When we think of stories about forbidden love, the first thing that comes to mind is usually Romeo and Juliet (or lately, Twilight). However, since you likely won’t fall in love at first sight with someone who turns out to be a sworn enemy (or undead) anytime soon, these stories aren’t as culturally relevant as far as forbidden love goes.
A more realistic barrier between two star-crossed lovers would be a discrepancy of class, religion, or (despite what Dr. Laura may say…over and over again) race. For a quick fix of that good literary feasibility, here are three classic tales of forbidden love that span the last five hundred years.
Realistic obstacle number one: Class. You are an intelligent and exceptionally beautiful young woman who is in love with the Prince of Denmark. Too bad your father is just a throne counselor and not a royal form of royalty. That’s right: you’re the Ophelia of Hamlet fame, and to your dismay, Dad called off your affair with Prince Hamlet for fear the boy isn’t after any of your, shall we say, more queenly qualities.
The idea behind this intervention is that if Hamlet is serious about the relationship, he will have the power to marry you (or whoever he wants, really) once he becomes king. This would be a smart move were it not for two things: 1) Uncle Claudius has killed Hamlet, Sr., thus cutting Hamlet, Jr., out of line for the throne; 2) There’s a good chance that you and Hamlet have already exchanged more than just love notes, which makes you particularly anxious NOT to leave Hamlet at this particular time. The stress of this situation, compounded by Hamlet’s accidental murder of your father, eventually causes you to go insane and, ahem, accidentally fall into a river.
Realistic obstacle number two: religion. You are a beautiful young woman with amazing embroidery skills and you have just been blessed with your first child. In prison. By the way, you’re a Puritan and you haven’t seen her husband in two years. You are Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, and you had the great misfortune of being born in 17th-century New England. But wait, it gets better.
You refuse to tell anyone who the baby’s father is because: 1) You feel it’s better for him to introduce himself; 2) You are twelve different types of dignity; and 3) Turns out he’s the Reverend, which, in Puritan society, means NOTHING is exchanged, including love notes. To his credit, he finally got over the stigma of his indiscretion by accepting his punishment without flinching… even after people forget what he really did. Instead, if achieving social redemption means bending to the will of an unjust patriarchy for the rest of your long life, we’ll settle for upping the ante and heading west, thank you very much.
Realistic obstacle number three: Career. You are the troubled nineteen year old white trash daughter and you have made the big mistake of falling in love with a married man. who is black In 1930s Alabama. You’re Mayella Ewell from To Kill A Mockingbird, and Daddy Drinks a lot just caught you making moves on someone he considers inferior.
After receiving a savage beating, you claim that your crush, Tom Robinson, actually raped you. Either to convince your father or simply to obey him, then you make a court case of the incident; after all, no one in 1930s Alabama would dare acquire Tom, regardless of the baselessness of the accusation against him. Unsurprisingly, Tom receives the death sentence only to be shot no fewer than seventeen in the process of trying to escape from prison. Tom’s wife and children must live on the charity of their community while you find a way to live with yourself.