The terms "star-crossed" and "star-crossed lovers" describe two people who cannot be together because of certain reasons. These terms originally meant that the pairing was being blocked by a harmful star or that the stars were working against their relationship. This idea comes from the belief that the positions of stars influenced people's lives. The phrase is most famous from the play Romeo and Juliet by the Elizabethan writer William Shakespeare. Relationships described as "star-crossed" are often believed to be doomed from the beginning.
Definitions
The phrase was created in the prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It refers to destiny and the idea that the two characters' paths were meant to cross no matter what. It often, but not always, suggests unlucky outcomes because Romeo and Juliet's relationship ended tragically. It also means the lovers began their union without enough thinking or planning; they may not have known each other well or acted in a rational way.
(The original versions of the prologue (Q1 and Q2) use the spelling "starre-crost," but modern versions usually use "star-cross'd.")
Classical examples
Examples of famous star-crossed lovers appear in many written works. Pyramus and Thisbe are often seen as the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet and appear in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Wuthering Heights is considered one of the greatest love stories in literature. It tells the story of intense and passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, which is blocked by outside forces. This unfulfilled love leads to the destruction of both lovers and those around them.
In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas, a Trojan prince, and Dido, queen of Carthage, fall deeply in love. However, the gods tell Aeneas to leave for Italy, and Dido, heartbroken, takes her own life. Readers in ancient Rome would have known that this love was doomed because Aeneas and Dido's descendants, the Romans and Carthaginians, would later become enemies.
Lancelot, a knight in King Arthur's court, and Guinevere, the queen of Camelot and Arthur's wife, have a forbidden relationship. In some versions of the story, Guinevere is instantly drawn to Lancelot. Their affair leads to the downfall of Camelot and the death of King Arthur.
The story of Tristan and Iseult is a well-known romance and tragedy. It is told in many different ways, but the basic plot remains the same. This story is believed to have influenced the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere and has greatly affected Western art and literature since the 12th century.
In 14th-century Portugal, Pedro of Portugal and Inês de Castro shared a tragic love. Their relationship was forbidden by King Afonso IV, Pedro's father. Inês was murdered at the king's order, and Pedro later took revenge on her killers. The story of their love has inspired art, music, and drama over time.
Hero and Leander is a Greek myth. Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, lived in a tower in Sestos, near the Hellespont. Leander, a young man from Abydos, swam across the strait every night to visit her. Hero lit a lamp in her tower to help him find his way.
Pelléas and Mélisande is a Symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck. It tells the story of a forbidden and doomed love between the two main characters. This tale was a common subject in art during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by Shakespeare, written around 1602. The play is sometimes called one of Shakespeare's problem plays because it does not follow the typical structure of a tragedy. The story ends with the death of Hector, a noble Trojan, and the end of the love between Troilus and Cressida.
Venus and Adonis is a classical myth that became popular during the Renaissance.
Heer Ranjha is one of the four famous tragic romances from the Punjab region.
Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl refer to stories explaining the origins of the volcanoes Popocatépetl ("the Smoking Mountain") and Iztaccíhuatl ("white woman" in Nahuatl, sometimes called the "sleeping woman" in Spanish). These stories are linked to the Valley of Mexico.
Layla and Majnun is a classical Arabian love story written by Nizami Ganjavi. It is based on the real-life story of Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, who lived during the Umayyad era in the 7th century. In one version of the story, Qays grew up with Layla, while in another, he fell in love with her upon seeing her. In both versions, Qays went mad when her father prevented their marriage. He was called Majnun Layla, meaning "driven mad by Layla." Many passionate poems were written about their love, considered important examples of the Udhari school.
The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend about the tragic romance between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. This story is sometimes compared to Romeo and Juliet.
Other classic examples of star-crossed lovers include Devdas and Paro in Devdas, Paris of Troy and Helen of Sparta in The Iliad, Oedipus and Jocasta in Oedipus Rex, Mark Antony and Cleopatra during the Roman Empire, Khosrow and Shirin during the Sassanid Persian Empire, Heloise and Peter Abelard during the Middle Ages, Emperor Jahangir and Anarkali, Cyrano and Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, Hagbard and Signy, and Maratha Peshwa Bajirao and Mastani during the peak of the Maratha Empire.
Modern examples
Prime time television has featured many well-known and "unforgettable" love stories. IGN lists Buffy Summers and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as one of the most tragic and well-known star-crossed pairs in the genre. The Doctor saying goodbye to his companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who is considered one of the greatest love scenes in science fiction. Other notable star-crossed couples from television include Cole Turner and Phoebe Halliwell from Charmed, Michael and Nikita from La Femme Nikita, Kara Thrace and Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica, Clark Kent and Lana Lang from Smallville, and Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer from One Tree Hill. Commander Lexa and Clarke Griffin from The 100, as well as Nancy and Ace from Nancy Drew, are also considered star-crossed lovers.
In films and modern books, examples include Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater from Titanic, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan from A Walk to Remember, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, and Kylo Ren and Rey from the Star Wars saga, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist from Brokeback Mountain, Jake and Neytiri from Avatar, and Arthur Fleck and Harley "Lee" Quinzel from Joker: Folie à Deux.
In soap operas, star-crossed lovers have included Cliff Warner and Nina Cortlandt, JR Chandler and Babe Carey, and Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone from All My Children. In 2008, a web-based reality soap opera called Starcrossed was created. The show, hosted by Fox News astrologer Greg Tufaro, separated couples in crisis for one lunar cycle. Each person was then paired with someone considered a better match based on their star signs. The show tested the idea that "love is written in the stars" by asking couples to decide on the 28th day of their separation whether to stay together or remain apart.
In comics, Marvel Comics' decision to kill off Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Spider-Man, turned them into star-crossed lovers, even though this was not the original plan.
Video games have also included star-crossed couples, especially in role-playing games. Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII, Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X, and Zero and Iris from Mega Man X4 are examples of well-known star-crossed love stories.
In animated television, some series feature star-crossed lovers. For example:
• Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos from the animated web-series RWBY. Pyrrha’s sense of duty and belief in her destiny led her to sacrifice her life after confessing her love to Jaune.
• Pearl and Rose Quartz from Steven Universe. Pearl secretly had a romantic relationship with Rose for centuries until a human named Greg Universe began a relationship with Rose and had a child, Steven Universe. Pearl gave up her life as a gem to help Steven, but she struggled with grief over Rose’s loss, which caused problems in her relationship with Greg until the 8th episode of the 3rd season, Mr. Greg.