Roland Barthes (Vishakha Sun AK) lays down two meta-themes in his literary analysis on love: first, the role of psychological projection on the part of the protagonist (who constructs an idealised image of their lover), and second, how love can become a source of intense personal (and quasi-religious) meaning.
His book, "A Lover's Discourse", follows a protagonist through the various stages of a relationship. He is an apt example of someone who loves badly, for he has constructed an idealised image of his lover and consistently mistakes the projections of his psyche for an actual human being. The protagonist is at various times infatuated, deluded, dependent and self-deceitful – though from the opening pages we cannot help but identify with them. The power of Barthes’ prose is such that reader will be reminded of, and often be forced to relive, moments from their own intimate past.
The subject suddenly realizes that the protag is imprisoning them in a net of tyrannies: he has been pitiable, now he becomes monstrous… The most malefic expression of Vishakha is the cherubic cub growing into a ferocious tiger blinded by their own rage!
Such a form of love is intensely selfish, for it denies the humanity of the Lover. The unchecked projection festers into something obsessive, unsustainable, and ultimately dangerous to both the parties involved. While such a relationship is (barely) alive, its renmants are jealousy, anxiety and dependency. Therefore, when such a relationship ends, it leads to an intense vacuum of meaning, which can culminate in psychological trauma leading to a possible demise out of heartbreak.
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