Love triangle
Encyclopedia
A love 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 (often siblings), and often triggers jealousy and hatred between the rivals involved.
'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'.
of person C who is having a relationship with person B who, in person A's eyes, is "his" 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. 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'.
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"'.
A love triangle is made up of 3 people where 2 of them are trying to pursue 1 person. The two that are trying to pursue the 1 person usually do not get along with one another and are in a really deep competition over that person. 04:57, 13 November 2011 (UTC)~ 11/12/2011
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'.
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'.
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 Thirties 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 '.
, romance novel
s, soap opera
s, romantic comedies
, manga
and popular music
.
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, L Y A H F is the basis of much of the world's literature, both good and bad'.
Bob Dylan
provides a similarly violent outcome to 'the sexual intrigues of Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
, in their various ménage à trois manifestations'.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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. Similarly, romance film
s 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.
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
, and Make No Mistake, She's Mine
by Kenny Rogers
and Ronnie Milsap
.
, a three-way relationship in which all members are romantically involved with each other instead of being in conflict over one person. 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'.
s) or sworn enemies.
Love rectangle
s 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 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 Flordiligli (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 program
s such as Lost
(Jack
/Kate
/Sawyer/Juliet
), True Blood
(Bill/Sookie
/Eric
/Alcide
), That '70s Show
(Kelso/Jackie/Hyde/Laurie), and One Tree Hill
(Lucas/Peyton/Nathan/Brooke) and The Vampire Diaries (Stefan/Elena/Damon/Katherine).
For additional terms, the word "love" can be prefixed to other equiangular
polygons with the appropriate number of vertices, to reflect romantic relationships involving more people, e.g. "love pentagon
" or a "love hexagon."
'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
The term "love triangle" generally connotes an arrangement unsuitable to one or more of the people involved. One person usually ends up feeling betrayed at some point, e.g. 'Person A is jealousJealousy
Jealousy is a second emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of presenting emotions...
of person C who is having a relationship with person B who, in person A's eyes, is "his" person'. A similar arrangement that is agreed upon by all parties is sometimes called a triad, a type of polyamory
Polyamory
Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved....
, although polyamory usually implies sexual relations. Within the context of monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
, love triangles are inherently unstable, with unrequited love
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...
and jealousy as common themes. Though rare, love triangles have been known to lead to murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
or suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
committed by the actual or perceived rejected lover.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
has explored 'the theme of erotic love triangles and their roots in the Oedipal
Oedipus complex
In psychoanalytic theory, the term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a boy’s desire to sexually possess his mother, and kill his father...
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'.
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"'.
A love triangle is made up of 3 people where 2 of them are trying to pursue 1 person. The two that are trying to pursue the 1 person usually do not get along with one another and are in a really deep competition over that person. 04:57, 13 November 2011 (UTC)~ 11/12/2011
Homosociality
It has been suggested that if men 'share a sense of brotherhood and they allow a woman in to their relationship, an isosceles triangle is created' automatically, as 'in Truffaut's film Jules et Jim '. René GirardRené Girard
René Girard is a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science. His work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy...
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'.
Bloomsbury
The Bloomsbury GroupBloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half...
not atypically produced some unusual forms of love triangles. Thus for example Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury group, and the sister of Virginia Woolf.- Biography and art :...
became 'involved in a tense triangular relationship with Duncan {Grant}
Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, potterty and theatre sets and costumes...
and his lover...David Garnett
David Garnett
David Garnett was a British writer and publisher. As a child, he had a cloak made of rabbit skin and thus received the nickname "Bunny", by which he was known to friends and intimates all his life.-Early life:...
', producing 'an intense triangle of love and attraction'.
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
Late modernity
Late modernity is a term that has been used to describe the condition or state of some highly developed present day societies...
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 Thirties 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 '.
Love Triangles in Entertainment
Love triangles are a popular theme in entertainment, especially romantic fiction, including operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
s, soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s, romantic comedies
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
.
Eric Berne
Eric Berne
Eric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis and the author of Games People Play.-Background and education:...
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, L Y A H F is the basis of much of the world's literature, both good and bad'.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
provides a similarly violent outcome to 'the sexual intrigues of Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts", is a song by Bob Dylan released on the 1975 album Blood on the Tracks. There have been two screenplays written based on the song: one by John Kaye and commissioned by Dylan, and another written by James Byron...
, in their various ménage à trois manifestations'.
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
Girl next door
The cultural and sexual stereotype of the girl next door or the All-American girl is invoked in American contexts to indicate wholesome, unassuming femininity, as opposed to the culture's other female stereotypes such as the tomboy, the valley girl, the femme fatale, girly girl, or the slut. The...
or nice guy
Nice guy
Nice guy is a term in the general public discourse and in popular culture describing an adult or teenage male with friendly yet unassertive personality traits in the context of a relationship with a woman. A typical nice guy is perceived to put the needs of others before his own, avoids...
type, and the other as a physically attractive
Physical attractiveness
Physical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various...
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.
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
Platonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
", but withholds a confession to avoid hurting feelings. 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.
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. 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. Similarly, romance film
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
s 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
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
storylines.
Several recording artists have also released songs about love triangles, most notably country music superstar Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, who has several "love triangle" songs to her credit, including You Ain't Woman Enough
You Ain't Woman Enough
You Ain't Woman Enough is a 1966 studio album by American country music singer-songwriter, Loretta Lynn.The album was Lynn's second studio album released in 1966. The lead single, "You Ain't Woman Enough" became Lynn's biggest hit up to that point peaking at #2. The flip side of the single, "A Man...
and Fist City
Fist City
"Fist City" is a country music song written and performed by Loretta Lynn, released in 1968. Inspired by her husband's dalliances with other women who pursued him while she was busy touring, Lynn wrote the song as a warning for other women to stay away from him if they do not wish to be soundly...
. Other "love triangle" songs include The Girl Is Mine
The Girl Is Mine
"The Girl Is Mine" is a song by Michael Jackson featuring Paul McCartney. It is the first single from Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller. It is one of the three songs that Jackson and McCartney recorded together. McCartney is the only featured guest on the album. The track was written and...
by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, and Make No Mistake, She's Mine
Make No Mistake, She's Mine
"Make No Mistake, She's Mine" is a duet single recorded by country pop artists Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers in 1987.The song topped the Billboard country charts and peaked at #42 on the Adult Contemporary...
by Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
.
Ménage à trois
A love triangle should not be confused with a ménage à troisMénage à trois
Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
, a three-way relationship in which all members are romantically involved with each other instead of being in conflict over one person. 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) 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 siblingSibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
s) or sworn enemies.
Love rectangle
Rectangle
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...
s tend to be more complicated than love triangles, often using their tangled relationships as a source of comedic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
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 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
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, between the characters Lysander
Lysander (Shakespeare)
Lysander is one of the iconic lovers in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. A handsome young man of Athens, Lysander is in love with Hermia and plans to run away from her father with her to escape Athenian law and wed. But his plans are disrupted when Oberon decides to have some...
, Demetrius, Helena
Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Helena is one of the iconic four young lovers in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is a very desperate woman. She is generally interpreted as being tall, slim and blonde - her best friend Hermia calls her a "painted maypole" during an argument. Although she does not see herself...
, and Hermia
Hermia
Hermia is a science park near Tampere University of Technology . Hermia is located in Hervanta, a suburb of Tampere, Finland. Hermia is also acting as a technology centre for its region....
. 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
Puck (Shakespeare)
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
, 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
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
, where female characters Dorabella and Flordiligli (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 program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s such as Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
(Jack
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
/Kate
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
/Sawyer/Juliet
Juliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
), True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
(Bill/Sookie
Sookie Stackhouse
Sookie Stackhouse is the fictional protagonist and narrating voice of Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the television adaptation, HBO's True Blood.-Biography:...
/Eric
Eric Northman
Eric Northman is a fictional character in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of eleven books written by New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire, slightly over one thousand years old, and is first introduced in the first novel, Dead Until Dark and appears in all...
/Alcide
Alcide Herveaux
Alcide Herveaux is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries / Sookie Stackhouse Novels by author Charlaine Harris. He is a Were who owns a surveying company with his father in Shreveport, LA...
), That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
(Kelso/Jackie/Hyde/Laurie), and One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
(Lucas/Peyton/Nathan/Brooke) and The Vampire Diaries (Stefan/Elena/Damon/Katherine).
For additional terms, the word "love" can be prefixed to other equiangular
Equiangular
In geometry equiangular relates to having equal angles. In particular:*Equiangular polygon - a polygon with equal angles.*The Logarithmic spiral or equiangular spiral a type of spiral....
polygons with the appropriate number of vertices, to reflect romantic relationships involving more people, e.g. "love pentagon
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon. A pentagon may be simple or self-intersecting. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagram is an example of a self-intersecting pentagon.- Regular pentagons :In a regular pentagon, all sides are equal in length and...
" or a "love hexagon."