After Love: Romantic Heartbreak, Emotions and Embodiment in Britain c. 1750-1900
Lead Research Organisation:
OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sci
Abstract
We all recognise the excitement, joy, and comfort which accompany romantic love, but what happens when love goes wrong? What follows romantic rejection, infidelity, divorce, or the death of a beloved? The extreme grief of romantic heartbreak is one of the most powerful emotional experiences that human beings endure, one which most of us will experience at some point in our lives. It sits at the centre of the modern mental health crisis, with the breakdown of romantic relationships a key driver of people seeking help from mental health charities, and a leading cause of both homelessness and suicide. Yet for all its ubiquity, how far do we really understand what romantic heartbreak is? And what can history teach us about the most effective ways to heal?
The abject misery of a broken heart is more than simply rhetorical - it is a visceral mental and physical experience with very real bodily consequences. Individuals mourning the end of a romantic relationship are liable to high blood pressure, blood clots, and a disturbed heart rhythm. People who have recently lost their partners are more likely to suffer health problems such as heart attacks, with women especially vulnerable to developing takotsubo cardiomyopathy ('broken heart syndrome'), where a surge of stress hormones causes chest pains and shortness of breath. In the weeks and months following bereavement, the 'Widowhood Effect' means that men and women are considerably more likely to die due to the suppression of their immune systems and experience of extreme stress.
Yet the distinctive grief which follows the end of romantic relationships is not static or unchanging, but has evolved significantly over the modern era. During the eighteenth century, individuals suffering from a broken heart were vulnerable to low spirits, disturbed nerves, a weakened pulse, and impaired memory. Their grief was likened to cords tightening around the heart, which could be paralysed by their suffering. If their sorrow was especially violent, or continued over a long period of time, patients were thought to be liable to a host of conditions from phthisis to cancer and insanity. During the nineteenth century, the source of our emotions changed, as scientists came to prioritise the brain rather than the heart as the locus of feeling. But feelings still remained firmly corporeal in nature, with violent passions such as love and grief able to tear or stop the heart dead. Just as the experience of romantic heartbreak has changed over time, so have the ways in which we treat it, and the rituals we turn to in order to heal.
The project furthers UKRI's strategic goal to improve the nation's health and wellbeing, namely through how we discuss and recover from the grief of a broken heart. This has never been more pressing, given the current mental health emergency exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will establish a new interdisciplinary research network for studying romantic heartbreak, and produce three main outputs:
1. An academic monograph, After Love: Romantic Heartbreak, Emotions and Embodiment in Britain, c. 1750-1900.
2. A group exhibition on 'Broken Hearts & Broken Bodies'.
3. A project website, featuring videos 'in conversation' with experts from the new research network, and digital version of the exhibition.
The exhibition will provide the setting for the following public events:
1. An art and crafting project led by the Oxfordshire Mind Wellbeing Service.
2. A programme of talks by experts from the new research network.
3. Artist-led workshops where members of the public create 'body maps' of heartbreak.
4. A pop-up Poetry Pharmacy dispensing poetic remedies for broken hearts.
The project will conclude with a cross-disciplinary symposium to provide a critical public forum in which to discuss the mental and physical reality of romantic heartbreak past and present, and the best routes to restoring our health and wellbeing.
The abject misery of a broken heart is more than simply rhetorical - it is a visceral mental and physical experience with very real bodily consequences. Individuals mourning the end of a romantic relationship are liable to high blood pressure, blood clots, and a disturbed heart rhythm. People who have recently lost their partners are more likely to suffer health problems such as heart attacks, with women especially vulnerable to developing takotsubo cardiomyopathy ('broken heart syndrome'), where a surge of stress hormones causes chest pains and shortness of breath. In the weeks and months following bereavement, the 'Widowhood Effect' means that men and women are considerably more likely to die due to the suppression of their immune systems and experience of extreme stress.
Yet the distinctive grief which follows the end of romantic relationships is not static or unchanging, but has evolved significantly over the modern era. During the eighteenth century, individuals suffering from a broken heart were vulnerable to low spirits, disturbed nerves, a weakened pulse, and impaired memory. Their grief was likened to cords tightening around the heart, which could be paralysed by their suffering. If their sorrow was especially violent, or continued over a long period of time, patients were thought to be liable to a host of conditions from phthisis to cancer and insanity. During the nineteenth century, the source of our emotions changed, as scientists came to prioritise the brain rather than the heart as the locus of feeling. But feelings still remained firmly corporeal in nature, with violent passions such as love and grief able to tear or stop the heart dead. Just as the experience of romantic heartbreak has changed over time, so have the ways in which we treat it, and the rituals we turn to in order to heal.
The project furthers UKRI's strategic goal to improve the nation's health and wellbeing, namely through how we discuss and recover from the grief of a broken heart. This has never been more pressing, given the current mental health emergency exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will establish a new interdisciplinary research network for studying romantic heartbreak, and produce three main outputs:
1. An academic monograph, After Love: Romantic Heartbreak, Emotions and Embodiment in Britain, c. 1750-1900.
2. A group exhibition on 'Broken Hearts & Broken Bodies'.
3. A project website, featuring videos 'in conversation' with experts from the new research network, and digital version of the exhibition.
The exhibition will provide the setting for the following public events:
1. An art and crafting project led by the Oxfordshire Mind Wellbeing Service.
2. A programme of talks by experts from the new research network.
3. Artist-led workshops where members of the public create 'body maps' of heartbreak.
4. A pop-up Poetry Pharmacy dispensing poetic remedies for broken hearts.
The project will conclude with a cross-disciplinary symposium to provide a critical public forum in which to discuss the mental and physical reality of romantic heartbreak past and present, and the best routes to restoring our health and wellbeing.
Related Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AH/X010716/1 | 01/10/2023 | 11/05/2025 | £168,836 | ||
| AH/X010716/2 | Transfer | AH/X010716/1 | 11/08/2025 | 29/09/2027 | £115,646 |
| Description | The primary impact of the first phase of the After Love project at Oxford Brookes University arose from a public engagement event titled "The Scents of Love and Loss", held at Barracks Lane Community Garden in April 2025. The event brought together members of the local community alongside service users of the mental health charity Oxfordshire Mind for a creative workshop exploring the role of smell in experiences of love and loss. The workshop opened with short talks by the project's Principal Investigator Dr Sally Holloway and Dr William Tullett (University of York), which introduced research on the changing meanings of smells, their relationship to health, emotions, and the body, and the role of scent in conjuring memories of past relationships. Participants were invited to sample and discuss a range of significant odours - including truffle, musk, civet, and the imagined smell of "Hell" - in order to reflect on how smell can elicit powerful emotional responses and stir memories of (lost) loved ones. The event enabled participants to connect historical research with their own experiences of love and loss, with the group discussing the personal meanings of scents such as lavender, wood fires, cigarette smoke, aftershave and hospitals in their own lives. Participants then worked with artists Jill Mueller and Julie Light to create scented collaged hearts representing their reflections on love and heartbreak. These creative outputs were accompanied by short recorded reflections from participants describing the meanings behind their pieces, which will be shared on the After Love project website to extend the reach of the activity to a wider public audience. Through exploring the intersections between love, heartbreak, smell, and the body, the workshop contributed to the project's broader impact strategy to reframe how we understand heartbreak as an embodied emotional experience. The collaboration with Oxfordshire Mind ensured that the research engaged directly with groups who stood to benefit from the opportunity to explore new ways of improving mental health and wellbeing, using creative activities as a means of encouraging confidence, self-expression, and broadening service users' range of life experiences. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2025 |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | After Love project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The After Love website (www.afterlove.uk) provides a public-facing platform through which to engage national and international audiences with the project's research on embodied experiences of heartbreak. The site provides a hub for sharing project activities, creative collaborations, and reflective writing, enabling the wider public to engage with the conversations generated by the research, and to sign-up for the associated engagement activities. Blog posts to date have explored the student-led Cabinets of Heartbreak project at the University of Warwick, the community event at Barracks Lane Community Garden in association with Oxfordshire Mind, plus reflective contributions from the participating artists Jill Mueller and Julie Light (https://www.afterlove.uk/newwriting). The site extends the project's reach beyond academia to generate wider dialogue about experiences of heartbreak today and in the past. In 2025-6, it attracted 510 visitors and generated 1,043 page views, with audiences located across the UK, Europe, Australia, North America, and Asia. Its impact is ongoing, with the site continuing to be updated as further outputs, events, and collaborations arise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025,2026 |
| URL | https://www.afterlove.uk |
| Description | The Scents of Love and Loss |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This public workshop was held in the beautiful community garden at Barracks Lane in east Oxford, and explored the significance of smell in the formation and breakdown of romantic relationships. The event involved talks by the project's Principal Investigator Dr Sally Holloway, and Dr William Tullett, Lecturer at the University of York and expert in the history of smell and the senses, sparking questions and discussion among the group about their own views on the scents of romance. Participants took part in a creative workshop making scented collages led by the award-winning visual artists Jill Mueller and Julie Light, who create award-winning pieces on health, the body, identity, and what it means to be human. Participants then recorded videos discussing their creations, and the smells they had selected to evoke (lost) love, which will be posted on the project website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.afterlove.uk/events/scents-of-love-and-loss |