Declaration of love

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Aerial declaration of love to Wicky I Love U Wicky.jpg
Aerial declaration of love to Wicky

A declaration of love, also known as a confession of love, is a form of expressing one's love for someone or something. It can be presented in various forms, such as love letters, speeches, or love songs. A love declaration is more often than not explicit and straightforward.

Contents

A declaration of love from one person to another is "a statement made by one person to another in which they say they are in love with the other person." [1]

Examples in art and literature

The Declaration of Love by Jean Francois de Troy Declarationoflove.jpg
The Declaration of Love by Jean François de Troy

One widely referenced declaration of love comes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . In the balcony scene, Juliet declares her love for Romeo who stands outside her window:

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite. [2]

Romeo subsequently declares his love for Juliet to her, making it a declaration of mutual consent—an accepted love declaration—where both partners are in love.

An example of a less-successful declaration of love can be found in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice where Darcy declares his love for Elisabeth: "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

As it is a confession as well as a declaration, it comes as quite a shock to Elisabeth, who does not return Darcy's confession of love. However, she says she feels "a sense of obligation for the sentiments avowed, however unequally they may be returned." She adds that she has "never desired [his] good opinion" and that he has "certainly bestowed it most unwillingly," making it clear that his declaration is unwanted as well as unsuccessful. [3]

Historical occurrences

In the oldest existing text written in Icelandic, a faded and near illegible runic inscription from the 10th or 11th century, the word “ást” appears, which directly translates as love. It is speculated the author of the text was declaring their love for something. [4]

Non verbal declarations

Love padlocks on Staalmeestersbrug in Amsterdam, Netherlands Love locks in Amsterdam 2.jpg
Love padlocks on Staalmeestersbrug in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Lovers' scribbles on the door of a night club toilet stall in New York City, United States Toilet love scribbles.jpg
Lovers' scribbles on the door of a night club toilet stall in New York City, United States
Lovers' carving on a tree in Vilnius, Lithuania Lovers' carving.jpg
Lovers' carving on a tree in Vilnius, Lithuania

Love letters

A love letter is one of the most classical forms of non-verbal declarations of feelings of love. It allows for more specificity and a clearer point as the author of a love letter has time to think, rephrase, and edit the contents of his heart.

Permanent marks

Declarations of love can surface as permanent marks on urban environments and nature. They are considered vandalism by many municipalities and governments. When a declaration of love is made, it is often attempted to be made permanent. If the declaration is permanent it is considered everlasting or eternal.

A good example of this is love locks, padlocks attached to landmarks, and constructions with the names of lovers engraved or written on them. They began appearing on the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris as early as 2008. They have since then become a widespread phenomenon. Now considered vandalism in many places around the world, they are regularly removed. An open petition has been made for them to be banned in Paris. [5]

Another example are lovers’ arborglyphs, carvings in living trees. A popular romantic image, they are known to spread disease between Beech trees. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pride and Prejudice</i> 1813 novel by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is the second novel by English author Jane Austen, published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.

<i>Romeo and Juliet</i> Tragedy by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

<i>Pride and Prejudice</i> (1995 TV series) 1995 British television drama series

Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, respectively. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC production with additional funding from the American A&E Network. BBC1 originally broadcast the 55-minute episodes from 24 September to 29 October 1995. The A&E Network aired the series in double episodes on three consecutive nights beginning 14 January 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet</span> Character in Romeo and Juliet

Juliet Capulet is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Romeo, a member of the House of Montague, with which the Capulets have a blood feud. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself.

<i>Pride & Prejudice</i> (2005 film) 2005 film by Joe Wright

Pride & Prejudice is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Joe Wright, in his feature directorial debut, and based on Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name. The film features five sisters from an English family of landed gentry as they deal with issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions. Keira Knightley stars in the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet, while Matthew Macfadyen plays her romantic interest Mr Darcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Bennet</span> Fictional character from Pride and Prejudice

Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circumstances of the time and environment push her to seek a marriage of convenience for economic security, Elizabeth wishes to marry for love.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Darcy</span> Literary character

Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist. The story's narration is almost exclusively from Elizabeth's perspective; the reader is given a one-sided view of Darcy for much of the novel, but hints are given throughout that there is much more to his character than meets the eye. The reader gets a healthy dose of dramatic irony as Elizabeth continually censures Mr. Darcy's character despite the aforementioned hints that Mr. Darcy is really a noble character at heart, albeit somewhat prideful. Usually referred to only as "Mr. Darcy" or "Darcy" by characters and the narrator, his first name is mentioned twice in the novel.

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman is the collective name given to a trilogy of historical romance novels written by Pamela Aidan. As the title suggests, they are based heavily on Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, and feature many events of the novel as seen from the perspective of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the central male character of Austen's novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosaline</span> Character in Romeo and Juliet

Rosaline is a fictional character mentioned in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. She is the niece of Lord Capulet. Although an unseen character, her role is important: Romeo's unrequited love for Rosaline leads him to try to catch a glimpse of her at a gathering hosted by the Capulet family, during which he first spots her cousin, Juliet.

William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, set in Verona, Italy, features the eponymous protagonists Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The cast of characters also includes members of their respective families and households; Prince Escalus, the city's ruler, and his kinsman, Count Paris; and various unaffiliated characters such as Friar Laurence and the Chorus. In addition, the play contains two ghost characters and an unseen character (Rosaline).

<i>Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</i> 2009 parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a 2009 parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. It is a mashup combining Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice with elements of modern zombie fiction, crediting Austen as co-author. It was first published in April 2009 by Quirk Books and in October 2009 a Deluxe Edition was released, containing full-color images and additional zombie scenes. The novel was adapted into a 2016 film starring Lily James and Sam Riley.

Jane Austen's (1775–1817) distinctive literary style relies on a combination of parody, burlesque, irony, free indirect speech and a degree of realism. She uses parody and burlesque for comic effect and to critique the portrayal of women in 18th-century sentimental and Gothic novels. Austen extends her critique by highlighting social hypocrisy through irony; she often creates an ironic tone through free indirect speech in which the thoughts and words of the characters mix with the voice of the narrator. The degree to which critics believe Austen's characters have psychological depth informs their views regarding her realism. While some scholars argue that Austen falls into a tradition of realism because of her finely executed portrayal of individual characters and her emphasis on "the everyday", others contend that her characters lack a depth of feeling compared with earlier works, and that this, combined with Austen's polemical tone, places her outside the realist tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Austen fan fiction</span> Collection of copyright of Jane Austen Novels

Jane Austen fan fiction is the collection of numerous sequels and spin-offs produced by authors who have either used the plot of Austen's original novels, or have extended them, to produce new works of fiction. Austen's posthumous popularity has inspired fan fiction that runs the gamut through numerous genres, but the most concentrated medium has remained the novel. According to Pucci and Thompson in their 2003 survey on the contemporary evolution of Jane Austen's work, at the turn of the 20th century, over one hundred sequels, rewritings, and continuations of her novels had been published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr William Collins</span> Fictional character from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mr William Collins is a fictional character in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. He is the distant cousin of Mr Bennet, a clergyman and holder of a valuable living at the Hunsford parsonage near Rosings Park, the estate of his patroness Lady Catherine De Bourgh, in Kent. Since Mr and Mrs Bennet have no sons, Mr Collins is also the current heir presumptive to the Bennet family estate of Longbourn in Meryton, Hertfordshire, due to the estate being entailed to heirs male. Mr Collins is first introduced during his visit to Longbourn. His dull-witted character is in parallel to another 'Austen' character, Mr. Rushworth, from Mansfield Park. Mr Collins is also somewhat comparable to the Shakespearean character, Malvolio, from Twelfth Night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abigail Reynolds (writer)</span> American author and physician

Abigail Reynolds is an American author and physician. She is best known as the author of Jane Austen-inspired novels in the Pemberley Variations series as well as modern novels set on Cape Cod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennet family</span> Fictional family

The Bennet family is a fictional family created by the English novelist Jane Austen in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. The family consists of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters: Jane, Mary, Catherine, Lydia, and Elizabeth, who is the novel's protagonist.

Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen (1913) is a novel by Sybil G. Brinton that is often acknowledged to be the first sequel to the works of Jane Austen and as such is possibly the first piece of published Austen fan fiction, although earlier examples have been described by Sarah Glosson. It incorporates characters from each of Austen's six major novels into one unified story, alongside characters of Brinton's own invention. Keeping to the spirit of the source novels, its major theme is the difficulties faced by assorted pairs of lovers placed within the class structure of early 19th century Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Wickham</span> Fictional character

George Wickham is a fictional character created by Jane Austen who appears in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. George Wickham is introduced as a militia officer who has a shared history with Mr. Darcy. Wickham's charming demeanour and his story of being badly treated by Darcy attracts the sympathy of the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, to the point that she is warned by her aunt not to fall in love and marry him. It is revealed through the course of the story that George Wickham's true nature is that of a manipulative unprincipled layabout, a ne'er-do-well wastrel, compulsive liar and a degenerate, compulsive gambler, a seducer and a libertine, living the lifestyle of a rake. Lacking the finances to pay for his lifestyle, he gambles regularly and cons credit from tradesmen and shopkeepers and skips out on paying-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosina Filippi</span> English actress (1866-1930)

Rosina Filippi was an Italian-born English stage actress and acting instructor, known for adapting Jane Austen's work to the stage for the first time.

References

  1. "Declaration of love". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  2. Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Act II, Scene II.
  3. Austen, Jane (1813). "11". Pride and Prejudice. Vol. 2.
  4. Gunnar Karlsson (2013). "1". Ástarsaga Íslendinga að fornu.
  5. "Open letter to the Paris electoral candidates" (PDF). No Love Locks. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  6. Patterson, Clark. "Killer graffiti: Opening a door to beech bark disease". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2016.