Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 09:38:43 EST From: "out, out, damned spot" Subject: [WRITERS] FILLER: VDC: Romance makes the... [psst? did you know that there is a contest going on right now? Yes, you too should be writing and polishing your entry in the WRITERS' Valentine's Day Contest...make that heart throb (even if it is on 30 day trial?) and that pulse tingle (what? it has blue blood? oh, blue cheese blood...that's different! probably something to do with salad days, huh?) But make haste while January ticks by, as the deadline is the end of the month! for more details, try this webbified reference ... and write! then send your work to Michelle and Anthony .] Romance? "Very loosely, a narrative characterized by exotic adventure rather than by the realistic depiction of character and scene usually associated with the novel. Historically, the term _romance_ is applied to three distinct bodies of writing." Greek romances from the second and third centuries A.D. "These are complicated tales of idealized lovers, separated by pirates, shipwrecks, wars, kidnappings, and other catastrophes, who somehow retain their virtue and are ultimately reunited in happiness." "In the late Middle Ages tales of love and chivalric adventure, in both verse and prose, became popular. The major sources of these romances...were ancient history and literature, the Arthurian legends, and the stories that centered on Charlemagne. In the romances the stress is on the power of love, both legitimate and illegitimate, and on the chivalric virtues--courage, grace, loyalty, and honor--of an idealized court. ..." "Since the nineteenth century, the term _romance_ has also been used to delineate works that are predominantly exotic or adventurous...such romance elements as symbolic quests and characters who are embodiments of good and evil..." (From Literary Terms: A Dictionary, Karl Beckson and Arthur Ganz, p. 237) Or, to quote the OAD...n. 1. an imaginative story, literature of this kind _medieval romances_ 2. a romantic situation or event or atmosphere. 3. a love story, a love affair resembling this 4. a picturesque exaggeration or falsehood...v. 1. to exaggerate or distort the truth in an imaginative way 2. to engage in romantic activities or courtship. Now, when we listen to some fainting swain, mopping at sudden sweats, stammering and running on at the tongue, we may be inclined to doubt the veracity and accuracy with which they speak. But, let us imagine ourselves caught up again in that hellacious tempest of hormonal attraction, looking on the face (and perhaps other parts) of the one and only radiant inspiration of beauty...trying desperately to remember whether we have worn underwear today or not...and was it clean?...and we may begin to understand that they are not exaggerating or distorting the truth...rather, they are telling the truth as accurately as possible, it is the world that is exaggerating and distorting itself as they squirm against the tidal bore of unbridled lust pulling them down, down, down in a vortex of desires... However, let us never, ever forget, that on the playing grounds of the romance, tis not mere lust that overcomes, but fairer love that lasts the course... [sorry, you must deposit another quarter to continue using this public terminal... move along, these aren't the droids you want...] this message has been terminated with extreme aggravation due to excessive levels of purple prose buildup deposited in your mind. so go write a romance now and get the purple prose out! tink (alright, you finish that line...Romance makes the _what_ _do what_? Then show us what you mean!)