Dec
Great Kisses in the World of Fiction (Everybody, Get Your Plump Lip Gloss Ready!)
Had Juliet wanted her lips to be plump, lip gloss would have helped! But Romeo kissed her anyway – with or without a plump lip gloss ready. Their first kiss was one of the most romantic scenes in the novel Romeo and Juliet and it was that which made me fall in love with the great William Shakespeare. However, my fascination with romance did not stop there. In fact, it was one of the reasons that I scoured our school library for Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Bronte sisters, and more of Shakespeare. Happy or tragic endings, I was not particularly picky. I still am not, to tell the truth. To me, the journeys were more important than the endings.
Aside from all those tension, trysts, partings, and reunions; the ones that I could never forget were the kisses. Yes, the “lip-locks” were the highlights for me. I remember I actually screamed when Mr. Rochester first kissed mousy Miss Jane Eyre in the midst of her jealous tirade. I wondered then if Jane had used some magical plump lip gloss that Mr. Rochester was so captivated by her lips – even as she was telling him she had to go for he was going to marry someone else. Another kiss (one that was not quite a “lip-lock”) that I could not forget was Pip’s shy “kiss on the cheek” when manipulative Estella told him that he may kiss her if he liked. And who could forget Queen Titania’s magic-induced compulsion to kiss Bottom, despite his ass’ snout? I sure could not! I laughed my ass off (no pun intended) with that one. But despite my fondness for these great kisses in the world of fiction, I keep going back to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. That was one story with zero kissing – not even a peck in the cheeks. But it remains one of the most compelling novels I have ever read, anyway.
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