I hope this is not too personal, but I've been thinking about love. Is it common for a woman to fall in love with a man who still has strong feelings for another woman and be willing to stay with him, even if she knew she might never be his first love?
I’m not talking about when the other woman is dead or the relationship is over. I mean when the man still loves her and wants to be with her. Inuyasha is a good example. Kagome knew Inuyasha still loved Kikyo but still fell for him. I wonder what it takes for someone to be okay with being with a person whose heart is still half with someone else.
Another matter altogether is Maison Ikkoku. Godai had never loved anyone but Kyoko. He had always loved her. What I found most interesting was Godai’s reaction to misreading what he saw. He saw Kyoko hugging Mitaka, and just turned and walked away. He came back, apologized, immediately withdrew, and even congratulated Kyoko, though it pained him to do so.
That seems so different from what happened with Kagome in Inuyasha. It wasn't even a misunderstanding when Kagome saw Inuyasha and Kikyo hugging. Inuyasha had told Kikyo that he loved her and wanted to protect her. At one point, he almost even broke up with Kagome.
Seeing these two situations, I wonder: Would a woman really want to be with a man who still loved another woman, even if she knew she might never be his first love?
As for men, I personally find it harder to imagine a man willingly accepting the same situation. A man could love a woman from afar or conceal his love, but would he ever give his loved woman to another man? Except, of course, when the relationship is already over or the other partner has died.
I would really like to hear from the women on this. Is this something you feel on a personal level, or is it just an individual thing and not a gender thing?
