Shakespeare and Romance: Romeo & Juliet

One of the reasons why I often like to facilitate discussion about my type of romance is because I feel that it isn’t represented much in the media. We draw some ideas of our cultural norms from the media, so others like me might be led to feel that they’re not normal. Interestingly, one of the most famous examples of my type of romance, or at least extolling against silly romance, is often misinterpreted: “Romeo & Juliet.” People will call an ideal male lover a “Romeo,” when in fact that was the opposite of what Shakespeare intended. Shakespeare liked to … Continue reading

Last Titanic Survivor Dies

Elizabeth Gladys “Millvina” Dean, the last remaining survivor of the Titanic, died today at the age of 97 in a private nursing home in Ashurst, England where she was living. Millvina didn’t have any personal memories of the sinking of the Titanic, the doomed luxury passenger liner. That is because at the time, she was just nine weeks old. She was on the Titanic with her mother Georgette, father Bertram Frank, and brother Bertram. While Millvina, Georgette, and Bertram survived, her father was among the 1,500 that died on April 14, 1912. The family was headed to Kansas to start … Continue reading

What’s Your Personal Love Myth?

From ancient times, myths and fairy tales have contained more spiritual truth in one telling than we can even process, which is why the soul keeps asking to have them told once again. ~-From the essay “Mythical Woman” in Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Romancing the Ordinary-~ The past week has seen a lot of discussion about romantic movies here in the Marriage Blog. It all started when Dale shared some of her picks for romantic favorites, then continued with a few more in part two. Next it was my turn to chime in with a list of 52 romantic movies you … Continue reading

52 Romantic Movies You Either Love or Hate

Dale’s blogs about some of her favorite romantic movies (see “Favorite Romance Movies” and “Favorite Romance Movies-Part 2”) has inspired this next one from me. The idea took hold because I sympathized with a comment one reader, deedee1231, left on both blogs regarding the movie Casablanca. She wasn’t a fan. (Though she didn’t begrudge Dale for including it on her fave list.) Deedee1231 thought Casablanca was overhyped. (Though she also admitted she’d seen it so many times she was just plum over it.) I chuckled with sympathy when I read her comment. Though it wasn’t Casablanca I had in mind, … Continue reading