Unrequited Love

Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections. Defines unrequited as "not reciprocated or returned in kind."

The object of unrequited love is often a friend or acquaintance, someone regularly encountered in the workplace, during the course of work or other activities involving large groups of people. This creates an awkward situation in which the admirer has difficulty in expressing his/her true feelings, as a romantic relationship may be inconsistent with the existing association; revelation of the lover's feelings might invite rejection, cause embarrassment or might end all access to the beloved.

(A picture of Gay's relationships can be example of Unrequited Love via http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050628/050628_canada_gaymarriage_vmed1p.widec.jpg)

Unrequited love has long been depicted as noble, an unselfish and stoic willingness to accept suffering, though contemporary western culture may give greater weight to practical, goal-oriented and self-assertive behavior. Literary and artistic depictions of unrequited love may depend on assumptions of social distance which have less relevance in democratic societies with relatively high social mobility, or less rigid codes of sexual fidelity. Nonetheless, the literary record suggests a degree of euphoria in the limerence associated with unrequited love, which has the advantage as well of carrying none of the responsibilities of mutual relationships.

(A picture of Romeo and Juliet and their unrequited love via http://markgorman.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/romeo-and-juliet-print-c10282861jpeg.jpg)

In terms of the feelings of the hopeful one, it could be said that they undergo about the same amount of pain as does someone who is going through the breakup of a romantic relationship without ever having had the benefit of being in that relationship. On the other hand, some research suggests that the object of unrequited affection experiences a variety of negative emotions, including anxiety, frustration and guilt.

In The Great Gatsby, It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan.

(Picture of Jay Gatsby and Daisy in The Great Gatsby film verion via http://asset0.learnhub.com/lesson/pages/7625/photos/22823-medium.jpg)

Sources : http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4671.The_Great_Gatsby ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrequited_love