The Theme of Love - Essay Example

The Theme of Love The theme of love seems to be recurrent in the history of literature. It is an interesting in the literature compared to other themes since it has numerous twists and turns as well as different endings. Love has been presented in many works of literature by many authors, and it seems it will remain to be one of the subjects in literature. Love is treated differently depending on the work and the author of that work. Novels treat love in a broad variety of contexts whereas poetry often treats love satirically and sentimentally. The paper addresses how the theme of love is presented in different novels and books. According to More’s work, love influences the duties assigned to individuals in different fields in life. In support of this assertion, More expounds on how love make men accept women to be assigned light duties (Barnet and Bedau 464). It is out of love that women are spared from things that can affect them in life. In connection with this, More also claims that Stewards ensure people work to earn a living but do not wear them out by keeping them at work for long hours. That is, the practice of humanity as a result of love make people save other people from problems since charity begins from home (Barnet and Bedau 468). In his work, More also argued that it is bad to deprive other people pleasure so that you can enjoy it yourself. According to him, depriving oneself pleasure for other person’s enjoyment portrays one’s humanity (Barnet and Bedau 468). In addition to this, More asserts that taking care of patients and providing them with what they need for recovery is a product of love (Barnet and Bedau 473). In tandem with More’s argument, the poem “Love is Sickness” presents love in a unique way. The metaphor “love is a sickness” shows that the modern society compares love to the sickness that affects the patient (a person in love). From the claim, it is apparent that love has symptoms, and it can be diagnosed. The poem also claims that love is full of uncontrollable woes. This claim shows that a significant number of people perceive love negatively, and they believe it is a source of problems in life. The comparison of love with a plant shows that love lasts for a short period (Griffith 132). According to the poem, the more you enjoy love, the more it dies (Griffith 133). Thus, love is not something you can put you trust on since it is prone to wither anytime. Unfortunately, love torments the mind and as a result, can affect the life of a person negatively. The claim made by the poem “Love is Sickness” correlates with what is presented in the novel Christine. From the start of the novel, a person can deduce that Cunningham’s love for Christine affects his life. His love for the car makes him uncontrollable, and he finds himself thinking about Christine all the time. “looky there! Across the street! Theres a car made just for me, To own that car would be a luxury. . . . That cars fine- lookin” (King Part I). From this claim, a person can deduce that love is a sickness. Cunningham developed a love for a car he had seen for the first time, and he did all he could to have it. In addition to this, Cunningham decided to have Christine as his car despite knowing the consequences resulting from Christine. For instance, it is apparent that Cunningham lost his close connection with friends because of Christine. Despite being a non-living thing, he referred to the car like a human being. This claim is evidenced by Dennis assertion that “it was always her and she instead of it.” In tandem with this, Dennis also argues that “and that wasnt like Arnie, who usually thought things out so carefully” (King Part II). From the claim, it is apparent that love affects the way people view things in life. The love for Christine made him not to realize the valuable things he was losing. Christine scared away the majority of Cunningham’s friends. In support of this claim, Dennis said, “there is the terrible scream of rubber kissing off concrete and Christine lunges out at me, her grille snarling like an open mouth full of chrome teeth, her headlights glaring” (King Part II). Christine wanted to punish because he came in between her relationship with Cunningham. The novel also presents love as envious feeling in an individual. Throughout the novel, Christine is portrayed as a character who wants to secure Cunningham to herself. She not only scared people but also killed those who ignored her warnings. Just like in Christine, the theme of love is well developed in The Natural. In writing this novel, Malamud used Hobbs to argue that love is an unattainable illusion. This is evidenced by Hobbs loss of anything he loved. In support of this assertion, it is apparent that Hobbs loved his bat, Wonderboy. Unfortunately, Wonderboy did not last for long; it was broken into pieces (Malamud 228). In connection with this argument, it is evidenced in the novel that Hobbs loss of Wonderboy led to his love misfortunes. Throughout the novel, a person can also deduce that Malamud has used different female characters to expound on Hobbs love for women. The first person that Hobbs loves is Harriet, who derails his progress as a good baseball player (Malamud 28). Throughout the chapter, Hobbs shows his lust for Harriet, who does not love him and plots to kill him for wanting to be a successful baseball player. Apart from Harriet, Hobbs tried to win Memo’s love through doing everything that Memo asked him to do. In support of this claim, it is evidenced in the novel that Hobbs ever thought of Memo when playing. “Roy was thinking about Memo. If not for her he wouldnt be here trying to make himself at ease with this one” (Malamud 146). Unfortunately, Hobbs love for Memo was unattainable since Memo did not love him back. She only acted as his distraction because she associated him with the death of her ex-boyfriend whenever he was playing (Malamud 230). According to Malamud, Hobbs shifted his love to Iris Lemon when he realized Memo cannot love him as he wanted (Malamud 230). From the novel, you can deduce that Lemon contributed significantly to Hobbs life when compared with other girls. However, Hobbs did not love her as much as how he loved Memo. It is as a result of Lemon’s pregnancy that Hobbs became a loser in his best game. From Hobbs relationships, a person can note that Malamud’s objective is to inform the reader of how love is unattainable. According to Malamud, love is the main source problems that modern heroes face in the American society. It is the reason as to why many heroes fail in life. Just like Malamud, Maguire has used specific characters to expound on the theme of love. Some of the characters that present the theme of love in the novel Wicked include Yackle and Glinda. At the start of the novel, a reader can deduce that Glinda decided to live with Elphaba despite her green skin color. Other people in the society avoided her because of fear; they considered her evil because of her skin color. In support of this allegation, it is claimed in the novel that Yackle replied simply, “I’m telling you that Glinda loved Elphaba” (Maguire Chapter 1). Throughout the novel, Yackle is also portrayed as Elphaba’s protector; she is her guardian angel. Yackle’s protection of Elphaba is as a result of love. Just like Glinda, Yackle took care of Elphaba. In support of this claim, a reader can deduce that Yackle is often present in Elphaba’s peripheries. It is also out of love that Yackle took Elphaba and treated her skin condition (Maguire Chapter 8). It is argued in the novel that Yackle considered Elphaba, her daughter. In support of this, Yackle asked Elphaba “Are you feeling better, sweet child?” (Maguire Chapter 8). From the argument, a person can affirm that love has no boundary. Glinda and Yackle loved Elphaba despite being a stranger to them. The presentation of the theme of love in the novel I, Claudius correlates with that of The Natural. In both novels, love is presented as a source of destruction. In support of this, it is apparent that Graves has used Livia to expound on the detrimental effects of love. At the start of the novel, Claudius introduces her Livia as a woman who uses love to secure what she wants. In other words, Livia presents hypocritical love of people in the modern society. She married Claudius grandfather because he was rich and had political influence (Graves Chapter 1). According to the novel, Livia wanted to use her hypocritical love to secure political positions. For instance, she told Claudius grandfather that “if he played his hand well, he could use his dignity as a pontiff and the reputation for integrity which was conceded him by all factions as means to becoming king himself” (Graves Chapter 2). Her behavior correlates with that of Memo in The Natural. Memo took advantage of Hobbs’ love to get what she wanted. As the novel progresses, it is apparent that Livia managed to make Augustus not only to marry her but also to secure leadership position that gave her the opportunity of making leadership decisions. In general, Livia’s hypocritical love led to the achievement of her objectives as well as the decline of Augustus as a leader. In conclusion, the theme of love is common in many works of literature. It is treated differently to suit the purposes of writing literature works. According to many literature works, love is the main contributing factor for failure of current leaders. It is also one of the contributing factors for problems in the society. Love affects the way people think and carries out their roles in the society. Love is an unattainable, and as a result of this, many people portray hypocritical love to secure their interests in life. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan and Hugo Bedau. Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. Graves, Robert. I, Claudius (Robert Graves) Kindle Edition. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.amazon.com/I-Claudius-Robert-Graves-ebook/dp/B002RI9HR0 Griffith, Kelley. Writing Essays About Literature: A Guide and Style Sheet. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986. Print. King, Stephen. Christine. New York: Penguin, 1983. Print. Maguire, Gregory. Wicked. New York: Headline, 2011. Print. Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1952. Print. Read More