"It's no problem of mine but it's a problem I fight, living a life that I can't leave behind. But there's no sense in telling me, the wisdom of the cruel words that you speak. But that's the way that it goes and nobody knows, while everyday my confusion grows."

--New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle, from Substance, 1987

Most people who have watched a soap opera can recognize that the love triangle is a crucial element to the plot. In fact, the original radio broadcasted soap operas seemed to consist almost entirely of love triangles. The love triangle, for plot purposes, seems to be a popular technique employed to change the dynamic, add dimension, and generally 'spice up' an otherwise stagnant monogamous relationship. It would make for a pretty dull and quite unpopular show if such popular daytime soap characters as Luke and Laura or Bo and Hope had enjoyed a smooth courtship, uncomplicated marriage and then grew old and gray together without a single conflict. The viewers watched them go through many conflicts, some of which involved the classic love triangle. Such conflicts as

On the other hand, Greta is able to fulfill all of her wifely duties for Gabriel, including bearing his children. He even thinks, until he realizes her attachment to Michael, that she performs these duties blissfully. Greta plays the part of the doting ornament at his aunt's party, appearing as though Gabriel were the center of her universe. As they danced Gabriel felt "proud and happy...proud of her grace and wifely carriage"(Joyce 2031). As they are leaving, Greta "turned towards them and Gabriel saw that there was color on her cheeks and that her eyes were shining"(Joyce 2029). But it was Michael, not Gabriel, who was the reason for the expression. Despite Greta's anguish over the song and the memory it brought, she was not too distraught to attempt to stroke her husband's ego. She kissed him and said, "You are a very generous person, Gabriel"(Joyce 2032). But Gabriel's joy at this attention is later crushed as it is made apparent to him that all along "she had been comparing him in her mind to another" (Joyce 2033). Greta's sense of wifely duty toward Gabriel had protected him from this knowledge all the years of their marriage. With the truth out, Gabriel may never return to the comfortable illusion that Greta had allowed him to live him for so long. Michael may now always be a haunting presence in their marriage, and the reader is not told if Greta will favor her sense of duty to her marriage or to his memory.

As for Sue, in Jude, her guilt operates on a completely different level, a religious one. Like Greta, Sue also had a sick man die after braving the elements just to see her. Yet, unlike The Dead, this event has no great impact on the love triangle between Jude, Sue and Philotson. This three-cornered romantic disaster, because of Sue's return to Philotson, had already reached it's climax. If anything, Jude's death made Sue's promise never to see him again easier. But because Jude's death happens at the end of novel, the reader does not find out if this adds to or detracts from her guilt. All we are told is that she is "tired and miserable," "years and years older," "quite a staid worn woman," and still absolutely repulsed by Philotson (Hardy 431). Sue's guilt originates from societal pressures, and then surfaces after the death of the children. She knows that shacking up with Jude after her divorce from Philotson is frowned upon, yet she does not share the same morals and values as the society in which she lived, thus, does not expect any sort of punishment. She takes the horrifying death of her children as a sign of divine admonishment. "I see marriage differently now!...My babies have been taken from me to show me this!"(Hardy 369). Therefore, so that their death's would not have been in vain, Sue becomes religious and returns to Philotson, adding more complexity to the triangle. Sue's last words to Jude before he dies are: "Don't follow me-don't look at me. Leave me, for pity's sake!"(Hardy 412). This bizarre love triangle may not be broken even after Jude's death, for it is he whom she really loves. For Philotson, Sue only feels a sense of duty.

The key triangles I will focus on are comprised of Michael, Greta and Gabriel, and, Philotson, Sue, and Jude. Although not absolutely identical, deconstruction reveals guilt, duty, and unrequited love as essential components to the construction of both.

While Greta sleeps, recovering from the memories brought by The Lass of Aughrim, Gabriel contempla

Some common words found in the essay are:
Greta Michael, Jude Actually, Lass Aughrim, Father Time's, Philotson Hardy, Despite Greta's, Bo Hope, Triangle Substance, Sue Jude, Poor Philotson, love triangle, love triangles, unrequited love, death children, guilt duty unrequited, sue jude, jude's death, sense duty, jude obscure, soap opera, guilt duty, bizarre love triangle, duty unrequited love, joyce's dead thomas, thomas hardy's jude,
Approximate Word count = 2342
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)