The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-02-13
FAMOUS LOVE
SCENES IN THE
BEST NOVELS

The love scene occupies a prominent
place in fiction, al q there are many which
are cited cs q proof of their authors deli
cate skill, says writer in the Times
Democrat. Literary fashions may wax
and wane; but the love story still remains
the primo fayorite with 'fbc general,
So enslaved are we by the nursery tradi-
ton that We feel we have been cheated
out Of something if The novel does not end
with some version OF the old fairy tale
formula, $50 they were married, and
lived happy ever after although we have
learned by our own experience, or that OF
others, that matrimony is not always the
gate to Elysiurn. Love scenes in fiction
are Of many kinds. Howells once de
scribed some sparrows in gaden as
'squabbling like the lovers, IN lady S
novel;" and it is a fact that the average
feminine novelist makes her turtle-doves
peck. each other with great frequency and
vigor They bicker and pout squabble
and part forever, several times week,
until finally they kiss and make friends
as prelude to matrimony Often there
are pair of light comedy lovers to bal
ance those whose passion assumes tragic
cast.
1t is our tradition to believe that the
greater ardor is felt by the man; but even
as Samantha, in those long gone days, in
vokcd the moon and twirled her brazen
wheel chanting the while, MY magic
wheel, draw home to me the man love, !"
there have always been women who wove
spells to lure toward them the tickle or
timid love. 1t has been said, when he
who loves is dumb, she who is loved is
deaf;'' yet there are heroines OF fiction
who go considerably more than halfway
to win the hero from his naughty silence
So we find it in the case OF Charlotte
Bronte's Shirley, who, in her proud, i'm
perious way, lets the poor tutor see a
glimpse of her heart, as if feeling that her
beauty and fortune permit her to exercise
the right of a queen. The wild love scenes
between Emily Bronte's Heathcliff and
Catherine are like the fierce gambolings
OF a pair OF tigers whose claws are seldom
sheathed, even in play: In feminine fic-
ton, the gentleman often pays his ad-
dresses in manner that savors OF mimi
dation; he seems to fancy that he can
hector the lady into an ardent affection
for himself, and is usually successful in SO
doing.
But this is not the ideal ve-making
we imagine that there should be tender
| reverence, on the mans part; for, as
Thackeray says, MEN serve women kneel-
ing. When they get on their feet, they
walk away" The lover who does not be-
lieve his sweetheart an angel has want
Of idealism that will make marriage. APP
| pear to him a very dull sordid thing,
| lacking that rosy glow with which illusion
| irradiates the common places.
u. The walk of Ruth Pinch and John
| Westlock in the Temple garden is usually
| fiction; and there is another garden cpl
| sode--that between Give and Ethel New
| come-which is as sincere in sentiment,
and touched by far finer literary art. 1t
| is not always easy for novelist to pre-
! sent to the mind the charming childish
ness of lovers, without making them seem
| silly and mawkish; but this Charles
Reade, in Peg Wellington and Christie
| tombstone, has succeeded in doing. There
are passages in the courtship of Victor
| Hugo's Marius and Cosette which have a
| wonderful grace and prettiness, and like
| wise an artlessness that does not always
belong to love- making in French fiction.
| The figures of Tito and Romola, wher
| the dark and bright curls mingle i'll theil
| first embrace, stand out with a colorfu
| picturesqueness against the rich back
| ground of old romance, which is wanting
in modern tales; but though more i'm
pressive, in a certain sense, these old
| world lovers are not more actual thar
| Clym Yeobright and Eustacia wye as they
| walk hand in hand through the furze ant
fern OF Egden Heath. Still more vivid i
the aurora militaris" which the sword
| play of Sergeant Troy created abou
| Bathsheba Notwithstanding with tina
| sudden kiss which startled her rebel hear
| awake.
| OF late years the river scene in Rich
| ard Feverel" has often been mentioned al
an example of all that is idyllic but an,
writer who is stirred to emulation will
not find it difficult model. 1t is so cas-,
to work oneself up into the calculator,
mood. Given plenty of ink and paper
there is no reason why one should no
continue indefinitely to reel off such sen
fences as: "Pipe, happy sheep-boy, Love
Irradiated angels unfold your wings am
lift your voices! Pipe, happ
Love! pipe on these dear innocents!n
real idyl not less simple than poetic
is to be found in Cables John March
Southerner. The time is spring-th
tardy spring of the North-and the ma
and maid are strsying through the green
ing meadows and copses; apart, and eac
undermining of the Others nearness. Tn
girl hears afar the spring time cry of til
quail 1.-TWO clear glad notes of nature
voice. and mimics it in memory of he
days of childhood The youth, who ha
idly uttered the note, fancies himself an
swered by bird; and so they go on cal
ing, and recalling, following the SOUND
untlt they come face to face, startled an
wondering-all their unconfessed loy
shining in their eyes.