What Makes Us Love Essay, Research Paper

What Makes Us Love?

What makes us love? This question has been studied for centuries by

philosophers, scientists, and even writers in search of a sensible answer.

Shakespeare, for one, explored many ideas to justify love. In his play, ?A

Midsummer?s Night Dream?, he lists various thoughts on what he thinks causes

people to love. Some are overwhelmingly ridiculous, while others make some

sense.

One of his far-fetched answers as to how people fall in love was Cupid.

He believed Cupid would shoot his arrows of love into individuals, and they would

magically fall for the next person they saw. ?Cupid all armed. A certain aim he

took/At a fair vestal throned by the west,/ and loosed his love-shaft smartly

from his bow (2.1.163-65).? After the shot, the person wouldn?t know what hit

them.

He intertwines this thought with the concept that one falls in love after

looking in another?s eyes. After missing a shot, one of Cupid?s arrows hit a

flower, tainting it with his powers to make people fall in love. When placed in a

person?s eyes, they will be infatuated with the next thing they see. For

example, after being placed in his Lysander?s eyes, his immense love for Hermia

grows weak with just one look into Helena?s eyes.

Shakespeare?s thought here is that eyes have all the power over who

we fall for. Do not misunderstand him, though. His usage of this enchanting

juice is not to be taken seriously. He is trying to make a point, and at that, a

good one. Looking into someone?s eyes had a certain power over one?s

feelings. You just get a strong feeling in your heart. It is uncontrollable, and

sometimes, it truly is one of the main reasons we fall in love.

However, he contradicts himself in act one when Helena says, ?Love

looks not with the eye, but with the mind (1.1.240).? He now states that the

mind is what the person falls in love with, and not the eyes. It is true, however;

you have to love a person?s thoughts and ideas before you can feel that special

passion for them. That is the key to true love.

Although he had extremely different thoughts on the reasons we fall in

love, they all made some sense. By contradicting his explanations, he, in my

opinion, is making a point. He?s pointing out the fact that he, too, doesn?t really

know the answer to the question of what makes us love. And he knows that

no one ever will.