Love in Literature
We live in a complex world, where love and logic do not always exist cohesively, however, literature often brings these two elements together. Authors sometimes use the concept of love as a theme for their work, logically, and methodically using it as a tool in their writing. The different forms of love are often used by authors as a catalyst for positive character development. In this essay, works by different authors will be used to demonstrate some of the forms of love used in literature.
In Simon May’s “Love: A History”, May mentions agape love, defining it, stating that “This love is compassionate and giving: the love of neighbor shown by the Good Samaritan” (May pg.177). The use of agape love as a catalyst for
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In the story, Nora Helmer, a married young woman tries to hide her one act of deceitfulness from her husband. Her act of deceitfulness however is actually an act of selflessness, towards her husband, but when the deceit is revealed he shuns her. His act of shunning her brought her to the realization that there was no love in their relationship. What she assumed was love, was not, and this prompts her to reconsider her life. Nora understands that all her life she has been told what to think by men, and that all her life she has been depending on men. It is in the moment when she recognizes that her husband does not deserve a pedestal, and she also realizes that she needs to love herself so that she can understand the world around her. At the end of the story Nora decides to leave her husband and children behind so that she can discover who she is as a person and figure out the world around her. Although, in society’s terms, leaving ones children behind is unsavory, I believe that her act of leaving the family is heroic, and sets an example for her daughter.
Although love is not the only element used in literature to induce positive change in a character, it is a tried and true method of doing so. Carver’s “Cathedral” shows a great example of agape love, on human being showing kindness to another, which, ironically is a blind man is helping a sighted man to see. While in Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” we see the act of brotherly love, transforming a
Nora expects when what she calls the terrible storm breaks over her, “Krogstads letter” that her husband would step forward and take all the guilt and responsibilities, but to her ammusement he never did. She needed validation that her husband loved her inspite of what she had done, He continued to argue that no man would sacrifice their honor not even for love. Showing his self-centredness and only concerned about himself. Nora argues that millions of women have.
Each time Nora finds herself unable to help herself the problem is easily directly traced back to her husband, her father, and to the overbearing dominance of the male society. She tries to save the life of the man she thinks she loves and in doing so sees how she has become a victim of her own ignorance which has been brought upon her by the men in her life.
Nora finds strength in realizing her failure, resolving to find herself as a human being and not in what society expects of her. Nora’s recognition comes when Torvald so
Authors across time have used various relationship models in their works of writing in order to communicate their beliefs about love. By examining the relationship between two unlike brothers in his short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin communicates his belief that the idea of love can save people. Jhumpa Lahiri, in her short story “Hell-Heaven” also shows that the idea of love can save people, but by the end the characters are only truly happy where there is acceptance. Both Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” and Lahiri short story “Hell- Heaven” while culturally different, use the trials and tribulations of their characters to prove that the idea of love is a saving force.
He may be mistreated and made to openly fear for his life on multiple occasions, but is still sadly better off. Nora is debatably better off without the possessive influence of Torvald “Daddy Issues” Helmer. A man who proudly views her as “both wife and child”(Ibsen 812). She realizes she knows little of him and even less of herself, and so leaves. Given the year 1879 of course she could be walking into her own certain doom like “a heedless child” (Ibsen 816).
Love is undoubtedly one of the most frequently explored subjects in the literary world. Whether the focus is a confession of love, criticism of love, tale of love, or simply a tale about what love is, such literary pieces force readers to question the true meaning and value of love. Raymond Carver accomplishes this in his short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” As the unadorned setting and the personality of each character unfold, the reader realizes that Carver is making a grave comment on the existence of love. Carver utilizes strong contrast, imagery, and diction to ultimately suggest that love cannot be defined concretely and therefore cannot be defined in words, and because of this, it is better off unexplored.
“The matter must be hushed up at any cost. And as for you and me, it must appear as if everything between us were just as it were before –but naturally only in the eyes of the world.” Helmer stated. In this very sentence the author highlighted the standing views on marriage and political views. It is clear that Helmer is not happy with his wife after what she has done and to learn of how she has lied. Helmer is not worried about his marriage and his wife’s feelings, he is worried about what others will think. Through this dialogue in the play it become clear to the audience that what is important in society shouldn’t be. The characters were influence by other around them, others views and perceptions of them. It was shamed upon to have a broken marriage and a deceitful wife. Helmer states, “Before all else, you are a wife and a mother.” Nora replies, “I don’t believe in that any longer. I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are-or, at all events, that I must try and become one.” (Page 1390) Henrik did an amazing job at touching on key points of societies views and did it in such a way that empowers women and the feminist movements. In a time when woman are encouraged to be obedient and act as a second citizen, the author wrote this story out differently. Nora realizes her worth as a woman and understands that her feelings are more than just second best
Love plays a major role within this novel, often never finding itself maintained between two characters. Many characters in this novel, fail at love; they have either lost it, or know nothing of it.
Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.
“What is love? / Baby don't hurt me / Don't hurt me / No more.” What Is Love by Haddaway. Romantic Love is what gives a story a purpose and sense of emotion. When thinking of Romantic Love, people describe it as two people in a relationship who love each other so much. They can be specific and say it is a relationship between two heterosexual people or it can be between two homosexual people. Romantic Love can be anything and throughout this essay I will be analyzing Romantic Love in Don Quixote and comparing or contrasting it to other texts that we have read throughout the quarter.
Ever wondered how love can bring you happiness and pain and make you sane and crazy at the same time. How this emotion can change you and make you accept things you are not used to. How this emotion can overpower you in many ways in which you did not know existed. In Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes, the power of love is a commanding driving force that can dominate a person’s mind, body, and soul and one who is courageous enough to love sometimes undergoes serious consequences. Consequences that are driven from the power of love that harm and cause hardship to the one who is determined to seek love.
The time periods that each text is set in varies and it is therefore interesting to note that this does not change the fundamentals, we are prepared to make sacrifices for love. All the characters were forced by restrictions of the time to make difficult decisions and in these cases they were willing to give their lives, either physically or emotionally, for their love. It shows the extremity of love, that it is worth more to these literary
During the final scene Nora explains how Helmer has treated her as his “doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child” as her life was transposed from one male’s hands to another’s (83). While it may seem that Nora is blaming the male figures within her life she understands that just like hers their roles have been passed down generation from generation with no regard for the consequences one might endure for following such rigid guidelines. And the only way she believes to stop living a predetermined life is to completely remove herself from Helmer and their children because as Nora declares “you (Helmer) are not the man to educate me into being a proper wife” because he simply does not understand the very nature of their relationship has been predetermined and that does not allow for any free will from either party (83). Helmer most likely grew up with a family dynamic very similar to the one he employs and justly continues with it because it is the only thing he knows and it is what he believes to be expected of him, he is as much of victim of society’s roles as Nora
At the end of the film Nora confronts a moral choice. She decides to leave her husband, her children, and the “doll house” to make a better life for herself. It portrays a moral choice, because in the life she was living she was never taken seriously by her husband and she was treated as if she was a child and
Her final goal was so important to her, protecting her family, she knew she had to do whatever was necessary, even if that meant not being true to her husband or society. In the end, she realizes that it was more important to her husband his reputation, than what it had meant to Nora, all she had done for the love of her family, concluding to the raw truth that her husband didn´t really love her: he loved what she represented before society, a loving, faithful wife that compelled to all his expectations. She knew that to love her children, she needed first to understand and love herself, a thought way beyond and ahead of time, for a woman in the late 1800´s.