Definition of Romance free essay sample

Actually, this word is being used in a way that not quite accurate in terms of the original meaning of the word. The meaning that the word currently carries is only the extension of its intrinsic meaning. So let’s contract those two definitions first then I will give my proof of why the original meaning is better. Defined by Wikipedia, â€Å"romance† means â€Å"love emphasizing emotion over libido†, in other word, it is â€Å"the expressive and pleasurable feeling from an emotional attraction to another person associated with love†. To give a more specific definition, Wikipedia also put it into a common situation, â€Å"In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of ones strong romantic love, or ones deep and strong emotional desires to connect with another person intimately. † Some people may say that the definition in Wikipedia can’t stand for the most accurate sense of the word, well, that’s true. We will write a custom essay sample on Definition of Romance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But this is also a widely accepted interpretation by most of people and has no influence to the later analysis. From this definition, it’s clear that â€Å"romance† stand for love or some emotion that is related to love between people, that’s how people defined this word nowadays. But the original definition of romance is extremely different. To clarify that, I must begin with the history of the word here. In Oxford English Dictionary, the word romance is referred to â€Å"As a literary genre, and derived senses†. We can find more details in another interpretation, â€Å"A medieval narrative (originally in verse, later also in prose) relating the legendary or extraordinary adventures of some hero of chivalry†. Now we can conclude the meaning of romance in some detailed description. First, â€Å"romance† is a kind of literary form, not a feeling of love or beloved; second, the subject of this kind of literary must always be adventure stories or legendary, which means we can’t tell if those stories are realities or not; third, the protagonists of the stories are heroes or knights, and this point is very important to explain the reason why this word has an extended meaning as love. So here some people may ask how I know this is the original meaning of this word, well, I can say that time is the evidence of my opinion. From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s explanation, â€Å"romance† is a â€Å"Literary form that developed in the aristocratic courts of mid-12th-century France and had its heyday in France and Germany between the mid-12th and mid-13th century in the works of such masters as Chretien de Troyes and Gottfried von Strassburg†, but the word was not defined as love in literary works until the late-17th century. In fact, this word can refers to religious figures, which seemed very confusing, but this is also one extended meaning of â€Å"romance†. I have my own explanation here. The romance stories use chivalrous knights as their main roles, but as depicted in Don Quixote, they always have to declare their allegiance to ladies, and as this literary form was generated during medieval, loyalty to the church is dispensable. Since the connection between those plots and the word â€Å"romance† been set up, it’s inevitable that people relate the word to some new explanation. That how those extended meanings came to life. So far I have talked about the contemporary definition and history definition of the word â€Å"romance†. But I haven’t yet made clear why the original definition is better. In fact I’m not going to say that using the explanation that â€Å"romance† account for love is wrong, because we can never find out which is right and which is wrong in literature. The point here is to make the full use of the word. So now I’m going to discuss about the three benefits of using the traditional definition. First, the original definition of â€Å"romance† provides more information than that used today. Just compare two probable meanings of the following sentences, â€Å"this is a romance story†. Without knowing the context, according to current explanation, this is a story talking about love. But if we use the original meaning, this sentence should be translated like this â€Å"this is a story containing love, adventures, fantastic things, and heroes†. The purpose of defining this word in its original way is not to make things more complicated but enrich the language. The word â€Å"romance† should not only relate to the narrowed meaning of love. Second, the original definition of â€Å"romance† is more connected to its literary meaning. One of my high school classmates told me that his first impression of this word was that it must somehow be related to Rome. But he was right. In Wikipedia’s historical definition of this word, â€Å"The word was originally an adverb of the Latin origin ‘Romanicus’, meaning ‘of the Roman style. ’ † No one would relate this word with love unless they already know the current meaning of it. But without searching for it in the dictionary or asking someone else, you would know this word is related to Roman or Rome, both indicate courage, loyalty, and legend, which get you closer to its proper definition. Third, the original definition of â€Å"romance† is widely used in literature works. As already mentioned, this word was not defined as love until the late-17th century. Even after that, it took a long time to make the new definition to be commonly used. So it’s not surprising at all to find the meaning of â€Å"romance† in many early verses or proses quite unfamiliar for us. Like one sentence in C. Love’s Strange amp; Wonderful Predict (1651), â€Å"This account, as whimsical and romantic as it is, was told to the Lady Cowper†¦. by Dr. Patrick. Here we can’t define â€Å"romantic† as a strong desire to connect with someone in a positive emotion. But a feeling relate or synonymous with the key word â€Å"whimsical†, which can be interpreted as â€Å"characterized by deviation from the ordinary as if determined by mere caprice† or â€Å"freakish, odd, comical. † No one want to have such â€Å"romance† account in a conversation with a lady. In another more controversial example, as R. Steele wrote in Tender Husband, â€Å"The young Lady by being kept from the World, has made a World of her own—she has spent all her solitude in Reading Romances. Many may say the â€Å"romance† here must count for a girl’s sense of beloved, I personally disagree. From the context, the young lady’s intention of reading romances is triggered by her solitude, which is the result of being kept from the outside world. Logically, if one can’t see the world outside her room, she may fancy about what it should be and find it instead of love in the books. Love stories are useless here for one who is desperate for the wonderland outside her nest. So the â€Å"romances† must refer to some fictitious adventures about heroes exploring the world. Now we can see some advantages of defining the word â€Å"romance† in its original way. But please forgive me for I must emphasize once again that there is no right or wrong in arguments about literary issues. My work here is showing my preference toward the definition of the word and giving my own explanation. The original interpretation of â€Å"romance† is better than its currently one in many situation, it also enriches the word’s conception and makes it closer to its literature meaning.