Many of the most compelling love stories are tragic ones. From Romeo and Juliet to Ennis and Jack, here’s a look at nine romances that have had the opposite of happy endings. How many have left you in tears?
Anna Karenina appears to have the perfect happy family with her husband, a wealthy bureaucrat, and their son, until she begins what becomes a very public affair with a handsome count. Their relationship quickly dissolves, along with her place in society. Disgraced, shamed, and heartbroken, Anna meets her death on the Russian railroad.
In this musical adaptation of Romeo & Juliet set in 1950s New York City, the love of teenagers Maria and Tony is doomed by their affiliations with rival gangs. They carry on a secret romance as tension between the gangs escalates and ends in tragedy.
In Gustave Flaubert’s novel, Emma Bovary is bored and dissatisfied with her marriage to a country doctor. Her escapes into fantasy and infidelity lead her to financial ruin and, ultimately, a tragic end.
In E. Annie Proulx’s short story, which later became an Academy Award-winning film, ranch hands Ennis and Jack fall for each other in rural Wyoming and begin a long-term love affair. An unaccepting culture compels them to keep their love secret, however, and they live apart while each secretly pines for the man he truly loves
