Love triangle

Not to be confused with Triangular theory of love or Ménage à trois.

For other uses, see Love triangle (disambiguation).

A love triangle (also called a romantic love triangle or a romance triangle) is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. The relationships can be friendships, romantic, or familial.

"Although the romantic love triangle is formally identical to the friendship triad, as many have noted their actual implications are quite different....Romantic love is typically viewed as an exclusive relationship, whereas friendship is not." Statistics suggest that, in Western society, "wittingly or not, most adults have been involved in a love triangle".

Two main forms of love triangle have been distinguished: "there is the rivalrous triangle, where the lover is competing with a rival for the love of the beloved, and the split-object triangle, where a lover has split their attention between two love objects".

History and definitions

"Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca" by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres ; it depicts the Divine Comedy.

The term "love triangle" generally connotes an arrangement unsuitable to one or more of the people involved. One person typically ends up feeling betrayed at some point (e.g., "Person A is jealous of Person C who is having a relationship with Person B who, in Person A's eyes, is 'his/her' person."). A similar arrangement that is agreed upon by all parties is sometimes called a triad, a type of polyamory, although polyamory usually implies sexual relations. Within the context of monogamy, love triangles are inherently unstable, with unrequited love and jealousy as common themes. In most cases, the jealous or rejected first party ends a friendship--and sometimes even starts a fight with--the second party over the third-party love interest. Though rare, love triangles have been known to lead to murder or suicide committed by the actual or perceived rejected lover.

Psychoanalysis has explored 'the theme of erotic love triangles and their roots in the Oedipal triangle'. Experience suggests that 'a repeated pattern of forming or being caught in love triangle can be much dissolved by beginning to analyse the patterns of the childhood relationship to each parent in turn and to both parents as a couple'. In such instances, 'you find men who are attracted only by married woman but who can't sustain the relationship if it threatens to become more than an affair. They need the husband to protect them from a full relationship...as women who repeatedly get involved with married men need the wives'.

Common themes

A common love triangle is one in which the hero or heroine is torn between two suitors of radically contrasting personalities; one of a girl next door or nice guy type, and the other as a physically attractive but potentially hazardous person. Alternatively, the hero or heroine has a choice between a seemingly perfect lover and an imperfect but endearing person. In this case, the "too-good-to-be-true" person is often revealed to have a significant flaw, such as hidden insensitivity or lecherousness, causing the other person to become the more desirable partner.

Eternal triangle

'In geometric terms, the eternal triangle can be represented as comprising three points - a jealous mate (A) in a relationship with an unfaithful partner (B) who has a lover (C)...A feels abandoned, B is between two mates, and C is a catalyst for crisis in the union A-B'.

It has been suggested that 'a collusive network is always needed to keep the triangle eternal'. This may take a tragic form - 'I saw no prospect of its ending except with death - the death of one of three people' - or alternately a comic one: 'A man at the funeral of a friend's wife, with whom he has been carrying on an affair, breaks into tears and finally becomes hysterical, while the husband remains impassive. "Calm yourself," says the husband, "I'll be marrying again"'.

Homosociality

It has been suggested that if men 'share a sense of brotherhood and they allow a woman into their relationship, an isosceles triangle is created' automatically, as 'in Truffaut's film Jules et Jim '. René Girard has explored the role of envy and mimetic desire in such relationships, arguing that often the situation 'subordinates a desired something to the someone who enjoys a privileged relationship with it'. In such cases, 'it cannot be fair to blame the quarrel of the mimetic twins on a woman....She is their common scapegoat'.

Marital breakup

When a love triangle results in the breakup of a marriage, it may often be followed by what has been called 'the imposition of a "defilement taboo"...the emotional demand imposed by a jealous ex-mate...to eschew any friendly or supportive contact with the rival in the triangle' The result is often to leave children gripped by 'shadows from the past...they often take sides. Their loyalties are torn', and - except in the best of cases - 'the one left "injured" can easily sway the feelings of the children against acknowledging this new relationship'.

As to gender responsibility, evidence would seem to indicate that in late modernity both sexes may equally well play the part of the "Other Person" - that 'men and women love with equivalent passion as well as folly' and that certainly there is nothing to 'suggest that a man is better able to control himself in a love triangle than a woman'.

Those who find themselves tempted to become the Other Man may, however, still find a cynic's advice from the 1930s pertinent on 'the emotional position of the adulterer, and why to avoid it...Did I know what a mug's game was? - No. - "A mug's game," he told me, "is breaking your back at midnight, trying to make another man's wife come '.

In entertainment

Love triangles are a popular theme in entertainment, especially romantic fiction, including opera, romance novels, soap operas, romantic comedies, manga, tabloid talk shows, and popular music.

Fiction

Eric Berne termed that conflictual aspect of the love triangle "Let's You and Him Fight"; and considered "the psychology is essentially feminine. Because of its dramatic qualities, LYAHF is the basis of much of the world's literature, both good and bad".

Young Adult literature has seen a rise in the popularity of the love triangle story structure (such as Twilight or The Selection). But the love triangle story structure has been around since before early classic writers like William Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas. Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet featured a love triangle between Juliet, Romeo, and Paris. Although more subtle, Dumas's classics The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers also feature love triangles strong enough to seek revenge and start a war.

Love triangles can either be relatively balanced, in which the two candidates each have a fair chance of ending up with the protagonist, or they can be lopsided, in which the hero or heroine has an obvious romantic interest in one of the candidates, and considers the other candidate as "just a friend", but withholds a confession to avoid hurting feelings. An example of this is in the Broadway hit musical Wicked, in which dim-witted Fiyero first displays affection for Glinda the Good Witch, but then falls for Elphaba, the supposedly Wicked Witch. But in this latter case, to provide necessary tension and drama, the second platonic candidate is also very often the hero or heroine's long-term boyfriend or girlfriend.

A less permanent love triangle occurs when a former lover of the main character makes an unexpected appearance to win back the character's heart, provoking feelings of jealousy from the main character's steady partner. However, this situation is usually not considered an actual love triangle since there is little possibility of the main character breaking up with a longtime partner to pursue a just-introduced character, and it is often used as only a test of the true depth of the main character's devotion to their partner. In these cases, the long-term partner has usually been guilty of neglect toward the main character and in the end the relationship remains intact with the long-term partner having learned some valuable lesson.

Television

Usually, a love triangle will end with the hero or heroine confiding their feelings in the suitor they feel is most virtuous or has the most interest in them. (As in Twilight.) The other suitor usually steps aside to allow the couple to be happy, or comes to terms with their feelings, often claiming they could not love the main character as much. Sometimes they are written out of the love equation entirely by falling in love with someone else, or being killed off or otherwise eliminated. While love triangles can be accused of being clichéd, if done well, they provide insight into the complexity of love and what is best to pursue in a romantic relationship.

In television shows, a love triangle is often prolonged, delaying final declarations of love between the pursued character and suitors that may prematurely end this dynamic or displease fans. Some examples of these include 90210, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Vampire Diaries and Grey's Anatomy. Similarly, romance films also sustain this set-up until near the film's end, although they tend to establish a more clear-cut conclusion to the romantic entanglements than in long-running TV shows. Love triangles are also a common topic in soap opera storylines, as well as tabloid talk shows, such as The Jerry Springer Show.

Music

Several recording artists have also released songs about love triangles, most notably country music superstar Loretta Lynn, who has several "love triangle" songs to her credit, including "You Ain't Woman Enough" and "Fist City." Other "love triangle" songs include "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney; "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" by Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap; "Does He Love You" by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis; "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order; "Jolene" by Dolly Parton; "She's All I Got" by Johnny Paycheck; and "The Girl of My Best Friend" and "U.S. Male," both by Elvis Presley.

Bob Dylan provides a violent outcome to "the sexual intrigues of Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, in their various ménage à trois manifestations".

Bloomsbury

The Bloomsbury Group not atypically produced some unusual forms of love triangles. Thus for example Vanessa Bell became 'involved in a tense triangular relationship with Duncan {Grant} and his lover...David Garnett', producing 'an intense triangle of love and attraction'.

Related terms

Ménage à trois

A love triangle should not be confused with a ménage à trois, a three-way relationship in which all members are romantically involved with each other instead of being in conflict over one person. Ménage à trois is French and directly translates to "household for three" meaning it is usually composed of a "married couple and a lover...who live together while sharing sexual relations". This differs from a love triangle because each participant is equally motivated purely by sexual desires. The ménage à trois may be considered a subset of 'The Sandwich...a straight three-handed operation...which may be operated with any assortment of sexes: three men, three women, two men and a woman ("Ménage à trois"), or two women and a man ("The Tourist Sandwich")'.

There is also the possibility of 'a ménage à trois powered by the passion of hatred'.

Love rectangle

Love rectangle (also quadrangle or quad or "love square") is a somewhat facetious term to describe a romantic relationship that involves four people, analogous to the typically three-sided love triangle. Many people use this term for a romantic relationship between two people that is complicated by the romantic attentions of two other people or one person who is complicated by the romantic attentions of three other people, but it is more frequently reserved for relationships where there are more connections. Minimally, both male characters usually have some current or past association with both female characters. These relationships need not be sexual; they can be friendships or familial relations. Both males and/or both females can also be friends, family members (frequently siblings) or sworn enemies.

Love rectangles tend to be more complicated than love triangles, often using their tangled relationships as a source of comedic humor. They may however only be a spin-off from the main love triangle, where 'as a sub-plot, A may try to rekindle B's love by introducing yet a fourth party (D)'. Similarly extraneous is the husband in the Marquis de Sade's "Room for Two", where the witty, pretty heroine sets out to find 'two assistants for her husband', unbeknown to each other; and who, on being discovered by the one assistant with the other, calls out "Don't disturb us, my friend, and take your place in what's left to you; you can easily see there's room for two'.

An example of a love rectangle in classic literature is in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, between the characters Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia. Demetrius is granted Hermia's hand in marriage by her father, but Hermia loves Lysander, and the two flee, intending to elope. Demetrius pursues the couple, and Helena pursues Demetrius, whom she has always loved. The fairy Puck, in trying to use magic to resolve the situation, temporarily transfers both men's affections to Helena. Further tampering restores Lysander's love for Hermia. Demetrius, now in love with Helena, withdraws his claim on Hermia, and both couples are wed.

Another love rectangle happens in Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, where female characters Dorabella and Fiordiligi (siblings) are Ferrando and Gugliemo's girlfriends respectively, and by the end of the opera they "accidentally" swap their boyfriends.

The love rectangle concept is popular in television programs such as Lost (Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Juliet), True Blood (Bill/Sookie/Eric/Alcide), That '70s Show (Kelso/Jackie/Hyde/Laurie), One Tree Hill (Lucas/Peyton/Nathan/Brooke), The Vampire Diaries (Stefan/Elena/Damon/Katherine) and on the ABC soap opera Love Lives (Megan/Joey/Andrea/Collin). This is also a common theme in many manga and anime, a sub-genera known as harem in which multiple characters are in love with the protagonist.

For additional terms, the word "love" can be prefixed to other polygons with the appropriate number of vertices, to reflect romantic relationships involving more people, e.g. "love pentagon" or a "love hexagon."

See also

• Tennessee Waltz
• Threesome

External links

• How to Cope in a Love Triangle