Jordan's relationship with Fortunata; Romance as an element of Magical Realism.

Romance and love is a defining part of who we as humans are. We cannot live without it or, at the least, without companionship, for man is a social creature and no man is an island. In this presentation, I will start with a definition of what I believe love and romance to be. I will then go on to examine whether these traits are present in "Sexing The Cherry" and finally, link this to the Magical Realism theme and thus consider whether romance can be labelled as an element of this alternate realism. Jordan himself was somewhat cynical about love and describes it as no more than "a shaping spirit of the lover's dreams", that the person accepts someone into their heart purely because it suits their perception of love at the time, and then when this perception and definition changes, which it inevitably will, they are left with the empty shell of a former lover for whom they no longer have any feelings or with whom they have nothing in common. This leaves the reader with a very diminished expectation of love, one forwarded by someone who has clearly been hurt. If one starts off with a low expectation, then it is more difficult for them to be hurt and disappointed, but life is all about taking those chances, like following a dancer across the world even if your senses tell you she may not exist, and seeking love in most unconventional and unusual places, such as an ocean cavern or a sealed tower. Romance is seen as the courting stage, that time of delirious happiness just before those involved become too comfortable with each other and stop trying to make the other happy. It should also be defined to include sexual activity, though this must not be thought of as a definition in itself, for sexual depravity, such as that seen in the whore house, including bestiality and necrophilia, are not prerequisites or indeed a part of romantic love. (Unless you're into that kind of thing.) Passionate love, on which romance is based, is best described by Brersheid (1988) as "a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion." This is the kind of love seen in Romeo and Juliet and dreamed about by teenaged girls everywhere. Is this the kind of love seen in this book? I believe that this kind of passionate love and romance is evident in "Sexing The Cherry", both in the failed endeavours of the princesses and also with Jordan. The city where love is outlawed is presented and we see that people are content and prosperous, but only in a material sense. There is no laughter or smiling, as this is obviously one of the "earliest signs of love" and the person smiling is sure to "have another intention." (P.76) The city soon learned that you cannot deny the human desire for love, romance and companionship. The inhabitants were willing to die for this belief. Now that it is clear that this type of romance and love is evident in "Sexing The Cherry", let us first investigate the lives of the princesses and whether they have linkable elements of Magical Realism. The traditional notion of heterosexual romance is toyed with in the book and the idea of sexuality is very fluid. Of the twelve princesses, three were involved in same sex relationships, while the spouse of a fourth also inclined in that way. By breaking the boundaries of convention and allowing the princesses to escape to a world where they could be happy, the purpose of Magical Realism is fulfilled. The freedom they experience in this alternate life allows them to explore another side of themselves.

For most of the princesses, either their means or motives for escape all retain traces of Magical Realism. The first princess falls in love with a mermaid, a creature from children's mythology, but whose appearance one hardly even seems to question. It seems acceptable and almost romantic that she fell in love at first sight, even if it was with a half-fish half-woman creature. The fifth princess again enters a world of a child's fairytale and claims to have been the older lover of Rapunzel. The mismatched couple were clearly very happy together and it seemed a great injustice that they were separated in such a brutal manner. It almost seems that the author was telling things from another perspective, from the side of the one who was hurt, but do we believe that the older woman was not indeed a "witch" who imagined the relationship as illicit though perhaps it was not? I choose to believe they were very happy together. Another trace of Magical Realism seen in the same princess is that she turned her husband, Anton, into a frog on their first kiss. They were clearly not meant to be together. If a princess kisses a frog and it turns to a prince, there is little doubt they are meant to be together, but if the reverse happens, then surely aren't they destined to be apart? The story of the seventh princess, the one who lived happily with her female husband, has traces of Magical Realism, though not perhaps as blunt as the ones before. They escaped the cruel real world that may have opposed the union and lived in isolation, together for twenty years without judgement or retribution. The eighth princess who murders her husband because of his obesity and who rounds up the herds of pigs and cows which were freed from his stomach contains traces of Magical Realism but, in my opinion, lacks any romance. She detested her husband and saw no wrong in killing him, which is not a conventional ideal of love. The eleventh princess's husband was under siege from the black beast of depression and she released him from his mortal coil on his request. Again, this is not the conventional romantic notion, but "if you love someone, set them free". The Magical Realist aspect of her story comes when his body flies away into the air. I like to believe that his spirit was finally set free; perhaps it felt as if it was in the wrong universe or time continuum and death was his way of escape. When she claims to "see him sometimes, but only in the distance", it could be believed that is his spirit returning to thank her, but never close enough for her to be completely certain. The twelfth princess is named as Fortunata and it is she who captures the heart and imagination of Jordan. Let us look at their relationship in the mind set of a "romantic". He sees her for the first time climbing down a rope and falls in love with her. Unless one believes in the concept of falling in love at first sight, this is not a very stable beginning. He also falls in love with her without knowing anything about her or who she is. This is a quite superficial love based on artificial beauty. However, looking past all this, the question is: did they fall in love? No, he has to go searching for her, as she never knew he saw her or felt the way he did. When they do meet, she describes to him her failed wedding day and how she escaped. Even what he had heard about her was not accurate. Thus, he fell in love with an ideal. He stays with her for a month and in that time he learns more about her but do they ever profess love to each other? The answer is no. In fact, Fortunata admits that she spent years waiting for someone to come and fill the void she felt inside "of belonging to someone else", but he never did, and so slowly she learns

to live contently alone and to dance alone. When Jordan leaves, Fortunata does not go with him because she feels there is nothing else in the world for her to see that she has not seen in her imagination. If she was in love with him, she surely would have wanted to stay by his side and explore things together. The exchanging of the pendants felt more like a momentum of their meeting than a sentimental keepsake from an absent lover. I do believe that Jordan may have thought he was in love with her but I don't believe these feelings were truly reciprocated. Jordan, even as he grew up, was full of a childish wonderment and I feel that his desire to find Fortunata had more to do with him wanting to explore new lands and seek out this mystery woman that he was not even sure existed than the pursuit of pure love. The relationship between these two can be linked to Magical Realism in that Jordan went searching for the "ghost" that he wasn't sure existed out of love. Also, the island on which he stayed with her never seemed to be in the same place twice, and he admitted that when he left he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to find his way back there again. The fact that Fortunata was the same age as her sisters who were now feeling the ravages of time and she was left untouched suggests that she is somehow walking over the boundaries of time and coming out unscathed while all others are bathed in it and cannot escape. It is this same way that we can imagine her island sailing between universes and riding the waves of time, just like the land she and her sisters had hoped to escape to so many years before. In conclusion, I hope to have shown the influence romance has had on the Magical Realism in this book through the discussion of what defines love and romance. I did this by exploring the episodes of romance in the book, firstly by looking at the princesses, and then focusing on Jordens relationship with Fortunata, and finally linking these instances of romance with some of the traits that define Magical Realism. So, now you must ask yourself, do you believe love should be tamed by marriage, lest it burns down the house with its fiery heat, or was it indeed passion that freed the soul from its mud house? Total words: 1739