Love, Spurned

Love, Spurned

Anaxarete

princess turned to stone for scorning commoner’s love. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 21]

Aoi, Princess

afflicted by husband’s amours; declines and dies. [Jap. Lit.: The Tale of Genii]

Butterfly, Madame

considered herself Pinkerton’s wife; actually his mistress. [Am. Lit.: Madame Butterfly, Hart, 513; Ital Opera, Madama Butterfly]

Clavdia

thought Hans’s proposal foolish and refused him. [Ger. Lit.: The Magic Mountain, Magill I, 545–547]

Cloten

spurned but persistent lover of Imogen. [Br. Lit.: Cymbeline]

Conchobar

spurned, the king murders intended’s lover and his brothers. [Irish Legend: LLEI, I: 326]

Courtly, Sir Hartley

rejected by heiress; she prefers his son. [Br. Lit.: London Assurance, Walsh Modern, 108]

Dashwood, Elinor

bears rejection with dignity; eventually marries rejecter. [Br. Lit.: Sense and Sensibility]

Hermione

rejected by Pyrrhus, who weds Andromache. [Fr. Lit.: Andromache]

Hudson, Roderick

sculptor loses Christina Light to rich prince. [Am. Lit.: Roderick Hudson]

Hugon, George

rejected by Nana, he stabs himself. [Fr. Lit.: Nana, Magill I, 638–640]

Jason Medea’s

lover; leaves her for Glauce. [Gk. Lit.: Medea, Magill I, 573–575]

Laurie

long in love with Jo March, he begs her to marry him and is rejected. [Am. Lit.: Louisa May Alcott Little Women]

Litvinoff, Grigory

Irina dallies with him for years but never yields. [Russ. Lit.: Smoke in Magill I, 897]

Maggie

rejected by brother, lover, mother, and neighbors. [Am. Lit.: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Magill I, 543–544]

Mellefont

doublecrossed by friend and rejected lover. [Br. Lit.: The Double-Dealer]

Nemours, Count

de rejected by the Princess de Cleves, who will not betray her husband even after he dies. [Fr. Lit.: Countess de La Fayette The Princess of Cleves in Magill II, 856]

Newcome, Clive

social conventions forbid him to pursue Ethel. [Br. Lit.: The Newcomes, Magill I, 650–652]

Orestes

spurned suitor of Hermione. [Fr. Lit.: Andromache]

Phaedra

feigns rape on being scorned. [Gk. Lit.: Hippolytus]

Potiphar’s wife

traduces Joseph when seduction of him fails. [O.T.: Genesis 39:7–18]

Robin, Fanny

betrayed by Sergeant Troy, her betrothed. [Br. Lit.: Far From the Madding Crowd, Magill I, 266–268]

Touchwood, Lady

dissolute matron rejected by nephew’s love. [Br. Lit.: The Double-Dealer]

Wiggins, Mahalah

her fiancé changed his mind on their wedding day. [Am. Lit.: Peter Whiffle, Magill I, 739–741]

willow

tree emblem of rejected affection. [Plant Symbolism: “Tit-Willow,” Mikado; “Willow Song,” Othello]

Wingfield, Laura

caller fails to reciprocate the love she secretly had for him since high-school days. [Am. Drama: The Glass Menagerie in Hart, 317]

Zuleika

traditional name for Potiphar’s wife. [Pers. Lit.: Brewer Dictionary, 1175]