DENIS DE ROUGEMONT AND THE WESTERN CONCEPTION OF LOVE

Abstract

This paper analyses the key areas reached by the Swiss author Denis de Rougemont in his famous work Love in the Western World. We critically read de Rougemont's thought that love-passion, as the basic guiding thread of the myth of Tristan and Isolde, still sovereignly rules the unconscious being of modern man, giving him a one-sided vision of the play about love. Following his argumentation, we examine the connections between courtly and chivalrous love, Cathar heresy and troubadour love poetry. Denis de Rougemont contrasts eros, which ignites passion that descends into the darkness of death, with agape, i.e. the Christian love for one's neighbour. We question whether de Rougemont's solution to the problem of love by establishing merciful love as a necessary moral choice can be a satisfactory answer for modern man.

Keywords

• Denis de Rougemont
• eros
• agape
• troubadours
• Courtly Love
• marriage