Obviously, we assume relationships and romance have existed supposedly since the first humans held hands before the glorious sunrise. Your partner in life and your biggest comfort that remains in your head and your heart whether they are beyond the stars or sat beside you in bed. However, in modern times alongside the now easy option to get a divorce, homes are becoming broken left, right and center. So, if condemning divorce was the only thing keeping people together, has true love truly perished? 

For forever in literature and cinema culture alike, we have crafted classic stories of tragedy and worship all revolving around love- Romeo and Juliet for instance, or the modern cinema rendition of the Titanic. These creations are idealized and swooned over by almost all, who are looking for love, so they must have a common theme that makes them seem so fantastical a rendition of love: devotion. In all the tales that have become staple to the ‘Hall of Love’ every relationship begins rocky or mysterious- usually with rejection or an uncomfortable first impression- and grows into one of complete enticement and adoration. The staple feature of all of these is the way the partners would sacrifice their entire being for their partner, although that is perhaps not the most ideal situation. What does this say about what love should be?

Many would consider this a blight against accepted divorce, but having a partnership made holy or legal doesn’t mean that there is living love within it. A very prevalent example of what I mean is the conventional image that marriage is to be a prison, especially in heterosexual marriages, where you’re constantly nagged by your wife and can no longer peruse the more thrilling new option. In many cases marriage partners grow to even despise each other’s company; living day in day out in a mundane environment of misery. Perhaps because divorce is too long a process or because at the time it was frowned upon. Despite the longevity of relationships increasing, the horrific number of abusive partnerships also increases when divorce is no longer an option. So, what are people to do?

The easy answer would be to pick partnerships more carefully, but experience is an entirely effective method of learning and improving. But this creates a dilemma because having many relationships one after the other can lead to (young people in particular) becoming nihilistic in their views of love, as a result becoming radically dependent on their relationships to prove the truth of love. Heartbreak: the simplest way to explain why this is an issue, but a heart that cannot be repaired could be the most fatal consequence of trial and error searching for love. On the other hand, putting yourself first and abandoning a partnership that no longer serves you healthily could be argued to be the greatest possible method of self-care!

But now we remain with the question: Is love dead?

In conclusion, it’s up to you.