The third type of love
described by Lewis in The Four Loves
is Eros Love. As described by Lewis, Eros is love in the sense of 'being in
love' or loving me. Lewis makes a point to say that this Love is distinct from
sexuality, which Lewis calls Venus. Rather, he identifies Eros as indifferent
and states that “sexual desire, without Eros, wants it, the thing itself; Eros
wants the Beloeved.” The thing, according to Lewis, is a sensory pleasure or an
event taking place in one’s own body. It is Venus that desires the sexual
aspect of a relationship, while Eros longs for the emotional connection with
the other person. Lewis asserts that Eros cause a man to really want, not a
woman, but one particular woman. He wants that particular woman, because the
lover desires the Beloved herself, not the mere pleasure she can give to him.
Pleasure in this Love is seen as a by-product, as opposed to the goal of the
Love. Lewis concludes that Eros can become a god to people who fully submit
themselves to it. He says that it can be an extremely profound experience for
people even up to the point of suicide pacts and furious refusals to part. This
last part of the chapter where Lewis was talking about Eros becoming a god for
some and how it pushes some to suicide it reminded me of Shakespeare’s play, Romeo & Juliet. They committed
suicide because they both believed they had lost one another and were so in
love with each other that they could not imagine life without the other and
would rather pass into death than to remain alive by themselves.
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