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That simply sublime feeling

At a time when love is all about cards and surprise gifts, revisit some of the great old romances

PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN

LOVE GLORIFIED A leaf from the Classics

"How do I love thee, let me count the ways," wrote Elizabeth Barrett, taking stock of her lover's worth. Shakespeare's love could do no wrong, "Such is my love, to thee I so belong, that for thy right myself will bear all wrong," he said.

Torn apart by his tumultuous love for Catherine, Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) screams, "I have not broken your heart — you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine."

Exasperated, Rhett Butler finally walks out on Scarlett (Gone With The Wind) with his classic one-liner, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!"

As love is the flavour of the season, this article is about those who never knew how to live without it. The saga of Elizabeth and Darcy, Othello and Desdemona, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel, Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza and Ammu and Velutha, who loved, rebelled, waited, suffered, killed, won and lost — all on their own terms.

"I think Shakespeare had love for all ages. Be it the young love of Romeo and Juliet, the destructive one of Othello and Desdemona or the middle-aged one of Antony and Cleopatra," says Radha Nair, a retired English professor.

But it is the brooding and stark Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte that has stayed with her.

"Heathcliff and Catherine are the opposites and such strong individuals. They had to give each other up and that there was no fulfilment adds to the aura," says Radha.

For Suryarekha, an English teacher, it is the charm of Rhett Butler and the arrogance of Scarlett O'Hara that haunts her.

"I read it soon after my Class X and Rhett seemed to be the answer to all dreams; he was simply irresistible," she says.

For journalist Tony Tharakan, in spite of swearing by the novels of Chetan Bhagat and promoting the cause of Bridget Jones, love is all about Rebecca. "She loves Maxim de Winter even after knowing that he killed his wife. In fact, she is thankful that he had not loved Rebecca ever," says Tony.

I think love has degenerated with time; now it's only about dinner and parties, says Tony. "Modern day love is weird," is his verdict. We go back to the old stories, as "Classics are genuine to a great extent," says P. E. Thomas, lecturer in communication.

But for Jayanthasri Balakrishnan, Reader in English, one of the greatest love stories was staged outside the textbook — that of the Brownings! "I tell my students not to fall in love, but to rise in it. That's what the Brownings did; they were people who lived love and showed what the human heart can do," she says.

Sure, the tale of two of the renowned poets in English is pure fairy tale. Imagine a struggling and young 33-year-old Browning smitten by Elizabeth Barrett, a renowned poet and an invalid, six years his senior. A year and 545 letters from Browning later, they eloped, got married and settled in Italy.

What you miss today is the subtlety of these emotions, says Jayanthasri. "What you really mean by Valentine's Day is very different from what it is being sold as in the bazaar. How can love ever be a commodity?" she asks.

ANIMA BALAKRISHNAN

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