Young Writers Society

Oh where did the passionate romantics go!

I don't know about anyone else, but, from my stand-point, the lack of romanticism in youth of today is appalling. By romance, I don't necessarily mean the 'lovey-dovey mush' that fills contemporary fiction, but romance as a passion and a way of life. For one to be a romantic does not mean that you need to be in love.

What I'm trying to get at is that I was sitting the other day, talking to a very good friend of mine, and she was gushing over a note she had recieved for her significant other. She, of course, had to get me to read it, so of course I did. My inner thoughts though were that 'wow, this is a load of bull'. It was filled with those one-liners that have just about as much emotion as metal spoon.

As a writer, I search from the romance and the passion that once filled my nights (reading of course!), such as Charles Dickens, and Emily Bronte. There is a passionate way in which everything had once been but, when I take a look at the world now, I fear that such a thing as the romantics will soon be a term of the past.

Do you agree?
Are you against?
If so, why?

I personally fear for the youth of today. This thought of what was once real is being replaced with this cookie cutter version that is so far from the original passion. I hope I'm wrong or that maybe its just where I live. Either way, in St. Catharines, Ontario, romance is dead. Hopefully its not in the world.

I'm not too worried about it. People have been writing cliche, sappy love notes for centuries (that's why they're cliche). It's not surprising that your average high schooler doesn't match up to Dickens or Bronte because they were exceptions themselves in their own time. The fact that a teenage girl is worried about the death of romance means that it is still important to younger generations and is far from dead. The best advice I can give is to pursue passion and romance in your life, and by doing so you will continue it into the future.

The problem is, I still fear for it. I wasn't meaning such a thing that everyone should be a Dickens or a Bronte. Just that to be born in the romantic period... I would have done anything to be apart of it. Now, when I look around me, I see nothing that would even be somewhat romantic under that association.

But, I guess I'm just overthinking things xP. I tend to let my thoughts get away with me sometimes.

Dead? How about this: click. The sturm und drang got old for people. That doesn't mean the notions of romance died. They change. And some of it in the end was purely within the books.

I just hope it doesn't disappear for good is all.

I disagree. I'm fourteen. I wrote this for my long distance boyfriend.

Honestly though, most people, I agree with you. x3

Its beautiful, Raz!

And I'm glad to see some care! It's just, even the romantistic viewpoints are starting to fade. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned .

I think romance has just changed. Now there's a lot more emotion behind an arm around the neck or holding hands. for valentine's day I got a teddy bear and I think that was pretty nice. Sure, we don't have knights in shining armor, but we still have romantic people.

I think there has been a real shift in our expectations when it comes to romance, but I wouldn't exactly say it was dead. Valentines Day and the like have commercialized love and yet people still see that as romantic. My flat-mate got a surprise visit from her boyfriend this year, something I guessed was going to happen, but to her still seemed spontaneous. Whilst to me that isn't a completely romantic gesture, it was for her and so should anyone say otherwise?

One final thought. I believe that our expectations have changed because of TV and literature. We are force-fed the lie of the knight in shining armour, or finding 'the one' and so when reality begins to resemble this fiction we see it as something greater than what it is.

I shall go now before my cynicism brings every one down.

That is exactly what a person says BEFORE they fall in love, Synth. xD

Haha, I've been saying this for 3 years now - but I am quite happy with my singledom.

Yup, I'm not saying you shouldn't be, just that you shouldn't knock non-singledom 'till you try it!

Trust me. I've tried non-singledom.

It's been dying for a while. I think the problem is that before you are allowed to be passionate about something, you must be rational about your passion. It's the Enlightenment's bad side... rationale goes before romance and thus, thought must always become before feeling. Not always a bad thing, but it puts a damper on romance.

I both agree and disagree, I guess.

I agree that people don't go around acting all Charles Dickens style, but to be honest, I don't know a time when anyone really did that anyway. For example, my mother's first date with my dad was going to a pub where he got drunk... That was back in 1970 something, so I guess it's not that long ago, but still. I know my grandparents never did anything outstandingly romantic when they were going out, and they met back in the 1930s. My granddad burps a lot too...

I don't want to sound all arrogant here, but it sounds like you have this big idea of what you think of as romance, Dreamwalker. When was the romantic era your'e thinking of? 20s? 30s? 40s? Earlier? The one hitch there is the fact that you only know how romantic those eras were by what you've read or heard about, and you can't necessarily rely on that. If you'd lived during those times, then it's totally understandable. It's just that you have to remember that events and lifestyles of history do get exaggerated, so the chances are that this century is just as romantic as the last couple have been.

I think people's minds are too influenced by what they read and see in the media. Jane Austens novels are lovely and all, but come on, who acts like that in real life? Even back in the time period it was set in. In fact, during that time period, love and romance was basically non-existent. An awful lot of people married for money, land and what not back then.

As for my views on romance? I don't think it needs to be big things, and I think there'll always be true romance, no matter what century. It will just get modernized as the years go on. Change happens, and sometimes it is hard to accept, but it's a simple fact of life. Romance has different definitions to different people. To me, it's the little things. My brother, for example, lights 6 candles in his room every time his girlfriend comes over because they got together on the sixth month of the year. A bit corny, but still, it's simple and sweet.

On the other hand, corny love lines make me want to puke. They've been around for a long time, trust me. But yeah, hey, that's just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.