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O Romeo, Romeo! 1)Wherefore art thou, Romeo?”
Breaking the rules, my little underage 2)peanut.
Because, in reality, that’s exactly what Romeo was doing when he 3)set his sights on that pretty piece of4)Veronian tragedy, Juliet. Daddy 5)et al. said not to push that little 6)red button, but Romeo was not one to 7)heed red-button-advice. And 8)vice versa. Juliet, still 9)under Mama’s thumb at the 10)ripe old age of 13, was meant to be marrying a much more appropriate suitor—the11)illustrious, if somewhat boring, Paris. Yet even Paris had been told to back off for the present due to Juliet’s somewhat (even for that day) 12)risqué circumstances: she was, after all, only 13. Capulet and Montague alike could agree: Don’t push that little red button.
But we all know what that means…
It really just seems part of our nature sometimes, doesn’t it? Quick! Don’t think of elephants! And what are you thinking about right now? Tell us not to think and our minds start racing. Tell us not to touch and our fingers begin to 13)itch. Tell us not to love and we 14)trip all over ourselves to declare our undying passion. Rules, as they say, were made to be broken, and we are very much inclined to do so. And if those rules were ever to be taken away, an element of passion, of pure 15)disregard for anything but love, would most certainly vanish. We need rules, if only so that we can 16)throw caution to the wind in the name of love and bust those rules to pieces. It’s a theme that we see 17)cropping up again and again in all forms of literature and from all ages of history—even the current one.
Let’s take a look at some slightly more modern examples of why “no more rules” would mean “no more love”:
The Notebook
First a novel by 18)Nicholas Sparks, later a movie directed by Nick Cassavetes, The Notebook tells the story of a man telling a story. As a young man, Noah Calhoun experienced the tragedy of love 19)ripped apart by a tradition older than writing itself—class. Unable to find the love of his life after her parents 20)spirit her away, he is left trying to put together the remaining pieces of his life. But when that woman, Allie Hamilton, walks back into his life, he ignores every rule in the Book of Class in favour of something a little crazier: love.
The Notebook is, without a doubt, a study in breaking the rules that bind love. With our heroine 21)defying her parents and our hero defying just about everyone on the planet, we have to ask: What if no one had had any problems with them at all? If Allie’s parents hadn’t been hiding the letters, would she have started writing back to Noah? And if so, would their passion—left 22)bottled and ready to burst by denial—have simply leaked out and…gone away? Is it too 23)farfetched to think that absence makes the heart grow fonder?
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy—the absolute24)epitome of a love-hate relationship. Seemingly drawn together by 25)nothing short of fate, their love for each other grows out of a 26)grudging respect despite their many prejudices and assumptions. Mr. Darcy’s ill-conceived confession of love is enough to make anyone 27)squirm in their seats; his proposal is barely more than a listing of everything he can’t stand about Elizabeth’s life—not exactly the best way to win a woman’s heart. And to 28)top it all off, the woman to whom he’s proposing happens to hate everything about him. Between the two of them, there is just enough 29)enmity to make the dissolution of their preconceived notions a humorous and romantic ending to the novel.
But really, when the assumptions and prejudices disappear, what’s left? Was Mr. Darcy really such a great guy for Elizabeth, or did he just seem that way in comparison to the person she had judged him to be? And was Elizabeth truly so special, or did her faults just highlight the few good things? Without their prejudices, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy probably wouldn’t have given each other a second glance. The only reason they took any notice of each other in the first place was because of their mutual dislike based on social assumptions. Without those social prejudices—those social rules—their relationship wouldn’t have even left the ground.
The breaking of rules is like a 30)stapler that 31)punches through everything to bind relationships together. Sure, relationships can happen without rules, but they’re a little less dramatic, a little less passionate—a little less like love. People may cry for acceptance, 32)holler, for tolerance, and that’s all well and good. But I say: No more rules? No more love.
噢，罗密欧啊，罗密欧！为什么你偏偏是罗密欧呢？”
打破制约吧，我未成年的小乖乖。
因为其实，在那个悲剧里，当罗密欧决心追求维罗纳城那美丽的朱丽叶时，他就是这样做的。爸爸等人都规劝罗密欧不要去触“霉头”，但是他对忠言充耳不闻。朱丽叶亦如是。她当时已是十三岁的“熟女”，仍然在妈妈的管教之下，将会嫁给一个更加合适的追求者——才华杰出却性格有点沉闷的帕里司。然而，即使是帕里司，也被要求暂时不要碰朱丽叶，避免落得觊觎幼女有伤风化之名（即使是那个年代，人们都这么认为）：毕竟她才芳华十三。凯普莱特（朱丽叶家族的姓）和蒙太古（罗密欧家族的姓）一致认为：不要破戒。
但是我们都知道那些忠告意味着什么……
有时候那似乎出于我们的天性，不是吗？好！不准想大象！可是现在你正想着什么？愈叫我们不要想，我们的大脑就愈开始加速运转。愈叫我们不要碰，我们就愈开始手痒痒。愈是叫我们不要相爱，我们就愈是迫不及待地要去爱到海枯石烂此情不渝。正如人们说的，条条框框就是用来被打破的，而且我们也热衷于此。如果什么时候取消了这些限制，这些激情的元素被称为激情的东西，那种无视一切只求真爱的狂妄，也很可能会随之消失殆尽。我们需要条框限制，只有这样，我们才能以爱的名义把劝告抛之脑后，将条条框框击个粉碎。这是个永恒的主题，常常出现在各种形式的文学和各个世代的历史中——即使是现今也不例外。
现在我们来看看一些现代点的例子，以说明为什么“没有条条框框”，就意味着“爱恋不成”：
《恋恋笔记本》
先是尼古拉斯·斯帕克斯写的小说《恋恋笔记本》，然后是尼克·卡索维茨执导的同名电影，描述的都是一个男人在复述一个故事。年轻的时候，诺亚·卡尔霍恩被迫与挚爱分离。造成这场悲剧的是一个比书写的出现还古老的传统——门第高低。当她的父母偷偷地带走她之后，他再也无法觅得真爱，孑然一身地苟且度日。但是当艾丽·汉密尔顿这个女人重回他的生活之后，他就不再顾忌门第规条，而是选择做一件有点疯狂的事：爱。
毫无疑问，《恋恋笔记本》探讨了如何打破束缚爱情的枷锁。女主人公违抗父母之命，而男主人公也不再听所有人的劝告，这时，我们不禁会疑问：要是所有人都压根儿不反对他们俩在一起，那会怎样？如果艾丽的父母没有藏起他寄给她的信，那她还会给诺亚回信吗？即使她真的回信了，他们的感情——因周遭的反对而被封存压抑得一触即发——会不会只是由浓转淡……继而消失？反而离别更添情深，这想法不算离谱吧？
《傲慢与偏见》
伊丽莎白·本纳特和达西先生是一对极为典型的欢喜冤家。他们看似是被命运硬拉到一起的，虽然他们对对方都存在着许多偏见和先入为主的想法，彼此都不怎么互相尊敬，但是他们还是从中萌生了爱意。达西先生的示爱拙劣得足以让每个在座的人焦急不安；他的求婚只不过是列举了伊丽莎白的生活中所有让他无法忍受的地方——这可不是赢得女人芳心的明智之举。而且最糟糕的是，他求婚的对象正好处处看他不顺眼。在那恰如其分的敌意的催化下，两人彼此之间的偏见终得以化解，并促成了一个幽默而浪漫的故事结局。
但是说真的，当傲慢与偏见都消失之后，还剩下什么？对于伊丽莎白来说，达西先生真的是如此优秀吗？或者说，只不过是与她之前误以为的那种人对比起来，他显得比较优秀而已吧？而且伊丽莎白真的那么特别吗，或者说，只不过她的缺点更加彰显她那些寥寥可数的优点而已？没有对彼此的偏见，伊丽莎白和达西先生可能不会再看对方一眼。一开始他们注意到对方的原因只是互相的厌恶，而这种厌恶是基于对社会阶层的偏见。没有这些世俗偏见——这些世俗限制——他们的关系就不会生根发展。
对条条框框的破除就像是用一部订书机，穿透一切阻碍，把两人的爱牢牢地订在一起。当然，没有制约的情况下也可以产生爱情，只不过这样的爱情没有那么跌宕起伏，那么激动人心——也就没有那么像爱情了。人们或许会哭喊着要求被接纳，呐喊着要求被宽容，而这样做是非常好的。可是我想说的是：没有规条制约？那就爱恋不成。
Breaking the rules, my little underage 2)peanut.
Because, in reality, that’s exactly what Romeo was doing when he 3)set his sights on that pretty piece of4)Veronian tragedy, Juliet. Daddy 5)et al. said not to push that little 6)red button, but Romeo was not one to 7)heed red-button-advice. And 8)vice versa. Juliet, still 9)under Mama’s thumb at the 10)ripe old age of 13, was meant to be marrying a much more appropriate suitor—the11)illustrious, if somewhat boring, Paris. Yet even Paris had been told to back off for the present due to Juliet’s somewhat (even for that day) 12)risqué circumstances: she was, after all, only 13. Capulet and Montague alike could agree: Don’t push that little red button.
But we all know what that means…
It really just seems part of our nature sometimes, doesn’t it? Quick! Don’t think of elephants! And what are you thinking about right now? Tell us not to think and our minds start racing. Tell us not to touch and our fingers begin to 13)itch. Tell us not to love and we 14)trip all over ourselves to declare our undying passion. Rules, as they say, were made to be broken, and we are very much inclined to do so. And if those rules were ever to be taken away, an element of passion, of pure 15)disregard for anything but love, would most certainly vanish. We need rules, if only so that we can 16)throw caution to the wind in the name of love and bust those rules to pieces. It’s a theme that we see 17)cropping up again and again in all forms of literature and from all ages of history—even the current one.
Let’s take a look at some slightly more modern examples of why “no more rules” would mean “no more love”:
The Notebook
First a novel by 18)Nicholas Sparks, later a movie directed by Nick Cassavetes, The Notebook tells the story of a man telling a story. As a young man, Noah Calhoun experienced the tragedy of love 19)ripped apart by a tradition older than writing itself—class. Unable to find the love of his life after her parents 20)spirit her away, he is left trying to put together the remaining pieces of his life. But when that woman, Allie Hamilton, walks back into his life, he ignores every rule in the Book of Class in favour of something a little crazier: love.
The Notebook is, without a doubt, a study in breaking the rules that bind love. With our heroine 21)defying her parents and our hero defying just about everyone on the planet, we have to ask: What if no one had had any problems with them at all? If Allie’s parents hadn’t been hiding the letters, would she have started writing back to Noah? And if so, would their passion—left 22)bottled and ready to burst by denial—have simply leaked out and…gone away? Is it too 23)farfetched to think that absence makes the heart grow fonder?
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy—the absolute24)epitome of a love-hate relationship. Seemingly drawn together by 25)nothing short of fate, their love for each other grows out of a 26)grudging respect despite their many prejudices and assumptions. Mr. Darcy’s ill-conceived confession of love is enough to make anyone 27)squirm in their seats; his proposal is barely more than a listing of everything he can’t stand about Elizabeth’s life—not exactly the best way to win a woman’s heart. And to 28)top it all off, the woman to whom he’s proposing happens to hate everything about him. Between the two of them, there is just enough 29)enmity to make the dissolution of their preconceived notions a humorous and romantic ending to the novel.
But really, when the assumptions and prejudices disappear, what’s left? Was Mr. Darcy really such a great guy for Elizabeth, or did he just seem that way in comparison to the person she had judged him to be? And was Elizabeth truly so special, or did her faults just highlight the few good things? Without their prejudices, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy probably wouldn’t have given each other a second glance. The only reason they took any notice of each other in the first place was because of their mutual dislike based on social assumptions. Without those social prejudices—those social rules—their relationship wouldn’t have even left the ground.
The breaking of rules is like a 30)stapler that 31)punches through everything to bind relationships together. Sure, relationships can happen without rules, but they’re a little less dramatic, a little less passionate—a little less like love. People may cry for acceptance, 32)holler, for tolerance, and that’s all well and good. But I say: No more rules? No more love.
噢，罗密欧啊，罗密欧！为什么你偏偏是罗密欧呢？”
打破制约吧，我未成年的小乖乖。
因为其实，在那个悲剧里，当罗密欧决心追求维罗纳城那美丽的朱丽叶时，他就是这样做的。爸爸等人都规劝罗密欧不要去触“霉头”，但是他对忠言充耳不闻。朱丽叶亦如是。她当时已是十三岁的“熟女”，仍然在妈妈的管教之下，将会嫁给一个更加合适的追求者——才华杰出却性格有点沉闷的帕里司。然而，即使是帕里司，也被要求暂时不要碰朱丽叶，避免落得觊觎幼女有伤风化之名（即使是那个年代，人们都这么认为）：毕竟她才芳华十三。凯普莱特（朱丽叶家族的姓）和蒙太古（罗密欧家族的姓）一致认为：不要破戒。
但是我们都知道那些忠告意味着什么……
有时候那似乎出于我们的天性，不是吗？好！不准想大象！可是现在你正想着什么？愈叫我们不要想，我们的大脑就愈开始加速运转。愈叫我们不要碰，我们就愈开始手痒痒。愈是叫我们不要相爱，我们就愈是迫不及待地要去爱到海枯石烂此情不渝。正如人们说的，条条框框就是用来被打破的，而且我们也热衷于此。如果什么时候取消了这些限制，这些激情的元素被称为激情的东西，那种无视一切只求真爱的狂妄，也很可能会随之消失殆尽。我们需要条框限制，只有这样，我们才能以爱的名义把劝告抛之脑后，将条条框框击个粉碎。这是个永恒的主题，常常出现在各种形式的文学和各个世代的历史中——即使是现今也不例外。
现在我们来看看一些现代点的例子，以说明为什么“没有条条框框”，就意味着“爱恋不成”：
《恋恋笔记本》
先是尼古拉斯·斯帕克斯写的小说《恋恋笔记本》，然后是尼克·卡索维茨执导的同名电影，描述的都是一个男人在复述一个故事。年轻的时候，诺亚·卡尔霍恩被迫与挚爱分离。造成这场悲剧的是一个比书写的出现还古老的传统——门第高低。当她的父母偷偷地带走她之后，他再也无法觅得真爱，孑然一身地苟且度日。但是当艾丽·汉密尔顿这个女人重回他的生活之后，他就不再顾忌门第规条，而是选择做一件有点疯狂的事：爱。
毫无疑问，《恋恋笔记本》探讨了如何打破束缚爱情的枷锁。女主人公违抗父母之命，而男主人公也不再听所有人的劝告，这时，我们不禁会疑问：要是所有人都压根儿不反对他们俩在一起，那会怎样？如果艾丽的父母没有藏起他寄给她的信，那她还会给诺亚回信吗？即使她真的回信了，他们的感情——因周遭的反对而被封存压抑得一触即发——会不会只是由浓转淡……继而消失？反而离别更添情深，这想法不算离谱吧？
《傲慢与偏见》
伊丽莎白·本纳特和达西先生是一对极为典型的欢喜冤家。他们看似是被命运硬拉到一起的，虽然他们对对方都存在着许多偏见和先入为主的想法，彼此都不怎么互相尊敬，但是他们还是从中萌生了爱意。达西先生的示爱拙劣得足以让每个在座的人焦急不安；他的求婚只不过是列举了伊丽莎白的生活中所有让他无法忍受的地方——这可不是赢得女人芳心的明智之举。而且最糟糕的是，他求婚的对象正好处处看他不顺眼。在那恰如其分的敌意的催化下，两人彼此之间的偏见终得以化解，并促成了一个幽默而浪漫的故事结局。
但是说真的，当傲慢与偏见都消失之后，还剩下什么？对于伊丽莎白来说，达西先生真的是如此优秀吗？或者说，只不过是与她之前误以为的那种人对比起来，他显得比较优秀而已吧？而且伊丽莎白真的那么特别吗，或者说，只不过她的缺点更加彰显她那些寥寥可数的优点而已？没有对彼此的偏见，伊丽莎白和达西先生可能不会再看对方一眼。一开始他们注意到对方的原因只是互相的厌恶，而这种厌恶是基于对社会阶层的偏见。没有这些世俗偏见——这些世俗限制——他们的关系就不会生根发展。
对条条框框的破除就像是用一部订书机，穿透一切阻碍，把两人的爱牢牢地订在一起。当然，没有制约的情况下也可以产生爱情，只不过这样的爱情没有那么跌宕起伏，那么激动人心——也就没有那么像爱情了。人们或许会哭喊着要求被接纳，呐喊着要求被宽容，而这样做是非常好的。可是我想说的是：没有规条制约？那就爱恋不成。