“You don’t just walk up to a girl, hand her a bouquet, and say, ‘Hey, remember me? We were kids together. Will you marry me?’”—Robin Hood (Robin Hood, 1973)
I’m excited to participate in a weeklong celebration of romance tropes, with reflections from a variety of authors on such tropes as friends-to-lovers, fake dating, and forbidden love. Today, let’s look at one of my personal favorites: childhood sweethearts!
Childhood sweethearts can be an adorable romance trope. Just picture it: two kids meeting on the school playground, sitting together at lunch, sticking by each other throughout high school, and marrying each other right out of college. Or maybe they met as kids but fell out of touch as they grew up, only to meet each other again at a random social event and discover that they still have so much in common.
I mean, let’s be honest, how many of us still kind of wish our first crush had worked out?
A subcategory of the friends-to-lovers trope, childhood sweethearts is one of my favorites to read about. But as with any trope, it comes with great potential for cheesiness. So let’s look at how it can be done right—and how to avoid doing it wrong!
The Cheesy Way
Does anyone else cringe a little bit when they hear second-graders talking about their boyfriends? We older, wiser adults know that they’re far too young for that yet. They change their best friend every day, and here they are talking about romantic relationships? Yikes!
I think this is the biggest pitfall for the childhood sweethearts trope: having the characters fall in love too early. Sure, they can be best friends their whole lives, but when they’re dating from the time they’re nine, it just gets a little weird. We don’t need child romances, y’all. Let them grow up a little first.
Another issue I sometimes see with this trope is the characters splitting over some petty disagreement in high school that leads to mutual hatred for the next decade. (Just stab at a pile of Hallmark films. You’ll find the one I’m talking about.) When the characters meet again due to random happenstance, Sue still hasn’t forgiven Bill for putting a toy snake in her locker that made her shriek so loudly that the entire cheerleading squad made fun of her for the rest of the year. Sure, this adds tension, but it also just makes the characters seem terribly immature.
The Cute Way
Okay, so now that we’ve looked at a couple of ways this trope can go wrong, let’s look at some ways it can be used well! When utilized properly, the innocence of childhood unlocks the potential for some especially sweet romances down the road.
A few good childhood sweetheart stories that come to mind are the 1973 Robin Hood (yes, the one with lions and foxes and bears [oh my!]), The Lion King, and Harry Potter. Let’s look at each of these individually to see what they’ve done well.
In Robin Hood, Robin and Maid Marian haven’t seen each other in years. They grew up together, probably flirted a little, and then got separated when Marian was sent away. Both assume that the other has forgotten them, when in reality, they both think about each other all the time. It’s Robin’s love for Marian that inspires him to risk his life in attending Prince John’s archery competition (which is obviously a trap for him). He’s willing to give up everything for the chance to see Marian one more time and see if he can possibly still have a chance with her. (And who can forget that precious line: “Marian my darling, I love you more than life itself.”)
Per Disney tradition, Marian and Robin enter a relationship rather quickly. But in this case, it totally works. They’ve been in love with each other for years. They don’t have to take the time to get to know each other, because they already know each other. They’re grown up now and know that they want, so why wait any longer than they already have?
Next up is The Lion King (one of my favorite movies of all time). Simba and Nala are just buddies when we first meet them—partners-in-crime, as it were. When they learn that they’re supposed to be married one day, they’re disgusted. (They are just kids, after all.)
Things have changed when they meet again several years later, though. They’re all grown up now, and suddenly those feelings of deep affection and friendship have blossomed into something much deeper. Simba’s insistence that “I can’t marry her—she’s my friend!” has turned into, “Why shouldn’t I marry her? She’s my friend!” Their childhood friendship has laid a solid foundation for their adult romance.
Finally, we have Harry Potter*. I’m well aware that people are still divided on whether Harry should have ended up with Ginny or Hermione, but I personally am quite pleased with Mrs. Ginevra Potter. Ginny fell hard for Harry the first time she met him, that scrawny, bespectacled kid completely lost at King’s Cross Station, and it’s pretty obvious for a couple of years. But when Harry doesn’t immediately return her affections (they are kids, after all!), she shifts her focus. She becomes Harry’s friend. She dates other guys.
And when Harry suddenly wakes up and sees that Ginny’s been there all along, she’s still there. Their friendship has done what her lovesick actions from her eleven-year-old days could never have done. They can have a strong relationship as a dating (and later married) couple because they’ve already laid that foundation of friendship.
*I have the book in mind here. The film Harry and Ginny are a different story altogether.
Conclusion
Sensing a theme yet? In my experience, the best childhood sweetheart relationships come when the romance sprouted from innocent friendship. Maybe they’ve been friends forever, maybe they’ve been separated for a time, but at some point, what started as friendship becomes something much deeper.
These romances can be some of the sweetest to read about, because these are people who really know each other. When they fall in love, they don’t have to stumble through the awkward getting-to-know-you phase. They can go deeper, sooner, because they’re spent their entire lives preparing to be married to one another.
All right, your turn! Who are some of your favorite literary childhood sweethearts? How have you seen this trope can poorly? Done well? Comment below, and let’s fangirl together!
Read more:
Mon, February 10 - Marriage of convenience - L.E. Morgan
Tue, February 11 - Best friends-to-lovers - R.M. Archer
Wed, February 12 - Childhood sweethearts - M.C. Kennedy
Thu, February 13 - Opposites attract - Grace Johnson
Fri, February 14 - Fake dating - Nicki Chapelway
Sat, February 15 - Forbidden love - Kellyn Roth
Comments