Why I've Never Liked Love Triangles - Discuss & Wonder #8

Hello guys! It's been ages since I've posted a discussion on the blog and it's time to change that! I've been on a small reading slump the past couple of weeks and haven't picked up a book since finishing The Sea of Tranquility. Hopefully, I'll get back on track soon!

Today, I decided to talk about
It's probably one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to reading! I stay away from books that involve love triangles like the plague and if you want to know why, just keep on reading!
Let's start with a definition of what a ''Love Triangle'' actually is. According to Wikipedia of course. It is a romantic relationship involving three people. Sounds simple enough, right? Let me give you a hint...It really isn't. 

Two main forms of love triangle have been distinguished: "there is the rivalrous triangle, where the lover is competing with a rival for the love of the beloved, and the split-object triangle, where a lover has split their attention between two love objects".
 Love triangles can either be relatively balanced, in which the two candidates each have a fair chance of ending up with the protagonist, or they can be lopsided, in which the hero or heroine has an obvious romantic interest in one of the candidates, and considers the other candidate as "just a friend", but withholds a confession to avoid hurting feelings.
A less permanent love triangle occurs when a former lover of the main character makes an unexpected appearance to win back the character's heart, provoking feelings of jealousy from the main character's steady partner.
The very first love triangle I personally came across in books, is probably one of the most popular love triangles in fiction. Have you guessed it yet? Twilight! I've never liked it and I don't want to offend anyone who swears by the series. In my opinion, the books weren't even that well written, but I can definitely appreciate this new era Stephanie Meyer basically introduced us to. Because I feel like fiction itself got a lot of recognition after the chaos created by Twilight.

But, we're here to talk about the Bella - Edward - Jacob relationship. I feel like in this particular love triangle, the main heroine is presented as this damsel in distress, who cannot do anything for herself and needs a guy next to her 24/7, in order to keep her safe. Which is another pet peeve of mine, when it comes to books in general. But that is definitely a story for another time! 

And this is what usually happens with love triangles. The author usually focuses on the romantic relationship between two guys and one girl - usually - without really developing anything else, plot-wise. Which doesn't mean that there aren't books that involve love triangles and are very enjoyable to read because they have more to them than just the romance, but I haven't come across one in a very long time. If ever!

Love triangles are also quite irritating most of the time! And more than confusing. Let's not forget, cliche! Mind you, I don't mind cliche plots. On the contrary, I actually really enjoy them and fall in love with the ones that go way beyond my expectations and prove me wrong with how they handle the whole ''cliche'' thing. But with love triangles, it's always the same thing! No originality, no authenticity and nothing different that actually stands out! 

And a wise man once said that ''If you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second.'' Sounds about right! Seriously, you just make your choice and move on! 

Let's get real though! They're doomed to fail! They're never clear and usually make the heroine look completely indecisive and unable to carry on living life without having to depend on a guy. Also, they promote this absolutely ridiculous idea of having to be with someone in order to feel complete. Which is not the case. At all! 

We read books in order to be inspired and encouraged to live our lives the way we want to and take control of difficult situations ourselves! Which is what strong and intelligent female leads stand for! Doesn't mean they're perfect, because they do have their flaws. And it just makes them more relatable. But they're not focused on gaining anybody's attention because they're too busy making the world a better place and saving it from disaster! 

Overall, I've never read any book involving a triangle that I actually, sincerely enjoyed! The main character is usually too focused on who to choose in order to feed this need for a romantic relationship, that she forgets everything that is going on around her. And when she's not too busy whining about everything that is going on and how difficult it is to have to choose, she usually spends her time doing something equally unproductive. 

With that being said, what do you guys thing about love triangles? Do you love to hate them or do you genuinely enjoy reading them? 

Until the next post,

Comments

  1. I'm not a big fan of love triangles either, though I've found that some are done better than others. Don't know that I agree with that quote about how having feelings with a second person means you weren't in love with the first. I get the point, though.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You were in love with the first person, just not enought to not fall for the second. Does that make any sense? Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!