Top 20 Most Famous Love Stories in History and Literature
Do you believe in
true
love? Do you believe in
love
at first sight? Do you believe in
love lasting forever? I
think that these
love stories will renew or reinforce your
faith
in love... They are the most famous love stories in history and
literature, they are immortal.
1. Romeo and Juliet
This is probably
the most famous lovers ever. This couple has
become
a synonym for love
itself. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Their
love
story is very tragic. The tale of two teenagers from two feuding
families who fall in love at first sight and then marry, become true
lovers and then risk it all for their love. To take your own life for
your husband or wife is definitely a sign of true love. Their "untimely
deaths" ultimately unite their feuding households.
2. Cleopatra and Mark Antony
The true love story of Antony and Cleopatra is one of
the most
memorable, intriguing and moving of all times. The story
of these two historical characters had later been dramatized by William
Shakespeare and is still staged all over the world. The
relationship
of Antony and Cleopatra is a true test of love. They fell in love at
first sight. The relationship between these two powerful people put the
country of Egypt in a powerful position. But their love affair outraged
the Romans who were wary of the growing powers of the Egyptians. Despite
all the threats, Anthony and Cleopatra got married. It is said that
while fighting a battle against Romans, Antony got false news of
Cleopatra's death. Shattered, he fell on his sword. When Cleopatra
learned about Antony 's death, she was shocked. And she took her own
life. Great love demands great sacrifices.
3. Lancelot and Guinevere
The tragic love story of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere
is probably one of the best-known stories of Arthurian Legend.
Lancelot fall in love with Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife. Their
love grew slowly, as Guinevere kept Lancelot away from her. Eventually,
however, her love and passion overpowered her and the pair became
lovers. One night, Sir Agravain and Sir Modred, King Arthur's nephew,
led a band of 12 knights to Guinevere's chamber where they burst in upon
the lovers. Discovered, Sir Lancelot made a fighting escape, but poor
Guinevere was not so lucky. She was seized and condemned to burn to
death for her adultery. Fear not. Sir Lancelot returned several days
later to rescue his beloved Guinevere from the fire. This whole sad
affair divided the Knights of the Round Table and weakened Arthur's
kingdom. Poor Lancelot ended his days as a lowly hermit and Guinevere
became a nun at Amesbury where she died.
4. Tristan and Isolde
The tragic love story of Tristan and Isolde has been told and
retold through various stories and manuscripts. It takes place during
medieval times during the reign of King Arthur. Isolde of Ireland was
the daughter of the King of Ireland. She was betrothed to King Mark of
Cornwall. King Mark sent his nephew, Tristan, to Ireland to escort
Isolde back to Cornwall. During the voyage, Isolde and Tristan fell
forever in love. Isolde did marry Mark of Cornwall, but could not help
but love Tristan. The love affair continued after the marriage. When
King Mark finally learned of the affair, he forgave Isolde, but Tristan
was banned from Cornwall. Tristan went to Brittany. There he met Iseult
of Brittany. He was attracted to her because of the similarity of her
name to his true love. He married her, but did not consummate the
marriage because of his love for the "true" Isolde. After falling ill,
he sent for Isolde in hopes that she would be able to cure him. If she
agreed to come, the returning ship's sails would be white, or the sails
would be black if she did not agree. Iseult, seeing the white sails,
lied to Tristan and told him that the sails were black. He died of grief
before Isolde could reach him. Isolde died soon after of a broken
heart.
5. Paris and Helena
Recounted in Homer's Iliad, the story of Helen of Troy and the
Trojan War is a Greek heroic legend, combining fact and fiction.
Helen of Troy is considered one the most beautiful women in all
literature. She was married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris, son of
King Priam of Troy, fell in love with Helen and abducted her, taking her
back to Troy. The Greeks assembled a great army, led by Menelaus's
brother, Agamemnon, to retrieve Helen. Troy was destroyed. Helen
returned safely to Sparta, where she lived happily with Menelaus for the
rest of her life.
6. Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus and Eurydice story is an ancient greek tale of desperate
love. Orpheus fell deeply in love with and married Eurydice, a
beautiful nymph. They were very much in love and very happy together.
Aristaeus, a Greek god of the land and agriculture, became quite fond of
Eurydice, and actively pursued her. While fleeing from Aristaeus,
Eurydice ran into a nest of snakes which bit her fatally on her legs.
Distraught, Orpheus played such sad songs and sang so mournfully that
all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus traveled to the
underworld and by his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone
(he was the only person ever to do so), who agreed to allow Eurydice to
return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of
her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. In
his anxiety he forgot that both needed to be in the upper world, and he
turned to look at her, and she vanished for the second time, but now
forever.
7. Napoleon and Josephine
A marriage of convenience, at age 26 Napoleon took a fancy to
Josephine. An older, prominent, and most importantly wealthy woman. As
time drew on, Napoleon fell deeply in love with Josephine, and
she with him, but that didn't deter the adultery on both sides-their
mutual respect for one another kept them together, and their burning
passion between them didn't falter, and was genuine. They eventually
split, as Napoleon deeply required something Josephine could not give
him, an heir. Sadly they parted ways, both bearing the love and passion
in their hearts, for all eternity.
8. Odysseus and Penelope
Few couples understand sacrifice quite like this Greek pair.
After being torn apart, they wait twenty long years to be reunited. War
takes Odysseus away shortly after his marriage to Penelope. Although she
has little hope of his return, she resists the 108 suitors who are
anxious to replace her husband. Odysseus is equally devoted, refusing a
beautiful sorceress's offer of everlasting love and eternal youth, so
that he might return home to his wife and son. This Valentine's Day,
take a cue from Homer, and remember that true love is worth waiting for.
9. Paolo and Francesca
Paolo and Francesca are made famous by the Dante's masterpiece
"Divine Comedy". It is a true story: Francesca is married with
Gianciotto Malatesta an awful person, but she has Gianciotto's brother,
Paolo, as lover. The love between them grows when they read together a
book (according to Dante) about Lancelot and Guinevere. When the two
lovers are discovered they are killed by Gianciotto.
10. Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler
"Gone with the wind" can be identified as one of the immortal
pieces of literary works in this world. Margaret Mitchell's famous
work has chronicled the love and hate relationship between Scarlett
O'Hara and Rhett Butler. Proving that timing is everything, Scarlett
O'Hara and Rhett Butler never seem to be quite in synch. Throughout
the epic story, this tempestuous twosome experience passion but not
permanence, and their stormy marriage reflects the surrounding Civil War
battles. The flirtatious, promiscuous, and perpetually pursued Scarlett
can't make up her mind between her many suitors. When she finally
decides to settle on being happy with Rhett, her fickle nature has
already driven him away. Hope springs eternal in our devious heroine,
however, and the novel ends with Scarlett proclaiming, "Tomorrow is
another day."
11. Jane Eyre and Rochester
In Charlotte Bronte's famous tale, friendless characters find a
cure for loneliness in each other's company. Jane is an abused orphan
employed as a governess to the charge of an abrasive, but very rich
Edward Rochester. The improbable pair grow close as Rochester reveals a
tender heart beneath his gruff exterior. He does not, however, reveal
his penchant for polygamy - on their wedding day, a horrified Jane
discovers he is already married. Heartbroken, Jane runs away, but later
returns after a dreadful fire has destroyed Rochester's mansion, killed
his wife, and left him blind. Love triumphs, and the two reunite and
live out their days in shared bliss.
12. Layla and Majnun
A leading medieval poet of Iran,
Nizami of Ganje is known
especially for his
romantic
poem Layla and Majnun Inspired by an Arab legend,
Layla and
Majnun is a tragic tale about unattainable love. It had been told
and retold for centuries, and depicted in manuscripts and other media
such as ceramics for nearly as long as the poem has been penned. Layla
and Qays fall in love while at school. Their love is observed and they
are soon prevented from seeing one another. In misery, Qays banishes
himself to the desert to live among and be consoled by animals. He
neglects to eat and becomes emaciated. Due to his eccentric behavior, he
becomes known as Majnun (madman). There he befriends an elderly Bedouin
who promises to win him Layla’s hand through warfare. Layla’s tribe is
defeated, but her father continues to refuse her marriage to Majnun
because of his mad behavior, and she is married to another. After the
death of Layla’s husband, the old Bedouin facilitates a meeting between
Layla and Majnun, but they are never fully reconciled in life. Upon
death, they are buried side by side. The story is often interpreted as
an allegory of the soul’s yearning to be united with the divine.
13. Eloise and Abelard
This is a story of a monk and a nun whose love letters became
world famous. Around 1100, Peter Abelard went to Paris to study at the
school of Notre Dame. He gained a reputation as an outstanding
philosopher. Fulbert, the canon of Notre Dame, hired Abelard to tutor
his niece, Heloise. Abelard and the scholarly Heloise fell deeply in
love, conceived a child, and were secretly married. But Fulbert was
furious, so Abelard sent Heloise to safety in a convent. Thinking that
he intended to abandon Heloise, Fulbert had his servants castrate
Abelard while he slept. Abelard became a monk and devoted his life to
learning. The heartbroken Heloise became a nun. Despite their
separations and tribulations, Abelard and Heloise remained in love.
Their poignant love letters were later published.
14. Pyramus and Thisbe
A very touching love story that is sure to move anyone who
reads it is that of Pyramus and Thisbe. Theirs was a selfless
love and they made sure that even in death, they were together. Pyramus
was the most handsome man and was childhood friend of Thisbe, the
fairest maiden in Babylonia. They both lived in neighboring homes and
fell in love with each other as they grew up together. However, their
parents were dead against them marrying each other. So one night just
before the crack of dawn, while everyone was asleep, they decided to
slip out of their homes and meet in the nearby fields near a mulberry
tree. Thisbe reached there first. As she waited under the tree, she saw a
lion coming near the spring close by to quench its thirst. Its jaws
were bloody. When Thisbe saw this horrifying sight, she panicked and ran
to hide in some hollow rocks nearby. As she was running, she dropped
her veil. The lion came near and picked up the veil in his bloody jaws.
At that moment, Pyramus reaches near the mulberry tree and sees Thisbe's
veil in the jaws of the lion. He is completely devastated. Shattered,
he pierces his chest with his own sword. Unknown to what just happened,
Thisbe is still hiding in the rocks due to the fear of the lion. When
she comes out after sometime, she sees what her lover did to himself.
She is totally shattered when she sees the sword piercing right through
her lover's chest. She also takes the sword and kills herself.
15. Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy
Actually Jane Austen has personified two attributes of human
nature, pride and prejudice in Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy comes
from a very high social hierarchy and Pemberley. He typifies the
educated aristocracy while on the other hand, Elizabeth is the second
daughter of a gentleman of modest means. Mr. Bennett has five daughters
who have been allowed to grow up the way they wanted, there has been no
school education for them, nor has there been any governess at home.
Elizabeth’s very indulgent mother and irresponsible father never gave
any thought to the future of the daughters, it is always taken for
granted, that they will do well for themselves. To a woman of Mrs.
Bennett's understanding, doing well exclusively means finding a rich,
well to do husband. For a man of Darcy's social stature, these were very
serious failings of the family and totally unacceptable to his
polished, educated and refined mind. Darcy adores Pemberley, and the
future mistress of that estate can only be just as polished and refined
and from an equally prestigious family. He falls in love with Elizabeth
only to be refused by her initially, and then much later she realized
that she can love no one but Darcy. How they become united and
understand the love for each other makes very interesting study.
16. Salim and Anarkali
The love story of Salim and Anarkali is a story that every
lover knows. The son of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, Salim, fell in
love with an ordinary but beautiful courtesan Anarkali. He was
mesmerized by her beauty and fell in love as soon as he saw her. But the
emperor could not digest the fact that his son was in love with an
ordinary courtesan. He started pressurizing Anarkali and devised all
sorts of tactics o make her fall in the eyes of the young, love smitten
prince. When Salim came to know of this, he declared a war against his
own father. But the mighty emperor's gigantic army is too much for the
young prince to handle. He gets defeated and is sentenced to death. This
is when Anarkali intervenes and renounces her love to save her beloved
from the jaws of death. She is entombed alive in a brick wall right in
front of her lover's eyes.
17. Pocahontas and John Smith
This love story is a famous legend in the history of America. Pocahontas,
an Indian Princess was the daughter of Powhatan. Powhatan was the
powerful chief of the Algonquian Indians in the Tidewater region of
Virginia. Pocahontas for the first time in her life saw Englishmen in
May 1607. She found John Smith most attractive and developed a
liking for him. Smith was taken to the official residence of Powhattan
and he was tortured. It was Pocahontas who saved his life from the
attack of the Indians. Pocahontas then helped Smith to stand on his feet
and Powhattan adopted Smith as his son. This incident helped Pocahontas
and Smith to become friends with each other. Pocahontas after this
incident made frequent visits to the Jamestown and passed on to the
Indians messages of her father. John Smith after getting badly injured
due to gunpowder explosion, returned to England. When Pocahontas made a
visit to the fort, she was informed that Smith was dead. Sometime after,
Pocahontas was taken prisoner by Sir Samuel Argall. Argall hoped to use
Pocahontas as abargaining chip with her father Powhatan in effort to
get English prisoners returned. During her captivity, she decided to
become a Christian, taking the name “Rebecca” when she was baptized. A
year later, she married John Rolfe. She made a visit to London, where he
met his friend John Smith after eight long years and it was their last
meeting.
18. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal
In 1612, a teenage girl, Arjumand Banu, married 15-year-old
Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal Empire. Renamed Mumtaz Mahal, she
bore Shah Jahan 14 children and became his favorite wife. After Mumtaz
died in 1629, the grieving emperor resolved to create a fitting
monument. It took 20,000 workers and 1,000 elephants nearly 20 years to
complete this monument - the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan was never able to
complete a black marble mausoleum he planned for himself. Deposed by his
son, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the Red Fort of Agra, and spent
lonely hours staring across the Jamuna River at the monument to his
beloved queen. He was eventually buried beside her in the Taj Mahal.
19. Marie and Pierre Curie
This is a story about partners in love and science. Unable to
continue her studies in Poland because universities did not admit women,
Maria Sklodowska Curie traveled to Paris in 1891 to attend the
Sorbonne. Known by the French "Marie," she spent every spare hour
reading in the library or in the laboratory. The industrious student
caught the eye of Pierre Curie, director one of the laboratories where
Marie worked. Curie ardently wooed Marie and made several marriage
proposals. They were finally married in 1895 and began their famous
partnership. In 1898 they discovered polonium and radium. The Curies and
scientist Henri Becquerel won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 for
discovering radioactivity. When Curie died in 1904, Marie pledged to
carry on their work. She took his place at the Sorbonne, becoming the
school's first female teacher. In 1911 she became the first person to
win a second Nobel Prize, this time for chemistry. She continued to
experiment and lecture until her death of leukemia in 1934, driven by
the memory of the man she loved.
20. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
This love story is about English royalty who
mourned her
husband's death for 40 years. Victoria was a lively, cheerful girl,
fond of drawing and painting. She ascended the throne of England in 1837
after the death of her uncle, King William IV. In 1840, she married her
first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. While at first Prince
Albert was unpopular in some circles because he was German, he came to
be admired for his honesty, diligence, and his devotion to his family.
The couple had nine children. Victoria loved her husband deeply. She
relied on his advice in matters of state, especially in diplomacy. When
Albert died in 1861, Victoria was devastated. She did not appear in
public for three years. Her extended seclusion generated considerable
public criticism. Several attempts were made on Victoria's life.
However, under the influence of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli,
Victoria resumed public life, opening Parliament in 1866. But Victoria
never stopped mourning her beloved prince, wearing black until her death
in 1901. During her reign, the longest in English history, Britain
became a world power on which "the sun never set."
From: http://amolife.com/reviews/top-20-most-famous-love-stories-in-history-and-literature.html
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