Valentine’s Day celebrates love and happiness, and although real life offers plenty of true stories with happily-ever-after endings, many of us look to literature for inspiring tales of passion’s power.

Romeo and Juliet. Teenagers from feuding families meet, fall in love, marry, and ultimately end their lives rather than live without each other.

Odysseus and Penelope. Penelope remains faithful to her absent husband for 20 long years; Odysseus persists in his quest to return home after the Trojan War. Both overcome temptations and obstacles to be reunited at last.

Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Charlotte Brontë’s classic 19th century novel tells the tale of a young governess and a gruff, lonely landowner with a dark secret. But love triumphs in the end.