Michelle Nhung Le

Posted on: 14/10/2022

A little while ago I saw a post by somebody who said they weren’t typically a romance fan but had been reading a lot of romance lately because it was so readily available. They said they mostly liked it, but they couldn’t understand the point of the ever-present Second Act Breakup and were frustrated by it.

I’m aware the question was rhetorical. So that’s why I’m answering generally rather than directly. Here are some reasons the Second Act Breakup is utilized in romance.

Strengthening the Characters Individually

Contrary to the most obvious assumption, a romance book is not actually only about the relationship. That’s the story, sure, but it’s only interesting because of the characters - so the characters are what the book is really about.

The first act of a romance is used to put the characters together and begin building the relationship. In the second act, we want character development. That is, not just character growth (i.e. change, be it positive or negative) but exploring character depth.

When the characters are separated - by a breakup, distance, whatever else - that gives us more room in the narrative to expand them.

A second act breakup also lets us show that the characters can still be individuals even when the focus of the story is their relationship.

For example, in Marry Me (a movie not a book, but they generally follow the same genre conventions) part of the reason for the second act breakup is that Kat is nominated for her first music award for a song she wrote and must perform with her ex. This conflict allows for Kat to continue to have priorities in her life other than her love interest, here her career and personal accomplishments.

For another example, in Beauty And The Beast Belle and Adam have to break up so that Belle can choose Adam. Even though they’ve already gotten to know each other as equals, no longer captor and captive, and have demonstrably fallen in love Belle still has to leave and come back to show her autonomy as a character and that her feelings for Adam are true. It also keeps her character consistent with regards to romance not being her highest priority, her strong relationship with her father, and her bravery and self-sufficience.

Switching Character Focus

Often, the first act of a romance focuses on the hero and what makes this relationship worth writing about in their life. At the second act breakup, we have a clear plot-relevant reason to switch to the love interest. It’s now the other character’s problems’ turn.

This is most obvious in romances where a main source of conflict stems from the exes. Act one would be conflict from the hero’s ex, and then act two is about the love interest’s ex. But it can be anything!

To use Marry Me as an example again (I just saw it, so it’s fresh on the brain), in act one the main character conflict is Kat’s history of being wronged by her partners and her recent and explosive breakup. In act two, the focus is on Charlie’s insecurity and fear of heartbreak. Kat’s conflict with being in love with Charlie has been surmounted, and now it’s time to deal with Charlie’s conflict with being in love with Kat.

The second act breakup also makes room for side characters to take bigger roles, or to discover their own relationships.

Switching from External to Internal Conflict (or Vice Versa)

Much the same as the character focus switch, the second act breakup provides a way to change focus from an external conflict to an internal conflict, or vice versa.

Say act one is about the hero thinking the love interest is out of their league, but there is also the conflict that the love interest’s family disapproves of the match. Trying to explore both of those conflicts to their fullest potential concurrently will be very muddled and make for an unpleasantly complicated read. A second act breakup provides a way to focus on one, and then switch to the other.

In Marry Me this switch is from the external act one conflict that Kat’s and Charlie’s lifestyles clash and they have to find a way to coexist and relate to each other smoothly, to the internal act two conflict that Charlie thinks he is not glamorous enough for Kat.

A Complete Arc for the Antagonist

As previously said, a romance is not just about the main relationship. The other characters and the conflict(s) keeping the relationship apart in the first place all need to find satisfying conclusions. Especially in a romance with a clear villain, if the story ended right when the main characters got together that would leave the rest of the plot unresolved.

The Shape Of Water doesn’t really have a second act breakup, but it does have distinct act one vs act two conflicts with the act two conflict being to complete the villain’s storyline, so I’m going to use it for my example of this anyway.

In act one, the primary conflict is that Elisa and Amphibian Man are different species. In order to fall in love, they have to overcome a language barrier, the taboo of an interspecies relationship, and later the potential of incompatible anatomy. Those conflicts are, narratively speaking, solved in the consummation of their relationship. Technically, the conflict of his captivity is already solved as well.

But it wouldn’t be very satisfying if the story ended there, even though they are happily together. We need Shannon to come between Elisa and Amphibian Man again so that he can be definitively defeated.

Occam’s Razor

Last, but not least, the simplest - and most important - answer.

Why is the second act breakup a romance genre convention? Because romance fans like it.

If you’re not a romance fan and you don’t “get” it, well that’s because you’re not a romance fan and you don’t get it. It has nothing to do with the value or function of the plot device itself and everything to do with your personal taste!

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