Forbidden Love
Forbidden love can take many forms. It can be the love between two people who come from different religious backgrounds or classes, who belong to what is considered different races or age groups, or who is of the same sex.
Keywords
- background (n.)
- religious (adj.)
- status (n.)
- divorce (v.)
- honour killing (n.)
What It Means
Forbidden love implies that the relationship is not approved of by the surroundings, be it parents, family members, friends, or society in general. In countries such as India, for instance, the caste system decides your socio-economic status, and people from different castes rarely get married.
Sikh Girl Meets Divorced Atheist Boy
In her book The Obscure Logic of the Heart, the British-born Indian Priya Basil tells the story of how she had to struggle to make her parents accept that she was not going to marry a Sikh like herself. For Indians, she writes, a good husband or wife is first and foremost one with the same background as yourself – whether you are happy together as a couple is less important. Even though many other family members before her had married non-Sikh partners, her parents were outraged when she told them that she had met a 12 years older divorced atheist. Her mother forbade her to mention her partner's name in her presence and refused to meet him. Priya Basil's story has a happy ending: She married the divorcee and is still on good terms with her family. However, more often things do not work out so well for everyone involved.
Muslim Girl Meets Catholic Boy
In the book Forbidden Love, another true story about love against all odds is told. Although, in this story, the love does not survive. The story, written by Norma Khouri, is set in Jordan, a predominantly Muslim country. Here, Khouri's friend Dalia lived with her family. When she was 25, she fell in love with Michael, a young Catholic man and a major in the Royal Army. She knew that if their relationship was discovered, it could cost her her life. In Jordan, honour killings are still practised in some families.
Honour Killing
An honour killing is the homicide of a family member who is meant to have brought shame upon the family – for instance, if a woman is involved with a man before marrying him. Dalia and Michael were only able to be alone on a handful of occasions, and their relationship remained completely chaste. Nevertheless, two months after she turned 26, Dalia was killed by her father. Her older brother had found out about her involvement with Michael and had told their father.