Most readers today think of romance within the current conventions of the genre. What we don’t realize is that in the beginning of the romantic movement the expectations were very different. When viewing or reading a classic romance, such as Les Miserables, the reader will probably be struck with how dark these works are. Not the dim lighting, but the dark nature of the works themselves.
Last of the Mohicans, The Three Musketeers, House of the Seven Gables, and Les Miserables are all novels from the romantic period of the 19th century, all include great love stories. None have an HEA.
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, was turned into a legendary musical in the late 1980s, whose several intertwined love stories end only in death and sorrow. Yet it was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had, hearing the incredible music, seeing the exquisite performances in person Wednesday night.
It made me wonder, why do current romances not have a darker vein to them? Why can we not have that undertone of tragedy along with the assurance of the happy ending? Some of the great romantic novels have had such undertones: Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre most readily come to mind. But of the current romance novels I have read only one has had any kind of tragedy in it: Samantha James’ Just One Kiss. It may simply be that I have not stumbled upon those in the historical romance genre. I know the paranormals can be rather dark, but do they incorporate tragedy into their stories as well?
Back to Les Miserables: The two love stories that end badly, Fantine’s lover who abandons her with a child, and Eponine’s unrequited love for Marius, inspired me last night. The songs these women sing, “I Dreamed A Dream” and “A Little Fall of Rain”, are achingly poignant and got me to wondering how I could incorporate their scenarios somehow into a romance with a happy ending. During my four hour drive home, having nothing better to think about, I came up with at least skeletal outlines for each story. Both set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars just around Waterloo.
Perhaps, like the true romantics, some good will come of their tragedies—or as Eponine sings, “Rain will make the flowers grow.”
A third outline was inspired by the name of the restaurant my daughter and I were supposed to dine at but didn’t have time. The Alewife is now the title of a Restoration revel, a tavern notorious for assignations in a time when assignations were the norm. I have the outline for this racy romp perking merrily in my head. It may even turn into erotica—I was also inspired by Johnny Depp’s The Libertine (R-rated with good reason!).
Below is the trailer for the 25th Anniversary Tour of Les Miserables—I hope the trailer will inspire you to look beneath the happy ending—for each HEA is founded upon someone’s sacrifice.
What is your favorite romantic story? Not necessarily a genre romance. Some romances don’t have happy endings. Case in point Gone with the Wind. Does romance benefit from a darker tragedy lurking somewhere in the story, making the happily-ever-after more sweet because the H/H won through while others did not? Please share your thoughts.
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
My favorite romantic story of all time is The Bridges of Madison County. Sigh. I wept reading the novel and the gorgeous film adaptation. I love a good tear jerker.
I read Nicky Sparks faithfully. Some are HEA and some tear your heart out. I do not write Romance, I write love stories. I write them because I love to read them.
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I once read a contemp romance where one of the H/H’s child died at the end! I was devastated. But the author did manage to make the ending happy for the couple. Or perhaps bittersweet would be the better word.
Casablanca! Oh, lord, what a romantic heartbreaker!
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Hi, Andrea. Thanks for stopping by.
That is a hard one, the loss of a child and then a happy-ish ending. In Stephen King’s Cujo the book the child dies at the end and it is awful, but you expect that in Stephen King’s world. (They actually changed the ending in the movie, so that the kid lived.) But you are right, that sort of thing seems out of place in romance these days.
I really must watch Casablanca. It is spring break…
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Romance, dark or light, touches me. It really depends on the mood but most times I’ll go for the HEA with a lot of dark before that happens. Maybe it is just something about the extremes. One of my favorite movies, The Count of Montecristo is a bit like this. Both Mercedes and Edmond must go through so much strife before they renew their love.
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Thanks for commenting, Toni. I like the extremes of light and dark as well. Turner is my favorite artist from this period; very striking contrast in his light and darkness, especially his seascapes. The drama of it appeals to me, I guess.
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I need a happy ending in when I read romance. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite classics. Rochester is scarred and blinded but still finds redemption and love with Jane in the end. I remember reading an Indian (Native American) romance where the hero dies and the heroine ends up with her first crush. I couldn’t finish it.
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I wonder if you could get away with maiming the hero these days? Mary Balogh has two where the heros were war heros and had hideous scars and wounds, but that’s from the beginning–they had those handicaps before the novels start. I have the hero of Scandal be clawed and scarred by the heroine. I wonder how that’s going to go over? She had a very good reason for doing it! But I think I’m with you, if the true hero dies, I might feel some type of way about that. What if it’s the “second lead” who dies? The “also ran” who loved the heroine, but was not her choice. You’ve got that in Last of the Mohicans too. And it’s not a pretty death either.
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One of Julia Quinn’s characters (from the Bevelstoke series, I believe, but can’t remember which one) said that when women write a romance, there’s an HEA while male authors think it’s romantic when the hero or heroine dies in a love story. Hmm, Victor Hugo, Boris Pasternak, Shakespeare — at least one of your heroes/heroines dies. At least Margaret Mitchell left her H&H both alive at the end. I had this discussion with my husband and he agrees that it’s romantic when the hero or heroine dies in a love story. I’m more of a fan of HEAs, which is why I write romance!
But I am a fan of “Les Mis”! Saw it on the stage for the first time while in high school %&# years ago and got to see it last October at the Queen’s Theatre, West End, London! Was awesome and I always cry during “A Little Fall of Rain”. Maybe that’s why I don’t like sad endings. I’m a blubber box…
Cheers,
Lila
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Did you see Nick Jonas as Marius? Or had he left by that time? Our Marius was excellent, though I believe Javert’s voice was the best on stage. My daughter and I had been listening to the original London cast album and I kept wondering why this production didn’t have the British accent. My daughter says, “Mom, this is an American cast.” Sorry, but I love the broad “A” the Brittish use. LOL
Hadn’t thought the tragedy might run along gender lines of the writer for the most part. Might be an interesting study.
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I am a total happy ending fanatic. Great writing–play or novel–is always appealing, but I find that life is tragic enough without getting mired in fictional tragedy too. There were many aspects of Gone With the Wind (the book) that I enjoyed, but not the ending. In high school I read a book recommended by my creative writing teacher, Welcome to Zanadu, and loved it until the end. And who hasn’t read Romeo and Juliet? It’s funny, I can watch art films with bizarre and/or unhappy content and love them for the director’s prowess, but with books, there has to be a happy ending for me to feel satisfied.
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I saw the made-for-TV version of Welcome to Zanadu and it haunts me to this day. It starred a young Martin Sheen and I was very upset there was no HEA. Yes, we have learned to take tragedy in our stride on film or on stage, but books are even more intimate and I suspect that is why we want things to end well.
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Romantic tragedies have their place on a rainy day. Nothing can produce a cathartic reaction like star crossed lovers. Some of my personal favorites are Dr. Zhivago, Love Story, Titanic and the queen mother of romantic tragedy on film — Casablanca.
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Absolutely! But can you believe I’ve never seen Casablanca? I need to put it on my list. The rest I have seen/read and cried over. I remember going to see Love Story in the theatres and they had a box of tissues sitting out for you to take into the theater with you! But the point of tragedy is to purge those feelings–pity for the people involved and fear that it could happen to you. Thanks for sharing, Kary.
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