Health & Medicine

Can you actually die of a broken heart?

Heartbreak is a common trope in fiction. In the real world, it’s called takotsubo syndrome

a painting of Shakespeare's King Lear, with long white hair and a beard, holding the dead body of his young blonde daughter Cordelia with a crowd of onlookers mourning

King Lear weeps over the dead body of his favorite daughter, Cordelia, in this 18th century painting by Irish painter James Barry.

Album/Alamy Stock Photo

By Bethany Brookshire

Passing quietly away from sheer heartbreak is a trope that pops up in myth and fantasy. In the Star Wars universe, Padmé Amidala may have died of a broken heart after her husband turned to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader, and she gave birth to Luke and Leia.