Love stories?..Not so sure.

So far this semester all of the "love stories" we have had to read do not seem to be focused on falling in love or the search for love. The trend I am seeing is that the characters that are supposed to fall in love are usually doing so out of necessity or because the suitor is the lesser of two evils. "Pride and Prejudice" may be the exception to this trend. In the last three books the plots and environments are surrounded by physical and mental abuse. This may be as Dr. J has pointed out, that these books are trying to push and bring to light social issues of that time. This may be true, however I would think that if environments and social norms are that bad that the "love stories" of the time would be more uplifting. I personally enjoy reading stories that are not fully grounded in reality. Reality is such a disturbing place, that when I read I want to read uplifting and emotionally fun stories.

With that said, I would like to address the matchstick analogy. The saying that we have to have chemistry between people is so true. It takes both people to light the fire in a relationship as well as to keep it burning for years to come. A fire will not start by itself. You have two sticks, but until they are rubbed together and friction is created there can be know fire. In a relationship a little friction provides the spark that is needed for a successful relationship. Opposites attract. each person needs to push the comfort zones of the other enough to change and grow together as a couple. As the analogy states it takes the combination of the oxygen and the phosphorous to produce the explosion. For the sake of this analogy that explosion is the passion of love for each other.