 Romance/Love: August 29, 2012 Issue [#5219] |
  Romance/Love
This week: Romantic Symbolism Edited by: Crys-not really here  
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Hello! My name is Crys-not really here . This week's Romance/Love Newsletter is on symbolism. |
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Romantic Symbolism
In high school English class, we were forced to think about symbolism: What do the red roses mean in The Scarlet Letter? How about the "A" on Hester Prynne's chest? If you had English teachers like mine, you may have been told what those symbols meant. If you were lucky, they let you figure them out for yourself.
How many of us as writers now use symbolism in our work? I know that I don't use as it much as I could. Except in poetry and literary fiction, symbolism doesn't seem as widely used as it was back in the days of Nathaniel Hawthorne. But for Romance writers, symbolism can add a whole new dimension to their work.
Symbolism in Romance can be as simple as including something like a wedding band in a narrative about a couple. It could be a universal symbol for love, such as a rose, a cladagh ring, or a heart. In my opinion, however, the best symbols are ones that could have multiple meetings. A red rose is often a symbol of love, but what could a purple rose mean? In the contest of your story, it could mean that the heroine is being secretly wooed by a member of a royal family. Or perhaps is means something else completely. It's entirely up to you how you want you readers to see the color.
Writing descriptions of setting or characters, when done masterfully, can also effectively use symbolism. Whether or not symbolism is used on purpose is sometimes debated among students. Regardless, symbolism can be purposeful and add details to a romantic setting. For example, green eyes are often thought of as a symbol of envy ("green with envy"), but what would it mean if your character's eyes were coral blue or emerald green? What if instead of red rose petals on the bed, there were black roses in a vase beside the bed? Black sometimes symbolizes death, so you could easily create a sense of fear and foreboding within an otherwise romantic scene.
No matter what symbols you use in your Romance writing, I recommend keeping them simple, consistent, and special. In other words, don't use symbolism just for the sake of using it. Don't put so many symbols into one piece that the reader becomes disoriented. And don't use complex symbolism that no one but you will understand. Obscure references alienate your reader and will probably make for a less-than-awesome reading experience. You're trying to create romance, not rebellion. 
How do you use symbolism in your writing? What's your favorite example of a symbolism in a romance novel or short story?
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This week's question is: How do you use symbolism in your writing? What's your favorite example of a symbolism in a romance novel or short story? |
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