" Frankly , my dear , I do n’t give a tinker’s dam . " Even if you ’ve never read " Gone With the Wind " or seen the pic , you ’ve probably get a line that famed line . It ’s part of one of the most memorable exchange in the smolderingCivil War - earned run average beloved affair between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara . O’Hara is the brash , flirtatious girl of an Irish orchard proprietor , while Butler is a daring blockade runner . Butler is instantly smitten with O’Hara , but she ’s in dearest with Ashley Wilkes , a blue-blooded Southern gent . Nevertheless , she discover something about Butler quite appealing , and they eventuallymarry . But everything about their human relationship is stormy , from their passion to their arguments .
Scarlett and Rhett ’s relationship dramatic event may seem fit only for fiction , but great deal of veridical - life couples could go toe - to - toe with them as far as torrid affair go . Here are 10 historical duos that fit the bank bill , with love stories that span the wild-eyed spectrum : the commodity , the bad and the steamy .
10: Napoleon and Josephine
Marie - Josephe - Rose de Beauharnais was a 32 - year - quondam Paris socialite and widow mother of two when she first receive 26 - yr - old Napoleon Bonaparte in the later eighteenth century [ source : Amo Life ] . Beauharnais had no pastime at all in Napoleon , but Bonaparte – a unseasoned , ambitious soldier – was instantly draw to Josephine . Part of the reason was her own charm , although he was also hop tomarryan older , wealthy woman to boost his social status . Beauharnais ' lover at the time wanted to leave her for another cleaning woman , so he persuaded her to wed Napoleon . With no other means of support for herself and her kids , she reluctantly agree [ source : Schneider ] .
By the time they conjoin in 1796 , Napoleon wasdeeply in lovewith Josephine , as he call Beauharnais [ source : Boykin , Schneider ] . But as soon as he left to engage warfare in Italy , Josephine commence snarf up with men left and right-hand . Napoleon was totally oblivious . Eventually he discovered the Sojourner Truth and was crushed – then began his own string of liaison . Oddly , Josephine short fly in dearest with Napoleon and became faithful [ source : Schneider ] .
In 1804 , Napoleon was crown emperor of France . Driven to sire an heir because of this , yet splice to Josephine – who was by that point seemingly infertile – he disjoint her in 1809 and married Austrian Archduchess Maria - Louise , who did bear him a Word . Napoleon subsequently suffered legion military losses , then was exiled to Elba Island in 1814 . Maria - Louise fled back to Austria with their son , and he never saw them again . Josephine , still in love with Napoleon , wanted to get together him on Elba , but shedied – of a broken substance , grant to her doctor – before she fix the chance . Napoleon finally escaped back to Paris , where he clean violet from Josephine ’s garden and tire them in a locket until he died in 1821 [ sources : Schneider , Boykin ] .
9: Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson
One of history ’s famous line of work , uttered Dec. 11 , 1936 , comes from His Royal Highness Prince Edward : " I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of province and to eject my duty as King as I would wish well to do without the assist and support of the woman Ilove " [ source : Royal BC Museum ] . Here ’s his narrative .
Edward was heritor to the British pot in 1931 when he met Wallis Warfield Simpson at a company . Although it wasn’tlove at first sightfor either , the two traveled in the same societal circles and slowly their attraction grew . But there was one job , and it was a bounteous one . Simpson could never be considered an eligible match for Edward , as she was both married and an American . Pressure on the duad increased when , in 1936 , King George V – Edward ’s father – died . Edward was king [ source : Boykin ] .
Souvenirs were cursorily created for Edward ’s enthronement , but it never happened [ rootage : Royal BC Museum ] . England ’s premier rector told Edward that even if Simpson divorce , she could never become queen or even his choir – the terminus for the spouse or companion of a reign Danaus plexippus . But Edward love Wallis so much , he apace chose her over the crown , renounce the pot . ( It was during his abdication , broadcast by radiocommunication , that he spoke the famous furrow above . ) His younger brother became King George VI , and Edward was strip of his title of Duke of Windsor . Simpson did get divorced in 1937 , and the twomarried . They lived the rest of their life quietly in France [ origin : Royal BC Museum , Boykin ] .
8: Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett show a gift for lit since she was a young lady friend . And a couple of her early collections of poetry were so well - regarded , she was considered for the position of England ’s Poet Laureate . Unfortunately for Barrett , she spend a bonnie number of years bedrid and a chip cloistered , partly due to a spinal harm she suffered as a child , and partly due to a fear of her domineering dad . By most story , Barrett ’s Father of the Church , Edward Barrett Moulton , did do it his 12 children – but he did n’t want any of them to getmarried . Ever . His three girls were especially terrify at the thought of disobey him in this heed [ sources : Classic Reader , PBS , NNDB ] .
Enter Robert Browning . Browning was also apoet , and began reading Barrett ’s poems in 1844 . Intrigued , he began write to her in 1845 , when she was 39 and he was 33 . before long the two were stand for on a regular basis , and finally Browning began to jaw . The two fell madly , turbulently in dear . When the couple decided to marry in 1846 , Barrett was terrorize of her father ’s response , so they espouse in a secret ceremony , then determine up house in Italy . Although Barrett subsequently informed her father of hermarriageand begged his forgiveness , he never forgave her or consider her again . In fact , all of the letter she publish to him were returned unopened [ reference : NNDB ] .
Nevertheless , Barrett was unbelievably happy with Browning . The two had a Logos , Robert , and remained devoted to one another until Barrett ’s death , in her married man ’s arms , in 1861 [ sources : PBS , NNDB ] .
7: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Perhaps the most passionate , yet destructive , honey affair in history was the one between actor Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor . The pair first have to know one another in 1963 , on the stage set of " Cleopatra . " Taylor was 29 andmarriedto Eddie Fisher , her fourth married man , at the clip . The Welsh Burton , 38 , had been married to his first wife , Sybil , since 1949 [ informant : Biography ] . Liz and Dick quickly became inseparable , and by March 7 , 1964 , had split up their various mate and married one another [ source : Cahalan ] .
The Hollywood power couple act on 11 movies together , received Oscar nominations and made million . But both also battledaddictionsto hard drink and drugs , so despite their cacoethes and devotedness , their marriage was stormy . The match divorced in 1974 , remarried in 1975 and divorced again in 1976 [ informant : Cahalan ] .
But even divorced , they were never far from each other ’s minds or hearts , keep in cutaneous senses via varsity letter or phone [ root : Turner ] . In 1982 , shortly before Burton we d his 2d post - Liz married woman , the two harmonise to join force in Noel Coward ’s sport " Private Lives . " Although the play got terrible reviews , people were go to see the two together , and it was sold out every Nox . Who have it away if the yoke would have eventually married a third fourth dimension ; in 1984 , Burton die from a intellectual hemorrhage [ origin : Cahalan ] .
6: Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra get point in the " fervid " section because they die for their love . Cleopatrawas queen regnant of Egypt in the 1st hundred B.C. An ambitious charwoman , she had an engaging personality that men notice intriguing , despite her plain looking at . Hence , she was able to become the schoolmarm of Julius Caesar , king of Rome [ reference : Boykin ] .
In 44 B.C. , Caesar was assassinated and three men apprehensively unite forces to rule Rome : Gaius Octavian , Caesar ’s great-nephew ; Marcus Lepidus , an army general ; and Mark Antony , a papistic politico and universal . Antony invited Cleopatra to chit-chat in 41 B.C. , skip to forge a strategical alliance with Egypt . It was love at first sight for both , and a romance ensued . But the trio opinion Rome often fight with each other – and with outsider – so eventually Antony married Octavian ’s sis to helpkeep the peaceand insure his top executive [ sources : Boykin , Amo Life , Encyclopedia of World Biography ] .
In 36 B.C. , Antony come back to Egypt , and he and Cleopatra resumed their Latinian language . The two in spades bonk one another , yet they also used each other to their various political advantage : Cleopatra had money , and Antony had power . So Antony could aid Cleopatra stand off any invasion of Egypt by the Romans , while Cleopatra could assist finance Antony ’s U. S. Army [ root : ThinkQuest ] .
But the populace did n’t like these two political ball of fire joining force . Octavian stirred up animosity against the couple , partially because Antony resolve to divorce Octavian ’s sister to splice Cleopatra . During Antony ’s final conflict against Octavian and his forces , he was say Cleopatra had committed self-annihilation . lay waste to , he kill himself with a blade . Cleopatra was actually animated , and was subsequently taken prisoner . The story gets a piece turbid here . Legend says she somehow got a vicious snake in the grass into her cubicle , then let it strike and kill her . peradventure , mayhap not . But she did exit , and the two were buried next to one another [ root : Boykin ] .
5: Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin
Time : 1762 . position : Russia . Ruling the country was Czar Peter III . At his side was his married woman , Catherine the Great . Catherine was smart and challenging . Peter was n’t crisp at all ; he was unskilled and ineffectual . After her hubby was in power just one year , she had him overrule and killed so she could become empress [ germ : Montefiore ] . While her husband was being murdered , Catherine was under the protection of one Grigory Potemkin , a soldier . Catherine immediately was smite by Potemkin , despite the fact the he was overweight , rather overblown and missing an eye . The two became lovers [ source : Boykin ] .
Catherine was named empress of Russia shortly after Peter was shoot down , and did an expert job rule the land . Over the next few year , she reward Potemkin by get him declare a Russian solon , calculate and commanding officer of her armies . Although the two split in 1776 and Catherine had numerous otheraffairs , Potemkin was her true passion . When he die , Catherine fell into a deepdepression . Although she finally recovered , historians say she was never quite the same [ germ : Boykin ] .
4: John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono was an avant - garde artist and musician with a disruptive past . Born into an blue Japanese family , Ono ’s parents hoped she ’d stay individual and become a concert pianist , her male parent ’s unrealized dream . Instead , she married twice , was briefly in a genial establishment and had a daughter , Kyoko , with her 2d married man . Then , in 1966 , she meet John Lennon at one of her artistry shows [ beginning : Gannon ] .
Lennon , a member of the universe - famous musical group , the Beatles , was married with a child of his own . But the two fell in love , divorced their mate , and finally married in 1969 . Together , the match began working to spread a message ofworld peace , a cause Ono had been push for a while . Ono introduced Lennon to experimental superimposed music too . Soon the Beatles , who were already feuding , broke up , and the inculpation was stack on Ono – who was also charged with ruining Lennon ’s medicine , since he was tinkering with non - mainstream strait [ reference : Iley ] .
The couple endeavor to push aside the general world ’s choler and focus on themselves and theirlove . But they were famous person , did everything together – and did it all publicly – so it was difficult to get away the criticism . In 1973 , they separated , perhaps as a solution of accent get by all the examination . Lennon then began an affair with his assistant , May Pang , with Ono ’s knowledge and blessing . Yet the two called each other daily , sometimes legion times , and got back together a yr subsequently . Not too long after they reunite , they had a Word , Sean [ sources : Iley , Gannon ] .
Unfortunately , their newfound felicity was n’t to last long . In 1980 , Lennon was shot by a derange lover outside the New York City apartment building where the family populate . He died in Ono ’s arms [ generator : Tweedle ] . She has n’t remarried .
3: Abelard and Heloise
Although this passionate sexual love social occasion took place about 1,000 years ago , it still makes for a powerful story today . Heloise was a bright , gifted educatee in 12th - century Paris who wanted most of all to answer the question of human existence . To facilitate further her studies , her uncle Fulbert , canon of Notre Dame , enlisted the aid of Peter Abelard , an outstanding philosopher . Abelard began to tutor Heloise , and although he was 20 years her senior , the two fall deeply in making love [ seed : Abelard and Heloise ] .
Soon Heloise waspregnant . A scandal was imminent , so the couple fly to Brittany , Abelard ’s home plate . Fulbert found out and was furious , and the two got marry in an attempt to appease him . He was n’t satisfied , though . Heloise escaped to a convent in Argenteuil , but Abelard was attack and castrate . They leave their Logos , Astrolabe , in the care of Abelard ’s babe and ultimately conduct holy orders as a monastic and conical buoy [ source : Abelard and Heloise ] .
Although Abelard and Heloise were separated for years , theirloverelationship lives on through their correspondence . Today , they are interred together in Paris ' Pére Lachaise necropolis .
2: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Henry VIIIis famous for many things , one of which is the fact that he had six wives . And even though he had wife No . 2,Anne Boleyn , beheaded , she ’s said to have been his favourite . Henry had beenmarriedto Catherine of Aragon for 16 years when he caught a glance of Anne around 1525 . at once smitten , he beg her to become his schoolmarm . Despite his office , Anne refused . She wanted to be queen or nothing . If he ’d get married her , she said , she ’d allow him with the manly inheritor he covet [ reservoir : Royal Paper Dolls ] .
Seven years later , Anne and Henry were both still holding out . But now Anne worried Henry would eventually count elsewhere , so she had a dalliance with the king and became pregnant . In 1533 , he secretly married her , declare himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England – a new Christian church that tolerate divorcement – and divorced Catherine . The two should have be happily ever after , but it was not to be [ source : Royal Paper Dolls ] .
Anne present a baby girl , not the promised male child , then had a string of miscarriage , much to Henry ’s chagrin . The two commence to argufy . Henry had always been attracted to Anne because she was dissimilar than most women – self-assertive , lively and smart . Now these qualities see red him . He fell in erotic love with another woman , Jane Seymour , then make up a level about Anne charge adultery so that in 1536 , he had soil to have her head lopped off . Although Henry finally did fall out of love life with Anne , the hold she had had on such a powerful , headstrong man – and for such a long time – is considered unbelievable [ informant : Royal Paper Dolls ] .
1: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Another example of a passionate , furious lovemaking affair filled with great joys and cryptic rue is the story of Mexican couple , Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera . The two , now far-famed , were artists in the former 20th C . Kahlo , flimsy and frail due to a terrible tram car accident , was known for her emotionally charged and autobiographic artwork . The portly Rivera , 20 class her elderly , was a master muralist . When the two married in 1929 , Kahlo was 22 and Rivera was 42 . It was her firstmarriageand his third [ sources:1300 Flowers , PBS ] .
The two greatly admire each other ’s art , and were quite generative during their marriage , promote each other to create more . But Rivera was a serial womaniser who openly had scores of affairs – including one with a sister of Kahlo ’s – throughout their marriage . So , Kahlo play along lawsuit . therefore , trouble and thorniness erupted , and the couple separated legion times . They even divorce in 1939 , only to remarry in 1940 [ source : PBS ] .
When Kahlo was on her deathbed in 1954 , Rivera was with her . He later write that the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. she die was the most tragical of his lifetime , and that he ’d bring in too late " the most wonderful part of my life had been mylovefor Frida . " Rivera asked that hiscremated ashesbe placed with Kahlo ’s after his death [ source : The Independent ] .
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Passionate love affairs seem like they ’d be quite exciting . But after writing about the folks above , it seems like intense cacoethes is very often coupled with plenty of unhappiness . I guess it ’s true you ca n’t have it all .
