Romanticloveisadefiningphenomenoninhumanexistence,andanobjectofheightenedinterestforliterature,art,popularculture,andpsychology.Butwhatisromanticloveandwhyisittypicallyexperiencedassocentral?SharonKrishek’sprimaryaiminthisworkistoexplorethenatureofromanticlovethroughthephilosophyofS繪renKierkegaard,andindoingso,todefenditasamoralphenomenon.Shedoessobydevelopingaconnectionbetweenloveandselfhood,hereexplainedintermsofone’sdistinctindividuality.Tobeaself,sheclaims,istopossessa“name,“thatis,anindividualessence.Itiswhenwelovethatweregardpeoplebytheirnames;werespondtowhotheytrulyare.Therefore,loveisacorrespondencebetweenessences:ifJaneEyrelovesEdwardRochester,sherespondstohimbeing“whoheis,“byvirtueofherbeing“whosheis.“Theconceptionofbeingthuscorrespondenthasimportantimplicationsastothemoralandspiritualvalueofromanticlove.RelyingonKierkegaard’sanalysisoftheself,offaith,andoflove--evenifsometimesinawaythatdepartsfromKierkegaard’sexplicitposition--Krishekexplorestheseimplications,construingromanticloveasadesirablephenomenon,emotionally,morally,andspiritually.
