Star Wars Love

The Courtship of Princes Leia

by

Dave Wolverton

I don't see Star Wars as a lovey dovey type story even when it is all about relationships. For that I am thankful. This story shows a large range of just how love is found. The book starts out with a contrast between Han and Isolder and their love for Leia. Isolder is obviously a foil for Han to highlight his maturity. I probably can't get away with calling Han mature since a major part of the plot comes from him kidnapping Leia but lets ignore that bit for now.. Contrasted to Han, with much of his life is a struggle for financial gain, Isolder has everything he needs. Isolder, despite not knowing Leia, professed his love for her right away. Yet the only thing the two have in common is their duty to their people. Han does state his love for Leia after a slow growth of affection. This leads to the most important contrast. Isolder saw Leia as the perfect Queen Mother, strong but kind, he could only love her in that limited view. Han, by contrast, love Leia for who she is. The plot does a very good job of showing the readers this.  Both Han and Leia give consideration to each other throughout the story. Even with all the possible relationships this commitment is not see elsewhere, even by those who are not lovers but have other relationships.

Luke and Teneniel's potential relationship is intriguing but obviously not one that would work. Teneniel has strong and fast proclamations which is far from what Luke needs. Rapid change has left Luke wounded. His quick attachment to Obiwan and his subsequent loss had a strong impact on Luke. This loss isn't the only one that happened in a short amount of time after uniting with an individual. The current loving relationship that he has is with Leia. It would be slow to form but unyielding in strength.

(Sadly this was meant to be uploaded in August but do to time restraints my writing has taken a back seat.)