Verified Document

True Love Is Analyzed

Love Actually is a course that teaches students to understand and appreciate the various facets of love from a variety of different perspectives. The course is stratified according to the different weeks it runs, with each week presenting a different theme related to the notion of love. In this way, students can get a more comprehensive understanding of love from a variety of approaches that can collectively influence their regard for this force in the world today. The focus of the first week of this class is an overview of the very notion of love itself. It is critically to denote that love actually implies a degree of intimacy with others, which is demonstrable via the "bond" of romantic mating 1. Of course, there are numerous degrees of intimacy with which one can have with others -- which means that there are numerous varieties or shades of love. Perhaps a better way to contextualize this idea is that there are different shades of love. For instance, one does not love a romantic partner the same way that one loves a pet. Nonetheless, it is imprudent to assume that the degree of intimacy fostered between a pet and its owner does not count as some form, or shade, of love. To that end, it is useful to create a taxonomy of these twin notions of love and intimacy. Most of those taxonomies can pertain to different types of relationships in which love is involved, such as that pertaining to deities, family members, romantic partners, pets. Additional points of codification include types of family members. There is also unconditional versus conditional love. Additional salient correlations between love pertain to its relationship with happiness. Quite often, there is a need for individuals to experience some form of love to be happy. Simultaneously, the absence of love can lead to depression -- which implies finding it might possibly cure such melancholy.

The second week of this course is focused on the correlation...

This relationship is pivotal, because the humanities provide one of the fundamental ways for people to express love. Additionally, the notion that love can be expressed is also important when understanding the very nature of love itself. Quite simply, those who love want to express their love. One can choose to do so physically (where appropriate depending on the particular level of the taxonomy of love that one is loving), or one can do so creatively and artistically. The latter approach involve some degree of the humanities, the category of formal disciplines which includes literature, visual arts, history, religion, philosophy, other forms of art, etc.
The relationship between love and the humanities largely revolves about the notion that love is something of a muse; "attractiveness" may serve as its basis 2. As such, it is the impetus for a number of different chronicles across the various aforementioned disciplines in the humanities. It is the inspiration for religions, is the root cause for some of the longest and most time honored epic poems, and has played a role in numerous historical (and even martial) encounters. However, when considering the conception of love as a muse and a means of fostering creativity, one must also consider that such creative forces involve idealization and fantasy. In this regard, the dynamic between love and the humanities ultimately involves the imagination, which can both tear asunder bonds or erect them between people based on the perceptions of the one inspired by love. The humanities are essential to understanding love because they demonstrate the truly romantic nature of this force. Such romance does not necessarily have to exist between a man and a woman, but in a man's inspiration to found nations, move mountains, and practice that most god-like quality of actually procreating and engendering the birth of another.

The third…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Lehmiller, Justin. The Psychology of Human Sexuality. New York: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

Ryan, Christopher, and Jetha, Cacilda. Sex at Dawn. New York: Harper Collins Publishing, 2010.

Slater, Lauren. "Love." National Geographic Magazine, February, 2006.

1. Daniel Mendelsohn, "But Enough about Me," New Yorker, January 25, 2010, 68.
2. Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Robert Pear, "Wary Centrists Posing Challenge in Health Care Vote," New York Times, February 27, 2010, accessed February 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/politics/28health.html.
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, and Robert Pear. "Wary Centrists Posing Challenge in Health Care Vote." New York Times, February 27, 2010. Accessed February 28, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/politics/28health.html.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

True Love the Existence of True Love
Words: 870 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

True Love The existence of true love has been a debate among writers, authors, and philanthropists for years. There are many things in this world that we as people share together, but nothing else can bare, mend, or even heal like love. Every place we go and everything we see has in some point in time been touched by some form of love. It is through stories and poems that we

Love Triangle Story Lines of Lancelot, Arthur
Words: 2110 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

Love Triangle Story Lines of Lancelot, Arthur and Guenivere to Tristram, King Mark and Isolde from Malory's Morte Darthur When Melanie McGarrahan Gibson says of the "Tale of Sir Gareth" in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur that "in the happiest ending of all of Morlay's tales, love and marriage triumph" (Gibson 220), she is touching on more than just the wholesome and happy nature of the tale. Though unique in

Analyzing the Wuthering Heights
Words: 1184 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte is an author who was born in 1818. She is known for publishing her only novel, Wuthering Heights, in 1847 under the name of Ellis Bell, a year before her death. Her stellar work of art, Wuthering Heights, narrates her experience with both the Romantic periods, which lasted from years 1785 to 1830, to that early Victorian era, from 1830 to 1848 (Landers). The Theme of Love in

Analyzing the Saturation Evangelism Phenomenon
Words: 2422 Length: 8 Document Type: Chapter

Saturation Evangelism Evangelism The term "evangelism" is derived from the Greek concept of "euangelizomai" that means to give good news. Evangelism can be described as communicating the Good News that not only the death but also burial as well as resurrection of Jesus Christ defeated sin. Sin alienates us from God, the Supreme Being. The Good News in this case happens to be that we could gain back our relationship with God

Love Med Love and Loss in Love
Words: 1259 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Love Med Love and Loss in Love Medicine The sad narrative of life on an Indian Reservation is one that cannot be told within the scope of a single generation. Instead, it must relayed across multiple interconnected generations persisting within a beleaguered collective culture. In many ways, this is the only way to gain a nuanced understanding of the way tribal life now persists, splintered by the invasion of the European lifestyle

Philosophy of Love
Words: 3144 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Philosophy of Love The author of this report has been charged with picking a film or novel that centers on love. For the purposes of the report, the author has chosen The Notebook as memorialized in both book and film form. The book was written by Nicholas Sparks. The author of this report will cover several main sections in this report. The first section will be a quick paragraph or two

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now