A symbol of death, of love, and of social embeddedness (buzz, buzz, says the ton), the bee motif in Bridgerton invites us to think about how these topics relate to one another. Set in an idyllic version of Regency British society, The Viscount Who Loved Me is a mostly comic novel. Julia Quinn's thinking, then, seems closer to a second, competing philosophical tradition: one where love doesn't lead us away from the world of change and loss, but plays out precisely in that world, with mortality either a central feature of human existence, as in Heidegger (1889–1976), or as largely irrelevant to what living and loving well look like, the approach of Aristotle (384–322 bce). Mortality and love exist in a feedback loop, each filling the other with poignancy, beauty, and meaning. Anthony first confronts ontology, the question of Being, in the randomness of Edmund's death.
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A symbol of death, of love, and of social embeddedness (buzz, buzz, says the ton), the bee motif in Bridgerton invites us to think about how these topics relate to one another. Does love resist and escape mortality, or does mortality enhance or deepen love, giving it power and meaning? Is the thought of death isolating, or can we face it in a way that connects more deeply with other people, and ourselves? The Viscount Who Loved Me explores the question of what it means to live well or badly, and love well or badly, in the knowledge of our finitude. (62)
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In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle describes philia, or friendship-love, as playing out on three levels. There are “friendships of utility” based on mutual use and benefit, but not on shared values or character; “friendships of pleasure” based on common activities and enjoyments; and finally, “friendships of virtue,” the highest and deepest form of philia, in which two friends respect each other’s character and aid one another to achieve self-knowledge in a good and flourishing life. Unlike the levels of love in Plato, which made an awkward fit with Quinn’s novel, Aristotle’s model maps quite nicely onto the story. (68)
[LV - For more in the same volume about Aristotle in relation to the Bridgertons' romantic relationships, see Guillaume Lequien's article: "Is True Love Really Friendship?"]
Here's the abstract:
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[LV - For more in the same volume about Aristotle in relation to the Bridgertons' romantic relationships, see Guillaume Lequien's article: "Is True Love Really Friendship?"]