This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.
THE TROPE
Interrupted intimacy is a trope where a couple is about to get intimate (whether making out or having full on sex) but their activities are interrupted by someone walking in, or some unexpected event. It is often used to draw out tension between two characters even when they have already admitted their attraction.
THE FOLKLORE
I thought this was a fun one to look into, because it is usually played in folklore as a joke, or as just punishment for adultery.
THE STORIES
The unfortunate lovers (Persian tale)
This story is from Nizami's Seven Wise Princesses, a collection of tales embedded in a frame story. A young man spies a group of pretty maidens having a party in a garden he owns. He falls in love with one of them, but whenever they spend time together, and get close to kissing, something unexpected happens: the balcony collapses, a cat falls on them from a tree, foxes run over them, sudden noises startle them, etc. Eventually they realize that these signs mean they should marry before they get down to kissing.
The devil guards wife's chastity
This one, hilariously, is an entire folktale type (ATU 1352). A man, going on a journey, commends his wife's chastity to the devil. Obviously, she has many lovers lined up to visit - but to everyone's surprise, the devil takes his job seriously, and keeps interrupting the secret meetings to scare the suitors away. In the end, he gives up, saying the job is too exhausting.
The Emperor's Dream (Welsh legend)
The Roman Emperor has a dream where he travels far away north, and encounters a beautiful princess. In his dream she is happy to greet him, but when they almost kiss, the dream suddenly ends. He wakes up, and immediately sends messengers to find her. She turns out to be a real person, and as soon as she is found, the Emperor marries her.
Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?
Do you like the folktale versions?
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The references like ATU1352: is there actually a book that has them listed?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's called The Types of International Folktales, freely available here: https://edition.fi/kalevalaseura
DeleteThe devil quitting from exhaustion made me laugh so hard!
ReplyDeleteFunny stuff.
DeleteThat Persian tale is amusing! It reminds me of a real-life romance of a couple I know. They didn't kiss until they married (really!) and, well, mine months later their daughter was born!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea as a trope because, as you said, it builds tension between the characters. The Persian tale is an OTT version. Very funny, yet meaningful in context.
ReplyDeletehttps://dacairns.com.au/blog/f/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-i
The Persian tale had me smiling.
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for I: My Languishing TBR: I
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