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Alove triangle[1] is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as arivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in aromantic relationship with one person,[2][3][4] or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneously pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with someone else.[5][6][7][8] A love triangle typically is not conceived of as a situation in which one person loves a second person, who loves a third person, who loves the first person, or variations thereof.[9]
Love triangles are a commonnarrative device in theater, literature, and film. Statistics suggest that, in Western society, "Willingly or not, most adults have been involved in a love triangle."[10]: 149
The 1994 bookBeliefs, Reasoning, and Decision Making states, "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."[11]
The term "love triangle" generally connotes an arrangement unsuitable to one or more of the people involved. One person typically ends up feeling betrayed at some point (e.g., "Person A isjealous of Person C who is having a relationship with Person B who, in Person A's eyes, is "their person.").[12] A similar arrangement that is agreed upon by all parties is sometimes called atriad, which is a type ofpolyamory even though polyamory usually implies sexual relations. Within the context ofmonogamy, love triangles are inherently unstable, withunrequited love and jealousy as common themes. In most cases, the jealous or rejected first party ends a friendship – and sometimes even starts a fight with – the second party over the third-party love interest. Though rare, love triangles have been known to lead tomurder orsuicide committed by the actual or perceived rejected lover.
Psychoanalysis has explored "the theme of erotic love triangles and their roots in theOedipal triangle".[13] 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".[13] In such instances, "you find men who are attracted only by a married woman but who can't sustain the relationship if it threatens to become more than an affair. Theyneed the husband to protect them from afull relationship...as women who repeatedly get involved with married men need the wives".[14]
"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 feelsabandoned, B isbetween two mates, and C is acatalyst for crisis in the union A-B".[10]: 148
It has been suggested that if men "share a sense of brotherhood and they allow a woman into their relationship, anisosceles triangle is created" automatically, as "inTruffaut's filmJules et Jim".[15]René Girard has explored the role of envy andmimetic desire in such relationships, arguing that often the situation "subordinates a desiredsomething to thesomeone who enjoys a privileged relationship with it".[16] In such cases, 'it cannot be fair to blame the quarrel of the mimetic twins on a woman. ... She is their common scapegoat'.[17]
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".[10]: 168 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".[18]
As to gender responsibility, evidence would seem to indicate that inlate 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"[10]: 166 and that certainly there is nothing to "suggest that a man is better able to control himself in a love triangle than a woman".[19] Stereotypically, the person at the center of a rivalrous love triangle is a woman, whereas for a split-object love triangle it is a man, due to the same reasons thatpolygyny is far more common thanpolyandry.
A love triangle should not be confused with aménage à trois, a three-way relationship in which either all members are romantically involved with each other, or one member has relations with two others who are reconciled to the situation instead of being in conflict. Ménage à trois is French and directly translates to "household for three" meaning it is usually composed of a "married couple and a lover ... who live together while sharing sexual relations". This differs from a love triangle because each participant is equally motivated purely by sexual desires.[citation needed] 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')".[20]
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Love triangles are a popular theme in entertainment, especially romantic fiction, includingopera,[22]romance novels,[23]soap operas,romantic comedies,manga,tabloid talk shows, andpopular music. They are a major aspect ofIndian television shows.[24]
Three of the highest grossing movies of all time adjusted for inflation (Gone with the Wind,Titanic[25] andDoctor Zhivago) are romanticepics that feature a love triangle at its core.Young adult literature has seen a rise in the popularity of the love triangle story structure (such asTwilight orThe Selection). But the love triangle story structure has been around since before early classic writers likeWilliam Shakespeare andAlexandre Dumas. Shakespeare's famous playRomeo and Juliet featured a love triangle between Juliet, Romeo, and Paris. Although more subtle, Dumas's classicsThe Count of Monte Cristo andThe Three Musketeers also feature love triangles strong enough to seek revenge and start a war.
Bengali writerBankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1865 novelDurgeshnandini also follows a love triangle between Jagat Singh (aMughal General), Tilottama (the daughter of a Bengali feudal lord), and Ayesha (the daughter of a rebel Pathan leader against whom Jagat Singh was fighting).
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. Love triangles also featured prominently onsoap operas, and can span more than a decade, as shown byTaylor Hamilton,Ridge Forrester andBrooke Logan onThe Bold and the Beautiful, or betweenLuke Spencer,Laura Spencer, andScotty Baldwin onGeneral Hospital.
A situation in which two people both love a third person:
A situation when two persons both love a third person, usu. of opposite sex.
A state of affairs in which one person is romantically or sexually involved with two others (one or both of whom may not be aware of or complicit in the situation).
A situation in which one of the partners in a romantic or sexual relationship also loves someone else.
For the pleasure of the entire family, this domestic tragedy/comedy revolves around the eternal triangle: Madame, Monsieur and the lover (or mistress). One topographical peculiarity is the all too frequent discovery of Monsieur (or Madame's lover) in shorts in the depths of a closet. The triangle is often adapted to the tastes of the day (introducing elements such as homosexuality, the timid appearance of infantile or mentally deficient characters, the eternal generation gap between the affluent character and the hippie).
A relationship between three people, typically a couple and the lover of one of them, involving sexual rivalry.
A situation in which someone is having a sexual relationship with the partner of a close friend.
