That’s Not How Life Is: stereotypical love tropes in novels
Lucie Sautriot Bruneaux ‘26
Staff Writer
Meet-cute, enemies-to-lovers, office romance — how many of us have actually experienced these tropes? It must be true for some people, but why aren’t real-life situations written about more in romance novels? Would it be boring? Would there be no story to tell?
These are valid questions, but it would be much healthier if readers would stop waiting to run into the love of their life in the halls, drop their textbooks, instantly fall in love and jumpstart the perfect relationship. Instead, why not write about love stories that are much more likely to happen, like meeting through a friend, hanging out a few times and discovering common interests and differences, then meeting privately, etc. Stories like this make readers much more interested in the text and may find them less cringeworthy.
Some love tropes are beyond cringy, and that might be problematic. Fake relationships, forced proximity, secret identity, etc. The number of stories featuring those is inexhaustible. Jasmine Guillory’s book “The Wedding Date” includes both a fake relationship and forced proximity, as the protagonists meet by being stuck in an elevator and then proceed to lie about their relationship at the male protagonist’s ex’s wedding.
The reason this is problematic is that, first, the very grounds of their relationship are a lie, which is bound to lead somewhere unpleasant. Second, what happens when they part ways? As for forced proximity, that is just plainly not realistic. What are the odds that you would develop feelings for the one person you’re stuck with?
Some books go even further by forcing characters to share hotel rooms, or even beds, and we’re supposed to see romance? Most readers would be extremely uncomfortable and terrified. As for the secret identity trope, similarly to the fake relationship, it’s just lies upon lies, the epitome of the foundation of a toxic relationship.
To be fair, there are some cliché tropes still enjoyable to read, such as the classic Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight.” Then there’s the meet-cute between Alex and Henry in Casey McQuiston’s “Red, White and Royal Blue.” But be careful; these are only fine if you keep in mind that it’s not likely to happen to you!
If you want to read less cliché and maybe a little more realistic tropes, ones you could turn to second-chance romance books. One example is Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,”in which Anne, considered an old maid in her late-twenties, finds her way back to an old lover whom she was forced to part ways with. Readers may also enjoy “Wuthering Heights,” which features a belated love epiphany, missed opportunities and despair between Catherine and Heathcliff.
Novels like Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” (though not technically a romance novel) are also interesting. In it, Anna is torn between her love for Vronsky and her love for her son, along with her duty towards her family. Love stories in non-romance novels are more effective because the whole story doesn’t rely on them, and they’re only a little part of much more going on.