Shakespeare, Anne of Green Gables, and Why I Love Rom Coms: Some Thoughts
About a week ago, my mom– who was one of the first readers of my most recent novel, All the Way Home— sent me this article about Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. None of this was, in itself, unusual: I talk to my mom a lot, we often talk about books, and Anne is a mutual favorite. But it was the text accompanying the article that made me do a literal spit-take.
The description of when Anne met Gilbert is remarkably like when Kaylee met Bryce. Coincidence?
The honest answer was yes. Coincidence, completely. I didn’t even realize how similar the scenes are. Of course, Montgomery was writing in the 1910s, and I’m writing in the 2020s– over a hundred years separate our characters. Likewise, her protagonist is eleven or twelve at the onset of the book, and mine’s twenty-two. But I can’t deny that my own scene probably does have something to do with Anne, after all.
For one thing, I have a thing for writing fiery protagonists with a clever wit and a sharp sense of humor. For another, rivals-to-lovers romance has always been my favorite– in fact, I’ll pick rivals-to-lovers over enemies-to-lovers over friends-to-lovers pretty much every single time. And yes, for anyone who’s read more than one of my books, they all center around characters who live with their heads a bit in the clouds, who dream big dreams and have big hearts and make stupid choices because of their own hubris, because they see the big picture but not what’s right in front of them. These characters are a lot like Anne– and a lot like me. You see, Anne Shirley has always been a favorite of mine, largely because I see so much of myself in her (or maybe because I see her in me, now). I think I gravitate to characters like that out of habit as much as instinct– and it shows.
I also can’t deny that AOGG is also one of my base blueprints for what makes a good love story. My taste in romance can generally be defined as “people who make incredibly bad first impressions manage to fall in love anyway,” and “competitive natures make sparks fly.” Maybe that’s because I grew up on Anne. Maybe it’s because my parents are maybe more in love with each other than any other two people on the planet, and their version of flirting is really competitive Scrabble. My characters flirt like I do, and I tend to rely on witty banter, and a healthy dose of competition, and the ability to crack a smile while also trying to ruthlessly destroy someone in Bananagrams or Gin. So yeah, some of it’s just… natural.
That said, rom-coms are a genre. There have to be characters, and a setting, and somewhere in there, there needs to be a conflict. Without conflict, the characters just fall for each other in the first ten pages and then you have no story. The characters need a reason not to just immediately start dating. So I introduce a rivalry. A reason they can’t, or don’t want to, get along. But in the end, love is inevitable– or at least, flirting is. Because that’s what happens when people like each other, despite their reasons not to. And as much as I like grueling competition, I like happy endings better.
The same can be said for my favorite Shakespeare play. Much Ado About Nothing is entirely my favorite– and yes, it’s similar in its enemies/rivals-to-lovers tendencies. Sharp-tongued, clever, intelligent people who don’t like each other slowly fall in love through a series of debacles, as they each realize just how smart and kind the object of their affections is capable of being. It’s my favorite kind of story– the stakes are high (ish), the banter is witty, the female protagonist is fun and funny and flawed and relatable, and the male love interest manages to retain some sweep-off-the-feet-knight-in-shining-armor qualities, it’s his personality that gets the girl in the end.
I’d say that it’s a bit hard to find these qualities in LGBTQ+ fiction, but that would be a complete and total lie. Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston. Probably 90% of Becky Albertalli’s Creekwood canon. How to Find a Princess, by Alyssa Cole. There are others, those are just the ones on my bookshelf right now.
Don’t get me wrong– there’s a place for dreamy, sweep-you-off-your feet romance, or girl-next-door romance, or coming-of-age-story romance. I appreciate those as much as the next girl. But I think Sarah J. Maas has that covered, as does Rainbow Rowell, as does Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ll read those books, and name them as favorites even, but when I’m looking for the kind of romance that will stick in my brain for a while, set new standards for me, move the bar even higher… I’m thinking about Gilbert Blythe, Benedick (sometimes), the characters from Sandyha Menon’s books, Beach Read, by Emily Henry, Last Chance Books, by Kelsey Rodkey. No one’s trying to kill each other, no one’s in a contest to the death, they’re just… people. Navigating their feelings. It’s rivals to lovers, not enemies to lovers. I think a rivalry is healthy, and attainable. Enemy-ship just seems… well, a little toxic. Which again, I love in a book. But as far as wanting it in my life… no, thanks.
One of my favorite things about the romance genre as a whole is, really, the fact that there’s a love story for everyone there. Romance writers and readers believe, unabashedly, in happily-ever-afters. Protagonists are almost always badass women who don’t have to sacrifice femininity in favor of strength– they can be both, just like real women. The genre itself is an expression of feminism and female empowerment (I have a lot of things to say about romance novels, and why the genre is so important– and why people should just stop judging them so harshly already, darn it. If that’s something you’d like to read, drop a comment– maybe that’ll be next week’s post).
All I’m trying to say here is that the kinds of love stories I loved as a kid– the kind that made me fall in love with love in the first place– happen to be about intellectualism and wit and reconciling differences. I love those kinds of stories so much that they made their way into my own writing without me realizing it. And I just think there’s soemthing really beautiful about that.
Read the first chapter of All the Way Home (for free!) here.
By the way, if you’re new here– hello, I’m Maxxe! I’m a grad student and author, and I also write books! I write lit fic novels under the name Maxxe Riann, and rom coms and romances under the name Gemma Tate. This blog is where I ramble about books, life, writing, etc– follow, or subscribe to my email list, if you’d like to keep up with book updates (or just my thoughts on life, the universe, and all its books).
