KJCKorea
Journal Central

In the 2020s, ‘narratives of affair and revenge’ is gaining popularity among web novels in the contemporary romance genre. However, most of them are related to the settings of existing soap opera while aiming for stimulating interest. The purpose of this study is to analyze the diversification of the narratives in <Marry My Husband> and <I Can't Eat It, So I'm Impatient>, which contain the motifs of affair and revenge, and break away from the typical storytelling of the romance genre. First, we examined the clichés of ‘wounded woman’, ‘contract marriage’ and ‘competition’, focusing on <Melting Slow> and <The Perfect Marriage>. These three clichés are widely found in the contemporary romance genre that deals with affair and revenge, although there are differences in the visualization of the relationships between characters. The female protagonist, who was abused by her family, proposes a contract marriage to a man from a wealthy family when she finds out about her lover’s affair, and this becomes a means of successfully taking revenge. And in the midst of the sibling rivalry connected to affair, themes such as paternity, murder, and conspiracy are highlighted, and the male and female protagonists are saved in the form of ‘romantic love’. On the other hand, in <Marry My Husband> (Seong So-jak), the female protagonist realizes that there are people who are harmed as she changes her fate, and ponders the ethics of a ‘being that went back in time’. This novel maintains the happy ending through the marriage and pregnancy of the male and female protagonists. However, as the process of the female protagonist actively taking revenge is highlighted, the bond between the female protagonist and her helper is more importantly depicted. On the other hand, <I Can't Eat It, So I'm Impatient> (Plaada) is a work that does not follow the clichés of typical affair revenge stories. Since the female protagonist does not respond to her lover’s betrayal with revenge, there is no competition between the female protagonist and lover's mistress. And as the female protagonist re-recognizes the meaning of romance and the growth process of exploring what she wants is narrated, the romance is delayed. The works of Seong So-jak and Plaada have the typicality of a cider revenge story based on marriage with a chaebol man and the punishment of evil. However, the ‘contract marriage’ disappears, and the cliche of the competition between the female protagonist and lover's mistress is twisted, changing the form of romance. This study is significant in that it has analyzed in detail a romance story that partially deviates from the existing narrative that pursued romantic love and shows a new storytelling style.

cliché, affair, revenge, romantic love, bonds between female characters, delayed romance, Melting Slow, The Perfect Marriage, Marry My Husband, I Can’t Eat it, So I’m Impatient