Here’s a quick and simple definition:Some additional key details about allegory: 1. Of course, this book is intended for academic interest in allegories in the medieval period, of which I am one of them. To get the most out of this book I would suggest that you at least read The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Psychomachia by Prudentius. Of course, this book is intended for academic interest in allegories in the medieval period, of which I am one of them. ( Log Out /  That's my failing and not the author's. This is a scholarly work, and not intended for a layman like me; I comprehend maybe a tenth of it. -Love is both a state of mind and an art (page 43), -Courtly law states that in the case of two lovers who discover that they are related by marriage, they must part (page 43), -Jealousy is a component of true love, but “is a pest in marriage” (page 44). Because I've read other CS Lewis books, gravitated to this one on the subject. A fantastic overview (okay - it is actually pretty in depth) look at medieval love traditions. C. S. Lewis explores the sentiment called 'courtly love' and the allegorical method within which it developed in literature and thought, from its first flowering in eleventh-century Languedoc through to its transformation and gradual demise at the end of the sixteenth century. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “The Four Loves” by C. S. Lewis. Indeed, one of his earliest works. -Lewis refers to Capellanus’ thoughts as a “system of ethics” (page 48). 978-1-107-65943-8 - The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition C. S. Lewis Frontmatter More information. There are other parts though where Lewis expects more expertise from the reader, not only in old language or french or greek - but also in old poet. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. As hard as it was to get through this book because it was hard for someone of my ignorance to stay interested, the main concepts Lewis presents are brilliant and have inspired me to learn more about poetry. "The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition" is the book which made C.S. Lewis is such an accessible writer you don't have to be a literary major to enjoy his contribution to the study of the early modern period. -Capellanus incorporates God and actual religion into his argument- saying that the lady must approve because that is what God commands (page 46). Reader beware. Lewis's writings. Venus, goddess of love, steals an arrow from her son Cupid’s quiver as she kisses him on the lips. That is not to say, of course, that his conclusions are true, but that he has a good sense of the literature and the ideas and is able to explain them well to the reader. What is the central thesis? Lewis work, and not because I have a special interest in allegories of courtly love from the medieval age. -The lady was often a little better than a piece of property to her husband (this supports my claim that it is possible that the lady wanted to feel superior to a man, hence she invested in courtly love to satisfy those needs), 2.” The medieval theory of marriage- what may be called, a convenient modern barbarism, the ‘sexology’ of the medieval church.” (page 16), -“But according to the medieval view passionate love love itself was wicked, and did not cease to be wicked if the object of it were your wife” (page 17), – The true relations between courtly love and Christianity (page 17), – “The general impression left on the medieval mind by its official teachers was that all love- at least all such passionate and exalted devotion as a courtly poet thought worthy of the name- was more or less wicked…” (Page 21)- talks about the role that the church played and the different views of several different people in ancient times (refers to the Fall,etc. We find also the conception of lovers as the members…” (page 39). C.S. -Lewis says: “We may be quite sure that the poetry which initiated all over Europe so great a chance of heart was not a ‘mere’ convention: we can be quite as sure that it was not a transcript of fact. The life of another young woman is threatened, leading … This was a difficult book. Summary: "Allegory of the Cave" Plato’s Republic takes the form of a series of dialogues between the first-person narrator ( Socrates , Plato's teacher) and various real-life figures. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Lewis' attempt here is to show how the idea of love changed from pre-Courtly Love through post-Spenser and, for the most part, he does a good job. What has C.S. Lewis explores the sentiment called 'courtly love' and the allegorical method within which it developed in literature and thought, from its first flowering in eleventh-century Languedoc through to its transformation and gradual demise at the end of the sixteenth centuty. It's unlike other Lewis books I've read - full of literature themes and such (not my area of expertise). As hard as it was to get through this book because it was hard for someone of my ignorance to stay interested, the main concepts Lewis presents are brilliant and have inspired me to. Love has not always taken such precedence, however, and it was in fact not until the eleventh century that French poets first began to express the romantic species of passion which English poets were still writing about in the nineteenth century. The allegory of the cave, or Plato's Cave, is an allegory presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work Republic (514a–520a) to compare "the effect of education (παιδεία) and the lack of it on our nature".It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates, narrated by the latter.The allegory is presented after the analogy of the sun … Lewis says: “It is as if the insensible could not yet knock at the doors of the poetic consciousness without transforming itself into the likeness of the sensible: as if men could not easily grasp the reality of moods and emotions without turning them into shadowy persons” (page 37). Plato's Republic1 THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: - Behold! Allegory of Love is a literary criticism book, but it also offers a good overview of allegory and the medieval era. 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