacred ritual in every country. This practice is valued since marriage is the foundation of a new family. However, marital rites and practices varies in different countries, making each culture unique and colorful. Each country has its different qualities and also has almost the same motives and purposes.

To understand the motives behind marriage between Japanese individuals it is best to understand their attitudes toward romantic love (Simmons, Vom Kolke and Shimizu, 1896). Simmons, Vom Kolke and Shimizu conducted a study involving Unmarried University students from Japanese, German, and American descent. Theses participants were tested using the “Hobard Scale of Romanticism and the Attitudes Towards Love Scale”, where participants either agreed or disagreed with the responses given (Simmons, Vom Kolke and Shimizu, 1896). After completing the tests results showed that Romantic Love, was less valued within the Japanese individuals, than the German and American individuals. German subjects reported a high value on romantic love, and showed a true passion for the idea that “love will last forever” (Simmons, Vom Kolke and Shimizu, 1896). German subjects show a great difference from Japanese subjects in their high importance of romantic love and the relationship two people form together naturally out of pure connection. Simmons, Vom Kolke and Shimizu (1896) claim, “They differed from the other samples in agreeing that the institution of marriage may result in disillusionment, but were nonetheless stronger in their belief that true love lasts forever”. Although Japanese subjects do believe in the ideas that love lasts forever, they differ in their idea that marriage may not be as great as others believe it to be. Japanese subjects acknowledge the pessimistic view that even though

Stop staring Cassidy. Don’t even look. Ignore his muscular arms and the way he pumps up his team. Ignore the roaring crowd cheering for him. Ignore the wind blowing through his hair, forcing him to comb his fingers through it. Ignore the girl holding up a sign in his honor.

Julie, in her black stockings and new cashmere sweater dress, showed up the cafe in hopes of a great date with the mysterious Brendan. Her friend Raymond had set them up and she was excited to finally meet him. As she walked in, she immediately saw the lanky, brooding boy; he was tucked into a corner table, reading a book with a title she couldn't pronounce if she tried. Walking quickly she was almost immediately in front of him. Brendan looked up at her and was absolutely enamored with the way her auburn hair so drastically contrasted with her pale blue dress. He sat up straight and marked his page all while looking at her.

The idea of love and meeting suitable mate has been changing over the years. Beginning with arranged marriages between two families’ then pivoting to an idea of working for the suitable mate (Jacob and Rachel), the idea of courtship and chivalry in the medieval times, and now a romantic view on seeking and finding suitable mates. With the ever-changing idea of the search, note each change is due, in large part, to the society/culture it is surrounded by. The idea of romanticism playing part in the mate selection process is not new. Societies have been practicing this idea, but in cooperation with its own “arrangements”. Many families allowed the arranged couple to “court” before “pulling the trigger” on the marriage. Romantic love searches are more popularized by the western culture, mainly America.

I choose to describe the putative relationship between Adam and Caroline in the movie "Untamed Heart". It starts off with Caroline in a just ending relationship where she is hung up on the guy that left her. Her friends call her on it and help her refrain from trying to repair it. This guy Adam is a hard working, quiet, shy, very shy especially around Caroline, because he has a serious infatuation about her. Every thing she does he studies. In the beginning of the movie it starts out that he has a deep infatuation with her. He even follows her home without her even knowing, until one day she was almost getting raped, and he saved her because of his infatuation for her. She bandaged him up in her woman caring way and he couldn 't even

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. ~ George Sand

“Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.”

Today, the idea of marriage conjures images of bashful brides beautifully draped in all white, of grandiose flower arrangements climbing towards the ceiling, of romance personified. As an institution in this modern world, marriage represents the apex of romantic love, with an entire industry of magazines, movies, and television shows devoted to perpetuating marriage as an idealized symbol of the ultimate love between two people. Contrarily, as a sociological institution, marriage comes from much more clinical and impersonal origins, contrasting with the passion surrounding modern understandings of the institution. Notably, french anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss theorizes that the institution of marriage emerged from a need to form alliances between groups, with women functioning as the property exchanged so that such alliances could be solidified (Levi-Strauss).