Member-only story
When H.G.Wells Wrote A Love Story
A tale of love, loss and devotion from the ‘Father of Science.’
“The pearl is lovelier than the most brilliant of crystalline stones, the moralist declares, because it is made through the suffering of a living creature.”
When these are the opening lines, you know that you have signed up for something hauntingly beautiful by H.G. Wells!
Published in The Strand Magazine in 1925, The Pearl of Love by H. G. Wells narrates the story of an Indian prince who falls in love with a beautiful, young maiden, gets married to her and faces the fatality of his beloved’s death just after a year of enjoying the sheer delight of marital bliss.
At the onset, the story seems to have the typical trope of a tragic love story where the forlorn lover yearns for togetherness and reminiscences the memories of the past. But what differentiates this story from the hundreds of tragedies written in the past and those being conceived today is its focus on the theme of change — metamorphosis.
If we follow the story, we see that the desolate Prince instructs his men to build a gorgeous, mighty, star-studded architecture for storing his beloved’s body. From intricate carvings to scented wood and finer colours to the use of delicate ornamentation — the Prince denounces all…
