Love is a complex subject as its definition and understanding varies among people. Collins and Manfred (27) assert that true love is one that triumphs lastingly through painful moments and hurdles present in everyday life. It is undeniable that love is quite essential in different cultures, considering how it is discussed in songs, films and books by people from various societies. Love is a vibrant theme especially among the youth as they transit from childhood to adulthood. Philosophically, love cuts across a variety of disciplines such as metaphysics, human nature, ethics, religion and epistemology. In this regard, love may refer to sexual desire for one another, paternal love for God or affection and appreciation of one another. The most common type of love is romance whose status is deemed to be more ethical and metaphysical than just physical or sexual attractiveness. Proust, Woolf and Shakespeare present the concept of love in various ways, which help readers of their works enrich their understanding of love.
Romantic love, loyal friendships and family support are loving relationships that we cherish in our everyday life. Romantic love is a special type of love between two people who find each other’s virtues-one soul. It is of a higher status both ethically and metaphysically than the kind of love described by physicalists. Loyal friendships also demonstrate a kind of loving relationships in which people are affectionate such that they make incredible sacrifices for one another. People sacrifice their time, materials and other resources in the quest of demonstrating love they have for their friends. Similarly, love can be understood in the context of family support. Individuals work hard in order to share their love with family members by supporting them either materially or financially. This kind of love is prevalent across all societies and helps people remain united. Shakespeare illustrates these three types of loving relationships in Much Ado About Nothing. He illustrates how different characters react to love. He presents the contrasting loves between two couples, that between Hero and Claudio, and Benedick and Beatrice. The love between Benedick and Beatrice is based on deeper feelings whereas that between Hero and Claudio is simply conventional (Shakespeare 47). The love between Hero and Claudio is quite shallow compared to that of Benedick and Beatrice. The fact that Benedick and Beatrice have a history together makes the qualities portrayed by their relationship different from those portrayed by the relationship between Hero and Claudio. As such, sincerity, time, familiarity, and honesty are important components of a healthy loving relationship.
Reading through the novel, within a Budding Grove, Swann is deeply obsessed with Odette’s love. Odette is the love of Swann’s life and the relationship between the two causes a lot of suffering to Swann. Although Odette is not that intelligent, classy and beautiful, Swann still falls in love with her, especially after he realized that there exists a close resemblance between her face and that of Jethro’s daughter. This kind of an affair proves the saying, love is in the eye of the beholder. Despite Odette’s inability to love Swann, he continues to love her even more by ignoring the truth of their failed romance. At the end, Swann finds himself in horrific disbelief after falling in love with a woman who was not his type There are times in life when people wonder what some lovers like in each other given their physical and emotional differences as in the case of Swann and Odette.. From this scenario by Proust, it is imperative to note that love must be mutual for it to last. Additionally, love that triumphs all tests of time is one that is patient and enduring. Time and patience are prerequisite of true love, without which one party will be hurt. These factors do not hold only in the case of romantic love but in all types of love. One must consider the truth of human emotions in order to avoid pain, grief and rejection associated with love. Although it is sometimes tricky to untangle some heart feelings of the people we love, it is important to observe closely the attitude of the people we fall in love with for our relationships to last.
Virginia Woolf is another author who explores her ideal of sympathy that is driven by her sense of communal emotion, response to families and nature. Woolf considers such sensations as important in relating with people and the environment because they raise moral challenges that eventually leave an individual with little space for nourishing true love. It is always significant to strike a balance between one’s emotions in order to be able to accommodate other people characters. Woolf considers the inability to recognize the potential in other people to love and interact as a failure and hence suggests that a particular kind of creative energy is required so that one can relish cherishing other human beings (Caughie, Pamela & Diana 78). As such, love is a challenging discipline that requires efforts to remain stable. Failure to appreciate the weaknesses and strengths in other people is what hampers healthy relationships. Woolf points out familiarity as a key factor that defines how individuals relate with one another. For example, she states that Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey’s relationship is shaped by their long familiarity in marriage. In essence, love is a concept that is highly influenced by the familiarity between individuals and understanding the history behind other people’s emotions is essential in establishing lovely relationships.
Based on the aforementioned facts, it is worth noting that love is a wide concept that is understood differently by different people. There are those treat love as a mere emotion while there are those who consider it as an important component of everyday life that needs to be handled with great vigilance and care. Shakespeare presents love as a subject that should be approached with honesty and sincerity for it to stand. Love can be understood in the context of paternal love for God, family support, romance, friendships, and affection for people or things. Proust shows how individuals can be clueless, especially on their own heart feelings towards other people. True love must be mutual and not one-sided as demonstrated by Proust in his works. Woolf insists that we should cherish other human beings by showing kindness and acknowledging their potential to love and interact. Relationships are greatly affected by familiarity between people and this should be a factor to consider for a better understanding of loving relationships. In essence, love is a complex concept that depends on how different people defines and understands it.
Works Cited
Caughie, Pamela L, and Diana L. Swanson. Virginia Woolf Writing the World: Selected Papers from the Twenty-Fourth Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf., 2015. Print. Bottom of Form
Collins, W. Andrew, and Manfred van Dulmen. "The Course of True Love (s)" Origins and pathways in the development of romantic relationships. In: Crouter, AC (2015): 63-86.
Proust, Marcel. Swann's Way. New York: Dover Publications, 2012.
William, Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. New York: SparkNotes, 2008. Print.
