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Paula looks at happy endings.
Most (all?) romance publishers insist that a romance must have a happy ending. Many romance readers read this genre to be entertained and also as a kind of escapism, knowing that all will end happily for the main characters even though, sadly, this may not happen in ‘real’ life.
It’s interesting to note that romance in the ‘grand tradition’, like Tristan and Isolde, Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind, Love Story, didn’t have happy endings. It’s the tragedy in these stories which make them memorable.
However, women (and yes, it is mainly women) pick up a paperback or download a romance e-book, and expect it to have a happy ending.
But is a happy ending the same as a ‘happy ever after’ ending?
Happy-ever-after conjures up an image of the hero and heroine living on Cloud Nine for the rest of their lives, with a perfect marriage, a perfect house and perfect children. I don’t think romance readers necessarily want or visualise this.
Romance authors don’t write ‘fairy-tales’. They don’t wave a magic wand so that Cinderella and Prince Charming, after just one evening at a Palace Ball, are reunited and live ‘happily-ever-after’. I never did hold out much hope for that couple’s future together anyway!
Instead, readers of romance want the hero and heroine to work through their problems and conflicts and, in the process learn more about themselves and about each other. They want a happy ending i.e. a convincing and satisfying resolution of all those problems, because they feel the hero and heroine deserve it.
Maybe the romance author's job is to bring the hero and heroine to a place where the potential for happiness is restored. This is the happy ending.
They are on their way to creating a life together in which their new understanding of each other will help them resolve future problems. They’re not going to live ‘happily-ever-after’ (i.e. have perfect, easy lives from now on), but, at the ‘happy ending’ of the story, they are better equipped to develop a lasting and mutually satisfying relationship because of the struggles they've won and the life lessons they've learned.
Interesting...I never thought about the difference between 'happily ever after' and a happy ending. I always used the two interchangeably. But what you say makes total sense. I love being able to look at something in a new light. :)
ReplyDeleteI always thought that 'happily ever after' was somewhat unrealistic!
DeleteWell put, Paula. You make everything so wonderfully clear.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret :-)
DeleteI've heard it referred to as "Happily ever after" or "Happily For Now." And I agree with you in what most readers want.
ReplyDelete'Happily for Now' is a good way of putting it, since it recognises that no one spend their whole life in a state of euphoric bliss!
DeleteGreat post, Paula!
ReplyDeleteI think, like a carnival ride, a reader "buys" a ride on an emotional journey. She sits in her seat and opens the book hoping to get swept along a ride with sudden twists and turns and unanticipated revelations. She wants to feel relief when she successfully sidesteps disaster, excitement when she outruns an adversary, pain when she causes hurt. She wants an escape from everyday life, but she may also discover better ways to handle situations in her own life. She can "try out" leaving an abusive husband or confessing a secret. Her hope that love will win in the end can be bolstered into conviction.
That's a great analogy, Ana!
DeleteGreat post. I have always understood that the ending 'must be' happy for now, if not necessarily happy ever after. However I agree most of the great love stories are often tragedies or have endings which leave us wondering - Gone with the Wind. #sigh#
ReplyDeleteMust admit I never liked Scarlet O'Hara - selfish spoilt brat! I was glad when Rhett finally left her- he deserved someone far better! :-)
DeleteMe!!
DeleteHa ha, Carol :-D
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