Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love

“Love Song for Alex, 1979” is a lyric sonnet that Margaret Walker wrote for her husband. The poem is frequently labeled a sonnet because of its 14 lines, though it doesn’t follow the strict rhyme scheme of a traditional sonnet. In the style of lyric poetry, the poem expresses Walker’s warm feelings for her husband. Though it doesn’t reveal a narrative, we can glean some details about the couple’s relationship from the poem.Poet BiographyMargaret Walker... Read Love Song for Alex, 1979 Summary

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Jerry Spinelli’s beloved free-spirited character from his eponymously titled 2000 young adult novel, Stargirl, returns in this companion work Love, Stargirl (2007). Writing the “World’s Longest Letter” to her ex-boyfriend, Leo, 16-year-old Stargirl chronicles her new life in Pennsylvania. Lonely and emotionally wounded by Leo’s rejection, Stargirl struggles to regain her confidence. Over the course of a year, Stargirl forms lasting friendships, falls for charismatic bad boy, Perry, and learns important lessons about self-worth and... Read Love, Stargirl Summary

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Madam Butterfly is the English adaptation of the tragic Italian opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. It opened in Milan in 1904, and the orchestral score was first published in 1906 by Giulio Ricordi. Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa wrote the libretto (text of the opera). Puccini based his opera on the play by David Belasco and story by John Luther Long, as well as the novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. These sources, and... Read Madame Butterfly Summary

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Written in 1816-1817 by the British poet Lord George Gordon Byron, Manfred is a closet drama, meaning that Byron never intended it to be produced onstage despite writing it in the style of a play in verse, with dialogue parts for various characters. The work centers on the guilt of the eponymous Manfred over his tragically flawed romantic relationship with a woman named Astarte. Many critics believe that Manfred and Astarte’s relationship is implied to... Read Manfred Summary

Mansfield Park (1814) is the third novel by English novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817). Set in Regency-era England, Mansfield Park is a bildungsroman, charting the life of Fanny Price from childhood to adulthood. At the age of 10, Fanny is sent from her poverty-stricken home to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. The narrative follows the protagonist’s struggles adjusting to life at Mansfield Park, her moral challenges, and her secret... Read Mansfield Park Summary

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Maria Chapdelaine (1916) is a novel by Breton author Louis Hémon. Maria Chapdelaine tells the story of its titular protagonist, a young woman who lives on her family’s farm in a remote stretch of Québec wilderness. Against the backdrop of a brutal and unpredictable climate, Maria must choose between three suitors who each represent different lifestyles: A trapper, a farmer, and a factory worker who has emigrated to the United States. Hémon explores The Hardships... Read Maria Chapdelaine Summary

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Maurice (1971) is a coming-of-age novel and love story by English author E. M. Forster. Like much of Forster’s work, it straddles the realist and modernist eras; stylistically, it resembles the literature of the 19th century, but its themes—in particular, its depiction of unconscious experience—anticipate the work of writers like Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Drafted between 1913 and 1914, it was not published until 1971—one year after Forster’s death—because of its subject matter;... Read Maurice Summary

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