Genre Romance is a Quest for Knowledge

That's my literary insight for the day. Love plots written for
guys tend to portray the whole thing as a quest to prove oneself, do
great deeds, and thus win the love of the lady. Love plots written for
women tend to turn the whole thing into a quest for understanding of
the true feelings, thoughts, and situations of those involved. Perfect
love requires perfect understanding. Imperfect understanding leads to
quarrels, or even to being interested in the wrong person. "Had I but
known!"



Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a perfect
example of this; and one wonders whether she got it from the old Gothic
novels she liked to read. But Romeo and Juliet is an
equally good example in its way; misunderstanding leads to disaster.



So what do the rest of you think of my theory?