• Manpreet Kaur

This paper examines the relationship between friendship and romance in the literature, focusing on stories that explicitly create uncertainty around whether the relationships depicted are platonic or romantic relationships. Texts that could be considered span a variety of genres and time periods. It is important to consider how emotional connection, character development, and cultural context inform representations of relationships that don't fit neatly into a binary categorization. Within the analyzed texts, some characters transition from friendship into love, while others maintain a close and meaningful friendship without it developing into romance. Using a literary analytic approach in tandem with some philosophical and psychological perspectives, the paper explores how writers leverage ambiguity as a storytelling device, how clearly friendship-romance relationships reflect cultural shifts, and what it indicates about human desire or connectedness to one another. In conclusion, the paper argues that the friendship-romance continuum is a valuable source of inquiry and an important and persistent theme in literature that continues to test how we think about love and companionship.

literature

"Friendship vs. Romance: The Blurred Lines in Literature ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no.c149-c158, January-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601216.pdf

"Friendship vs. Romance: The Blurred Lines in Literature ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no. ppc149-c158, January-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601216.pdf