Today's post is on the idea of love and hate. Do they lie on a continuum or are they just opposites. The way we generally think of love and hate is that it lies on a continuum and as you get closer to one you get farther from the other. This idea is not necessarily true. In fact love and hate may be much closer than we think. The way I think of love and hat are that they are on one end of the continuum as opposites and at the other end is apathy. So the closer we get to apathy the farther away from love and hate we get. In fact in my mind it is worse to have apathy about a person than hate (at least with hate you care about the person). A simple test of this is think about the people that we hurt the most in our lives it is those that we tend to love the most. This is generally speaking of course and does not hold true for all people.
This brings me to the importance of the relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist. These two ideas are closely related and play an important part in each other lives. You could almost say that you can't have one without the other. In our creating of our characters it is important to look at what is really happening within the lives of our characters and how they play on each other. Are they on a continuum or are they opposites on the same end of the continuum.
i dont think there is a continuum between good and evil as i dont think you are stuck in eaither one and it is dictated by your actions in the moment...and a judgement of those...
ReplyDeleteI've always been interested in the love/hate thing. I think there are many romances that begin competitively, but very few romances that begin with complete apathy. It's useful to remember while writing villains, though!
ReplyDeleteI've always been fascinated by how, in real life, love and hate (with all their numerous hues and shades) are blended together by our uncontrolled reactions. It's a concoction that makes our interrelationships - and those of our characters - much more complex, but definitely more true and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am a professional actor and a writer.
I also have a blog where I write about both acting and writing, and anything else related to it.
I was looking for followers and I ran into your blog through that of my friend and writer Claudia Del Balso.
You have a very interesting blog.
When I prepare a character - and also when I analyze fictional characters from novels, plays, and the like - the emotional and the psychological aspects are the first ones I consider.
In that light, I think you might be interested in what I write. If that is so, I'd be happy to have you as a follower to my blog, commenting and sharing feedback whenever you have some.
I will definitely follow you. I'm glad I found someone who gives the psychological side life as much importance as I do.
All the best,
Jay Paoloni
jacopopaoloni.blogspot.com
I definitely agree that love and hate aren't the opposite of each other - they are far too close for that!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of writing, I've come across a few stories where the protagonist has pursued the antagonist relentlessly for years, they finally defeat them - and then fall apart because there is nothing else left for them.
I agree, they are very close emotions!
ReplyDeleteGreat point! An old expression comes to mind: friendship turns to love; love turns to hate.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point about apathy--at least love and hate are emotions, though hate can turn pretty ugly.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember with antagonists and protagonists that it isn't necessarily a negative emotion (like hate) that makes the conflict. Sometimes it is a positive emotion (like love) that can create the biggest conflict between people.
ReplyDeleteHence the never ending romantic theme: I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I love you.
ReplyDeleteHow many times have you read that one!!!
I comment
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is a sliding scale when it comes to this type of thing. Looking at love/hate or good and evil as black and white is nonsense in my opinion.
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