What is Love? Essays -- Literary Analysis, Donne, Loves Alchemy

I write out you. No other sequence of words has so much index number these words have the power to strengthen a bond, weaken a relationship, ruin a friendship or bring two people together. The pattern of love is puzzling and we have struggled to understand it for centuries, everything between the Greek goddess Aphrodite and todays Romantic comedies have attempted to comprehend and explain it. The theme of love is popular in Donnes early poetry. His understanding of love from the perspective of a protestant preacher reveals much about the anti-Christian sentiments and of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. A close analysis of Donnes poem, Loves Alchemy and of the film When Harry Met fracture reveals the strength behind Donnes idea that elicit is the end goal in relationships and that true love is physical. In the first two lines of Loves Alchemy Donne sets up his attack on Platonic love when he compares it to the unsuccessful results of alchemy. The wor ds deeper digged loves exploit (1) creates the association between platonic love and alchemy. The tap represents both the physical mine in which we find base metals, and secondly the spiritual mine in which we find love. For Donne, the idea of platonic love is as worthless as the metals pulled from the mine and much like the alchemist cannot turn it into gold, the Platonist will never turn his idea into true love. The metaphor of depth implies a direction inward, mainly into ones soul. The centric happiness (2) of the next line reinforces the idea of inner mining the center of the soul is where Platonists believe love to be. Another interpretation of the mine demonstrates how digging deep is necessary for love since alchemy never produces gold, the on... ...this way could represent how this notion of love plagues society and that it is an enemy we must unite against. The speaker as well warns against the inevitable loss of these qualities should platonic love be pursued for this vain bubbles shadow pay? (14) The use of the word pay likens the prosecution of platonic love to crime in which the guilty person must pay a fine. The image of the bubble on the other hand represents dainty and transparency which means that these are characteristics of platonic love. The concept of platonic love as fragile and transparent is also present in When Harry Met Sally. Initially when Harry tells his friend about his platonic relationship with Sally, his friend is unconvinced. This reaction is justified because near the end of the film, the platonic relationship dissipates and they have turn on which eventually leads to marriage.