Star-crossed lovers is a phrase for the archetype of couples who are tragically separated by their socio-economic status, faith, culture, or family despite true love. The idea is that these relationships are already doomed from the start. Couple’s true instinct and love is pit against societal rules. The phrase “star-crossed lovers” was first coined by famous playwright William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.” (Shakespeare 1-6). However, Shakespeare is far from the only author with this concept. This same archetype is found in many traditional stories from all over the world and is still widespread in today’s culture. We feel for these characters, …show more content…
In Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Gatsby are separated by their social status when she marries another man for money and Gatsby spends the rest of his life attempting to “repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald 116). This eventually leads to his death. In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, and George Orwell’s 1984, we again find young couples being held apart by terrible circumstances.
Finally, let’s look at some of the examples in recent films and books. In the popular John Hughes 80’s films, while you may not have noticed, many of the characters are hung up on relationships already set to end and cause pain for all involved, for example, the teenage favourites, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind Of Wonderful. The 2004 award winning film, Titanic, gives us the tearjerking tale of Jack and Rose, who come from two different financial situations and eventually are split up by the sinking of their ship which kills Jack. Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, gives us the seemingly impossible story of two completely different creatures falling in love. Finally, in the most recent example John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars we see this archetypal relationship again with Hazel and Augustus. From the very beginning we have a pretty good idea of how this will turn out. The characters also know, Hazel even claims she is a “grenade” because of her illness and their relationship