Hair often plays a starring role in literature and theater productions worldwide. We can find hair loss tales everywhere from Greek mythology to Broadway and the silver screen. No doubt, human beings have a reverence for their hair. Our literature contains many details and clues about the role that plays in our relationships. Quite a few hair tales feature women’s hair. These are often love stories, featuring long hair!
Remember the fairy tale about Rapunzel who was forbidden to see the prince who had captured her heart? Well, these kids devised an ingenious plot that involved Rapunzel letting down her long “golden hair” to make their trysts possible. They were soon discovered and Rapunzel was given a haircut. However, the story has a happy ending when the two are reunited in the future and they live happily ever after.
William Sydney Porter (also known as O. Henry) was a prolific author of the early 20th century. His tale, “The Gift of the Magi” is a poignant Christmas story about hair. It captured his readers’ hearts and helped to make him famous.
Two lovers who live in abject poverty search for ways to get each other a present for the holidays. She spots a beautiful chain that she wants to give him to put on his pocket watch. He finds a set of tortoise shell combs that he wants her to have to put in her knee-length hair. So, he sells his watch in order to buy the combs for her. Meanwhile she sells her hair to a wigmaker so she can buy the watch chain! Both were shocked on Christmas day, but as the story goes, they were so madly in love that they were thrilled by the sacrifice that each of them had made. Besides, eventually her hair grew back. But the story ends without him getting a new watch for the chain.
Long hair has been fashionable for women throughout history. The theme of the lure of a woman with long hair is timeless. It is usually paired with attractiveness and love. That is just one of the reasons that hair loss for women can be more traumatic than many realize.
Tags: attractiveness, hair loss, haircut, literature, long hair, love, mythology, O. Henry, Rapunzel, womens hair loss