It is commonly believed that romantic love gets its roots from the richer Aristocratic courts of Europe, India, Japan, and India. There are a couple of theories as to why this is the case, and I've narrowed it down to two that I'm going to discuss in this post. One idea that I developed is the concept of some form of "hero" in romantic stories. Take Gilgamesh, for example. Although Gilgamesh ultimately declines Ishtar's offers of love and romance, it is not until Gilgamesh proves himself as a "hero" that she offers herself up to him. Although an example from an older text, this same concept is prevalent in The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon, especially when she writes of the samurai. Samurais are typically considered heroes or protectors in Japanese folktales, which plays nicely into my theory.
The Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales was a promiscuous, sensual woman who loved sex and the idea of sex; so much so that she had five different husbands. The next theory that I have is that the aristocrats would have probably rejected this on grounds of holiness and cleanliness, since being virginal is and was considered clean in the romantic era. Marrying an honest man or woman pretty much assures that he or she (but probably she) is virginal, which was a sought-after trait in the romantic time period.
Mr. Williams, red on red is almost impossible to read. Please edit your font before you publish. Thanks.
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