Goddesses of Love: How the Romance Genre Has Embraced Feminine Myths and Archetypes PART 1

The tropes of Romance openly follow this literary legacy, indicative of its feminine nature. It has traditionally been women who have been the "keepers of the flame"; who have found the core of constancy in a world of change. Romance's use of such archetypal structures and characters is a main reason why it speaks so directly to the hearts of its readers. Within its myths and characters are the expression of singular aspects of women's existence and potential.

Romance is a sort of feminine meme, or concept transmitted from generation to generation within a group. The meme has been described as a unit of cultural evolution, in the sense that such cultural evolution, by the selection and adaptation of concepts, can be more important than biological advance. It is a purely human ability, to choose which ideas it values and to convey these chosen values through means such as traditions or storytelling.

The values and concepts embraced by Romance cross over gender or cultural barriers. They include: the transcendence of conflict through unity; the strengths of honor, courage, and determination; the value of justice and mercy; the soul union of female and male, and above all the immeasurable value of Love.

As with many myths and legends, the stories of Romance follow a journey. However, this journey is not so much an external transit from place to place (though many romances delight in taking their readers to some of the world's wonderful and evocative locales); it is a journey of the spirit. Romance has further adopted the pure mythic idea that the destination is of secondary importance. In the journey of the heart taken by a heroine and hero developing a relationship, it is the chase, not the capture, that captures the interest. To rouse an old chestnut, in Romance, the hero will chase the heroine until she catches him.

In male-centric myth and legend, a knight goes questing, only to find at the end of his journey that the grail he sought is more important as an idea. What he has striven for is merely a representation of what his heart needed all along.

In the female-driven myths of Romance, the heroine already knows that what she seeks - no less a grail than true love - is intangible. It is the road to convincing her hero of its value that excites the reader's imagination and generates soul-deep recognition. The hero, intent on chasing the heroine

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