Let's Talk Tropes: Forbidden Love - SparkPress (2024)

“There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable” —Mark Twain

Forbidden love usually involves two people who are madly in love but forced apart, whether by families, culture, geographical distance, or other factors. This trope has been known as “Star-Crossed” lovers, meaning that destiny has ruled something cannot be.

Forbidden love can be the main plot of a story or the enticing theme. When writing forbidden love, the obstacles need to feel authentic, woven into the background of the characters, setting, and story. The problem, or the thing keeping them apart, should feel organic.

Famously Forbidden

Forbidden love has conquered literature for decades, even centuries. The most famous story that comes to mind is that of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare writes the tale of the two falling in love, despite their feuding families. When their blossoming relationship is discovered, they are torn apart and must find a way to be together again. Tragically, after some miscommunication and tardiness, they both end up dying, for they cannot live without the other.

Sometimes forbidden love can start with death, rather than ending it. In the Greek myth of Orpheus, he marries Eurydice. Tragically, she gets bitten by a snake on the night of their wedding and dies. Stricken with grief, he travels to the underworld and convinces Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice return with him to the real world. They agree, the catch being that she must walk behind him and he is forbidden to look at her. Well, you guessed it. The exit is literally an arm’s length away and Orpheus looks back at the love of his life. She is immediately returned to the underworld and Orpheus roams Greece playing sad music until his own death.

The forbidden love trope can be used to show many different types of relationships. Couples start to sneak around and form secret relationships, making it fun and passionate. However, it can lead to different endings to those relationships, too. Sometimes they end with death, or the couple not being able to make it work. Yet, there are the stories that do get their happily ever after from a forbidden relationship. Allie and Noah, from The Notebook, are separated not only by Allie’s parents but also by distance. After a lot of fighting, and letter writing, the couple finds a way back to each other.

Happily Ever After?

As with every trope, there are some complications that come with it. Forbidden love is a tricky romance. Especially because the theme either comes as a warning—a cautionary tale—or it comes with a happily ever after. So, the forbidden romance needs to have a purpose to the story and the characters. It’s easy for love and romance to become impulsive, and even come across as obsessive. This not only gives off unhealthy relationship vibes but can also be seen as melodramatic.

Obviously, forbidden love will come with a lot of struggle and conflict. A lot of times that means the character is going to have to suffer. The characters are going to live their lives without each other and they are going to be miserable. This can come off dramatically, but other times it helps lead to the point when they’re reunited. Usually, this is a relatable romance theme, because people can empathize with being apart from their loved ones. It creates a more open link to the characters and the readers on an emotional level.

Forbidden = Desire

Usually, when someone tells you not to do something, you just want to do it more. It’s the same when it comes to love. This is why forbidden love is so enticing, not only to the characters but the readers as well. The easiest way to explain it, you always want what you can’t have. Something about being “forbidden” or told “no” brings a certain type of temptation. Alex, in Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston, is hurtled into an unexpected relationship with the Prince of Whales. Their scandalous, forbidden relationship could turn two nations upside down—but that’s what makes it so exciting!

So, sometimes it doesn’t end the way the reader wants it to. Other times love prevails. No matter what the ending may be, we all still enjoy a good forbidden love story. There’s a power in these kinds of stories. Forbidden love reminds the reader that love can truly triumph over hate, and love can conquer all.

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