Alpha Amours: The Roles of the Alpha Male Hero and Alpha Female Heroine in Romance PART 2
In spite of the superficial differences between Romance's Alpha heroines and heroes, and in spite of the (sometimes delightful, sometimes heartbreaking) friction that these differences engender, Alpha types have the same basics in common. Physical strength and beauty or handsomeness as reflections of genetic stability and positive environment. Social status or the acquisition thereof. Intellectual prowess. Emotional depth. These are all integral to the Alpha type, be it male or female.
And lest we forget those passages, so varied from writer to writer, that send a thrill up any Romance reader's spine, that make her melt in anticipation, remember that the combined effect of the Alpha traits, the sum of their biological equation, is pure sexual attraction: "he leaned so close that their lips nearly touched. 'You may find yourself in my bed . . .'"
One final thing marks the Alpha type, and, in the context of the Romance genre, it is paramount: the desire to create a lasting pair bond. The Alpha type seeks to replicate itself, and when we meld that desire with the romantic ideal, this reproduction comes within the bonds of a committed relationship between a man and a woman. The development of their relationship and the understanding fostered by it are enhanced by the integral element of shared sexuality.
Romances may take a reader high and low emotionally, they may travel a glittering world or roam a small town. They may be peopled with a few key characters or a saga-filling gathering of pro- and antagonists, but in the end, it comes down to two people, alone, together.
Romance delights in epilogues that, after tales of high adventure, show the heroine and hero, now deeply bonded, with their children held in loving, protective arms or gathered about them. This is the Alpha's highest goal, and its attainment is the Romance reader's joy.
Does the Romance writer consciously set about to make use of these Alpha types - to create a primeval hero or heroine that exemplifies a Darwinian ideal? Rarely. Just as the reader embraces these types without any sort of indoctrination, so does the astute Romance writer recognize the Alpha character by the simple depth of resonance that he or she evokes. And just as simply does the interaction between two strong Alpha players create an atmosphere charged with physical and sexual tension, alive with intellectual interplay, and surging with emotion.
The understanding does not have to be
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