What is Love?

 

An analysis of the relationship between Guenever and Launcelot

 

By

Travis R. Babb

 

 

BACKGROUND:

For the last six years I have been doing various research projects on the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere. I wanted to know what was so special about the relationship between these two figures. What was it that made their relationship so popular centuries after the tales were written? To help answer that question I did some extensive research in the psychology of love and “intimate” relationships, as well as a look into the evolutionary history of the concept of love. I’ve done a deep analytical study of several Lancelot and Guinevere tales, as of right now my research tells me they may not have been in “love” at all.

 

 

 

CURRENT PROJECT:

`What I need to do now is further research into the theories of love and intimate relationships and try to find some analytical reviews that will support or refute my claims.          I will gather more information on the evolution of love, look at it from medieval times as well as contemporary times.

 

 

PLAN FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS:

This semester I plan to find resources that will support or refute my claims about the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere. Compose an analytical review in correct MLA format and possibly submit it for publication. First I have to review the literature reviews of the subject matter and theory. Then I have to sort through it to find ones that both support my claims and refute them. Then I would like to compose a publishable paper that shows what love is at least in the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere- and how the proposed theories can be generalized and projected into a real world real time setting.

 

 

 

IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO PRESENT THIS WORK:

            I would like to present my findings by simply reading the “highlight” and evidence supporting and refuting my claims. Possibly drawing some diagrams on various theories of “love” and intimate relationships, explaining how they work in theory and have an open discussion on how they are applied to Lancelot and Guinevere`.

 

 

 

WORKS CITED:

 

Berscheid, Ellen, and Elaine Walster 1974 A little bit about love Foundations of interpersonal attraction New York: Academic Press

 

Capellanus, Andreas The Art of courtly love Translated by Parry, John Jay. 1941 Frederick Ungar Publishing co. New York.

 

Cherchi, Paolo 1994. Andreas and the Ambiguity of Courtly love University of Toronto Press Toronto Buffalo London

 

Chretien de Troyes. Arthurian Romances trans. William W. Kibler, Carlton W. Carroll. Penguin, 1991

 

deCatanzaro, Denys A.  Motivation and Emotion Evolutionary, Physiological Developmental, and Social Perspectives. 1999. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Fenster, Thelma S. 2000 Arthurian Women, Routledge, New York and London.

 

 

Lambdin, Robert Thomas and Laura Cooner Editors Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature 2000. Greenwood Press; Westport, Connecticut and London.

 

Lauer and Lauer 2000 Marrage and Family; a quest for intimacy. McGraw Hill.

 

Meyers, David G. 1999 Social psychology 6th Edition,  Mcgraw Hill.

 

Hyde,Janet Shibley and DeLamater, John D. Understanding Human Sexuality 7th Edition 2000 McGraw Hill London.

 

Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte d’ Arthur Random House New York 1993.

 

Sternberg Robert  J. 1987. Liking Versus Loving: A comparative evaluation of Theories                              Psychological bulletin.

 

Schachter, Stanley, and Jerome E Singer. 1962 Cognitive, social and Physiological Determinants of emotional state Psychological Review 69: 379-99

 

Wilhelm James J. Editor 1994. The Romance of Arthur [New Expanded Edition]

An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation Garland Publishing, Inc. New

York and London.