The nature and complexity of love in literature and life

Love

What is Love? Love, according to the Holy Bible, is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast and is not proud. Love never fails (NIV 811). This simple term for the most powerful emotion in the world is simply not enough. Love is all these things, it has the ability to empower and increase confidence, to lighten a mood or make the world seem a better place. Yet it also has the ability to always makes us feel useless, like a newborn child or totally incapable of doing the most simplest of tasks.

Therefore, what is this intangible emotion and power that can leave us without any control over ourselves and increases our vulnerability to being hurt? The Oxford New English Dictionary defines Love as being "a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone" (Oxford English Dictionary 1094). If love was as simple as this definition then the lovers Gods and Goddess, such as Cupid and Venus, would have an easy time in bringing people together. However, if we look at myths and legends surrounding these characters this job was certainly not easy.

Love is not easy to define as many people would think. Many would even argue that it is indefinable, being an emotion beyond words. It is an emotion that can never be understood or thought about in the simplest of terms as logic does not apply to matters of the heart. For example a man or woman may known the flaws of their partner, know that they are bad news and that there will be heartbreak, yet they stay. This may be despite the knowledge of the flaws or, as a result of the choice, not see these flaws due to their love for this person. Here we can also see that there may be seen that there is difficulty in separating love, passion and infatuation as they overlap.

If we look at lovers we may see them walking down the street hand in hand, their hearts pounding as they feel the hand and pulse of their partners, the way their lover smiles or the sweet fragrance of their lovers perfume. This is how strong this emotion is, eliciting a physiological response. To hear your lover's voice even after a few minutes of silence is to some like the soft music of angels.

Yet sometimes this love can be bittersweet for like all things love can turn sour leaving lovers hurt and in pain from the sadness of betrayal.

Love conquers all even life, for when Love does turn sour a broken heart can never be repaired. There is also the problem of unrequited love, however, many would argue that this is a lesser form of love; not true love.