Romance's Nuances

Sidenote: this is post 101. I'm so proud.

The many definitions of love are common knowledge. Saying "I love..." can get confusing because it can mean "Pizza is my favorite food," or "I love you like a sister," or "I would do anything for you," or "Being around you gives me butterflies." A similar word is romance.

First of all, there are Romance languages, which does not mean that their nouns have genders, though they do. Romance languages are derived from Latin, the language of Rome.

Second, there is romance, like a good chick-flick or romantic comedy. Like a wedding or great love song. Romance is celebrated on Valentine's Day.

Last, there is romance, the philosophy, more properly called Romanticism. According to Wikipedia, romanticism is "an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe... a reaction against the rationalization of nature, in art and literature it stressed strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience... " Thus, to say something is romantic in this sense is to say it is emotional, slightly irrational, and adventurous.

Unfortunately, context is not always apparent in the use of "romantic," so one can easily be misunderstood. Last night I told some friends that pirates are romantic. That does not mean they are French. It does not mean I would marry one. What I meant was that with their swords, their ships, their swagger, and their history, pirates are part of the romantic genre. Typical of this definition is The Princess Bride. True love is part of the story, but only a piece.

Dealing with the other misconception, to say that being a garbage man, for example, is unromantic is not to say that no garbage man can be romantic. Saying a swordsman is romantic doesn't mean that the sweat, blood, and death are attractive.

Now that we've got that cleared up, I wonder if there is a difference between which types of "romance" appeal to different individuals.

To God be all glory.