#first essay

First Essay of the Year

People think creative writing is easy until they try to write out a story. You have to make up a person, their personality, their background, their current setting, their friends, their enemies, and interests. And that’s just one character! This shit is hard! The reason I decided to take up creative writing this year at University is to hone my craft so I can one day sit down, read my own book,…

Defining local history is a topic that has undergone a transformation over the past century. British History Online gives the definition of local history as ‘All history is about people. Local historians […] spend most of their time investigating ordinary people in ordinary places’.[1] The antiquarians of the past would be likened to fact gatherers, who would not seek to draw out any further information than what was found on the surface. This is a habit that it is important to draw away from in order to compile good local history.[2] Several historians have sought to make their own impressions of what makes local history good, including Kate Tiller, W. G. Hoskins, John Beckett and John Tosh. Within this essay, there will be common themes that will be deliberated upon with references to work completed by Barry Reay, Kate Tiller and John Tosh. These themes are to define local history, how to combine the local events with regional and nationwide events, how to treat sources and the questions to ask of them.

Defining local history is a task that commonly seems to be noted as ‘hard to do well’.[3] The local historian must be able to establish what they intend to study and define what they will call local for the extent of their work.[4] Local history is traditionally not a topic that has been encompassed in a professional capacity, instead amateur groups were established during the Victorian era. This stemmed from a concern over loss of heritage due to the rapid changes brought on to society via the Industrial Revolution.[5] Due to the founding of local history interests in amateur groups, there is an ongoing general perspective at the academic level that local history is relevant only in relation to supporting national agendas and themes.[6] Linking the events on a national and transnational scale can make local history be classified as good, since it places the small area on the global map.[7] No village, town or city exists on its own, it is always part of the larger area even when places were more distanced than they are in the present day. A settlement would be connected to others in the locality, and there would be a focal place in the area where large markets would be held, and all manners of essential goods could be traded. However, the changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution can be viewed as a threat to this known existence. The changes were felt at the ground level by those who had no say in the technology brought in which could threaten their livelihoods, however if the customs were not being challenged too greatly, then the changes would be viewed as progressive by the local history societies.[8] The early societies were rarely involved with local history alone, they would also have wider interests such as archaeology and antiquities.[9] The local societies would also have a middle-class membership rather than an elite-class, therefore they were seen as not as highly educated in the eyes of the universities which founded the academics of history.

The sources used in local history can often formulate a strong basis for a thesis. Historians are highly trained to analyse and interpret sources, and they are also aware of how to test a source for its ‘authenticity’.[10] This is done by knowing the circumstances in which sources are made, along with external knowledge of language changes, author bias and events occurring around them.[11] The sources should be interpreted, and they should come from a wider area than from just the traditional aspects such as census records, written documents and artifacts.[12] By using a broader range of sources, it gives a stronger explanation to the thesis proposed. A historian should also be fully aware that one can rarely find all of the sources that would make the argument for a thesis in one place, thus it is important to search different areas for new sources so one can be able to examine society from all angles as it was then.[13] It can also showcase that it was not only one part of society that experienced the event, nor that it was only the marginalised fringes who felt the aftereffects. Though the historian should be wary of examining the morality of the event or its outcomes, instead of focusing on explaining the changes.[14] It is also necessary to maintain accuracy when examining sources, since historians can succumb to the wishes to ‘explain or justify the present’ while examining the past through the evidence left behind.[15] The use of title deeds and wills can establish how a family would run a farm after the death of the male head of household.[16] While then examining census records, one can also potentially uncover how a family made their living.[17] Though one does also then have to acknowledge that women and children were also hidden labour behind census records under an informal economy.[18] As a list, this brings together the training of the historian to read into what is left behind since Reay draws up possibilities where dual occupations were hidden by the census records. It must be acknowledged that informal economies were the backbone during the Victorian era for the lower-class families, where work which was not necessarily paid but it was essential to the running of the household. Historians have learnt about it by interpreting their sources thoroughly from a variety of origins. A historian must also be thoroughly aware that the bias of the author of the sources can influence exactly what was left behind, and that they must know that it is just as important about what has not been said as what was said.[19] Good local history will extract information from sources, while maintaining the customs and beliefs of the time and not looking to colour it with modern values. This is an idea which can only be further enhanced by bringing together a wide combination of sources, and thus building the most accurate representation of the past that the skills of a historian will allow. Statistics and data are also an important factor to consider, although it must be noted that the context in how the data was gathered is an essential factor to be aware of.[20]

Local history was formed on the idea that it was only important in relation to explaining national events at a local level.[21] The Victoria County History (VCH) was founded in 1899 with the expectation of being able to document every parish in England upon completion.[22] Though the founding of the VCH may have been misguided, since local history is now often referred to as a history of people, rather than place. It focuses on the day-to-day ordinary citizen instead of the original top down history.[23] If changes at a local level can be linked to national events then it was relevant for traditional historical study. For example, the food riots in the eighteenth century in East and South England and the corn laws set by parliament.[24] The food riots were only focused on certain towns and areas, but it contributed towards a wider response to move to a free market and to enforce the idea that a free market should establish the cost of the corn and flour that many people depended on to make their bread for the week. However, the local area is where the people would feel the change the most. It was the local people who would band together to make the drive to not buy the corn for the price set by the seller, instead they would bargain to pay a fair price. Thus, by studying the local area, you are uncovering the history of the ordinary person. Ordinary people who would remain hidden in history if studies were not undertaken to extract them and expose them to the present.[25] By explaining how the changes at a local level relate to the national events, then a historian is incorporating the understanding they have gained from their sources and integrating it with their knowledge of the wider locality.[26] They are also acknowledging that not every place had the same reaction to events, and that sometimes, the common belief about what happened in the past is misguided.[27] The investigation of the evidence should present the changes without adhering to expectation of how the local area was affected and it should not seek to romanticise the past.[28] A good study will place the local area in relation to the regional, national and global issues.[29] This will draw out the idea that no village or town exists entirely on its own. One parish or locality will not support itself; it is always connected to others and it will have a purpose there.[30] The sources used by the historian should be relatable to others, the sources like the parish, cannot stand alone.[31]

Writing history should be a blend of perspective, understanding people and place, and maintaining a distance which will enable an ability to interpret the evidence critically.[32] By uncovering the customs of a locality, then a historian can seek to exploit further understanding of why people lived their lives in certain ways. This knowledge can usually only be uncovered due to the extensive training that a historian undergoes. One should be able to lift the source from the era and examine it with the knowledge of customs, beliefs and a willingness to learn more about what other studies could have missed.[33]

History must be written well for it to be considered good, even going as far as that a good historian must be able to write creatively to engage with readers and other historians.[34] Imagination is required for good history writing, as sources will often only show a glimpse instead of showing the whole story behind its creation in the past.[35] To be able to engage with your audience, then one must be able to recreate the past in vivid detail. Word choice is essential and can make the difference, whilst paying attention to details that have been taught as a historian’s tool. The poorest were often the type to leave behind no footsteps in the past, thus imagination enables the historian to bring them back to life through their analysis of a source.[36]  It is also important that while answering the issues and questions, the place itself is not forgotten otherwise the results could be compared to the earlier antiquarian fact gathering expeditions.[37] A properly thought out argument that is written well can distinguish the professional historian from the enthusiastic amateur who compiles facts that they have found interesting.[38] It should also be written in a way that can demonstrate emotions in the face of what is viewed as change for the worse by the people of the time.[39] However, the historian should be wary of presenting the past as static in their writings since attitudes and events have a habit of constantly changing and evolving.[40] When badly written, history can hide the majority of people from view. It can hide many problems that are placed on the poorest, who a historian can deduct from sources is already highly unlikely to leave their mark on society.[41] It can also produce a flat image which, when not done correctly, leaves the audience misguided on events. Events are not stand-alone features, so the historian should be able to write them as such with cause and effect lain out for the reader to learn from.[42]

Writing local history is a task that is not easy to define. The Victoria County History is still aiming to complete all the parishes in England and its work is ongoing over 120 years on from its formation. The historian must be aware when they begin, the task before them is an arduous one. Sources will not speak plainly; the historian must be able to extract information and data from them to form evidence to support their thesis. They must also be able to write creatively, fluently and engage with their audience to bring the past to life. A well written local history will be able to define its own area of study and will have used a wide variety of sources in order to engage the past in its truest form. Historians should be able to link events from the local reaction to the national event and place the locality in the wider globe. Local events do not happen on their own, there is a complex web of cause and effect to examine and the historian can only bring this issue to life with extensive training, knowledge of how to examine the sources and the ability to write well.

[1] Adam Chapman, ‘Subject guide: local history on British History Online’ British History Online <https://www.british-history.ac.uk/using-bho/local-guide> [accessed 20 October 2020] (para 1 of 12).

[2] Ian Willis, ‘Academic Snobbery: local historians need more support’ The Conversation <https://theconversation.com/academic-snobbery-local-historians-need-more-support-5710> [accessed 20 October 2020] (para 10 of 26).

[3] Annette Atkins, ‘Reviewed work: Writing Local History Today: A Guide to Researching, Publishing, and Marketing Your Book by Thomas A Mason and J. Kent Calder’, The Public Historian, 37 (2015), 144-146 (p. 145).

[4] David Hey, ‘Local and Regional History: Modern Approaches’ Oxford Reference <https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199532988.001.0001/acref-9780199532988-e-2004> [accessed 18 October 2020] (para 2 of 23).

[5] John Beckett, Writing Local History (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007) p. 73.

[6] Beckett, Writing Local History, p. 3.

[7] Ian Willis, ‘Local History: a view from the bottom’ History Workshop <https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/local-history-a-view-from-the-bottom/> [accessed 20 October 2020] (para 12 of 13).

[8] Rebecca Wheeler, ‘Local history as productive nostalgia? Change, continuity and sense of place in rural England’, Social & Cultural Geography, 18 (2017), 466-486 (p. 469).

[9] Beckett, Writing Local History, p. 71.

[10] John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of History (Oxon: Routledge, 2015) pp. 98-102.

[11] K. D. M. Snell, ‘Gravestones, Belonging and Local Attachment in England 1700-2000’, Past and Present, 179 (2003), 97-134 (p. 108).

[12] Kate Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century: An Overview and Suggested Agenda’, The International Journal of Regional and Local Studies, 6 (2010), 16-47 (p. 16-18).

[13] W. G. Hoskins, The Midland Peasant: The Economic and Social History of a Leicestershire Village (Chichester: Macmillan, 1963), p. xvii.

[14] Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century’, p. 22.

[15] Tosh, p. 3.

[16] Barry Reay, Microhistories: demography, society and culture in rural England, 1800-1930 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 18.

[17] Reay, p. 20.

[18] Reay, p. 30.

[19] Rosemary Sweet, ‘The production of urban histories in eighteenth-century England’, Urban History, 23 (1996), 171-188 (p.182).

[20] Tosh, p. 113.

[21] Beckett, Writing Local History, p.82.

[22] [Anon.], ‘What is Victoria County History?’ British History Online <https://www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history/about-victoria-county-history> [accessed 10 November 2020] (para 1 of 5).

[23] Reay, p. 13.

[24] E. P. Thompson, ‘The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century’ in Customs in Common ed. by E. P. Thompson (London: Merlin Press, 1991), pp.185-258 (p.189).

[25] Jan Broadway, ‘No Historie So Meete’: Gentry Culture and the Development of Local History in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006) p. 3.

[26] Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century’, p. 33.

[27] Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century’, p. 39.

[28] Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century’, p. 23.

[29] Pierre Goubert, ‘Local History’, Daedalus, 100 (1971) 113-127 (p.124).

[30] M. Aston, Interpreting the Landscape: Landscape, archaeology and local history (London: Batsford, 1985) p. 151.

[31] Tosh, p. 122.

[32] Tiller, ‘Local History and the Twentieth Century’, p. 16.

[33] Tosh, p. 27.

[34] Tosh, p. 123.

[35] Tosh, p. 142.

[36] Snell, p. 122-3.

[37] John Beckett, ‘W. G. Hoskins, the Victoria County History, and the Study of English Local History’, Midland History, 36 (2011), 115-127 (p.126).

[38] Beckett, Writing Local History, p. 197.

[39] Wheeler, p. 469.

[40] Wheeler, p. 470.

[41] Wheeler, p. 482.

Hi, I haven't post anything because I been really busy with homework 📚 and life.

The last time I posted I was going to corseford ❤️. I had fun❤️.

Last Friday I handed in my first essay for modern studies 📚❤️.

One thing that I have always found interesting is the fact that it is completely “normal” for women to be the stay at home wife who does nothing but cook, clean, and take care of the kids all day. They're automatically labeled “caretakers”. Women are raised to believe that the only role they are allowed to play is the caretaker role. The men work, they make the decisions and handle all the money. I've always known that this was an existing problem due to my own personal experience, but what helped me understand the situation more was the chapter written by Betty Friedan called “The Essential Feminist Reader.” She talked a lot about how women were raised a certain way so they can be the “perfect” stay at home wife in the future, but not only were they raised to act a certain way, they were raised to think a certain way as well. “If a woman had a problem in the 1950's and 1960's, she knew that something must be wrong with her marriage, or with herself.” (Freedman, Estelle B. The Essential Feminist Reader. New York: Modern Library, 2007. Print.) If a woman is unhappy with her life, she automatically pins it on herself. She won't take into consideration that she isn't happy with her life, and that there is something out there that can make her truly happy. From my understanding and experience, if a woman fulfills her care taking role then she is rewarded with materialistic things such as money, clothes, a beautiful home with amazing furniture, the perfect car, etc. Even though this is all nice to have, it doesn't guarantee happiness. I believe their punishment for not fulfilling their role is embarrassment and neglect. For example, if the wife gets the dish for a dinner party wrong the husband will embarrass her in front of all the guests by pointing out that failure. The husband will neglect and embarrass his wife at home by constantly pointing out her weaknesses and mistakes, which soon leads to a toxic marriage. Even though I have not been married yet in my life, I can relate to this issue. My parents got a divorce when I was about 6 years old, so I would always go visit my dad on the weekends. My father ended up having another 4 kids, (in addition to my brother and I), and got remarried. Every time I went over to visit, he always expected me to clean and take care of his kids. This continued on for years, until I moved to Florida in 2012. If I didn't obey, he would punish me by neglecting me and embarrassing me in front of my family by pointing out my weight or my acne. If I did obey, he would buy me whatever he thought would please me at the moment. I would always ask him “Why don't you or my brother ever clean?” He would respond with, “Because we are not the women of the house.”

Men are raised very differently compared to women. They're not taught how to clean and cook for everyone, but instead they're taught that they are to be the head of the household and the main source of income. Men aren't encouraged to take an interest in cooking or to serve others, instead they are taught to let the women in their lives take care of it while they let themselves being taken care of. I'm not saying that men cannot be independent, just that they are taught to rely on the woman to take care of the housework and the family. They aren't taught to be the caretaker because that would be putting their masculinity to the test. If a man loves to cook and clean, they are seen as feminine and then they feel that everyone is testing their masculinity. They're taught that they must make more than their wives because they are men. To make my point more clear, it would be seen as “odd” if the woman came home from a long day at work, and their husbands have the whole house cleaned, the kids bathed and dinner ready on the table with an apron around their waste. Now just reading that, doesn't it sound weird?

The deadline for this essay is 12 noon November 23rd, 2015. Essays must be submitted electronically to h.e.monforton (at) dur.ac.uk. You will receive the marked essay, including constructive feedback, on November 30th during our last tutorial of Michaelmas term.

The essay must be between 1,500—2,000 words in length. You must place your chosen essay title at the top of the first page. Please consult the library website for information on formatting and citation styles (there will be more on this emailed to you later).

You are welcome to write on any of the novels on the module. Do not feel obliged to write only on the novels we have already discussed in the tutorials. I encourage you to write on later novels if you have read ahead.

If you are unable to submit your essay due to circumstances outside your control, please let me know in advance of the essay’s deadline. Extensions may be granted but only if given adequate notice.

This essay is formative. It is to assess your strengths and weaknesses so we may encourage the former and correct the latter. I, as your tutor, am here to help you. If you have any difficulties or questions, please do not hesitate to email me.

Essay Titles (pick one)

‘I have a great deal of difficulty in beginning to write my portion of these pages’ (Esther, Bleak House) To what extent are the narrators of the novels you have studied aware that they are narrators, and with what effect?

‘It is widely agreed … that the novel has a specially intimate connection, amongst literary forms, with reality’ (Stephen Hazell). How far do the novels you have studied support this statement?

To what extent is the function of the novel one of social and moral criticism?

Discuss how two or more of the novels you have studied use female narrators to explore questions of gender and gender identity.

The Nature of Love

Of the many emotions that a human can express, love happens to be one that is riddled with the greatest amount of mystery. What is love? What does it mean to be in love? Today’s media has shown several examples of love and the way that humans respond to it. If someone were to ask me what love was, I wouldn’t be able to answer them in the way that I want. For me, to ask what love is happens to be a complex task and would be just as difficult as explaining how people can have faith in something they aren’t certain of. “Love is a chemical reaction that occurs in the brain”…my answer to the question of what love is would rely almost completely on the biological responses that seem to be associated with the emotion. I may not know exactly what love is beyond the chemical processes that may or may not trigger it, but I as well as every other human has seen love. Humans have known love for ages, probably since the first of us walked the Earth. With the countless examples of love I have seen in the media as well as in my everyday life I believe I can answer the question “what is the nature of love?” Some obvious answers to this question are ones like “Love is a special bond when two people like each other” or “Love is finding someone that matches you so well that it’s like they share the same soul”. These answers are vague, and not at all satisfying for one that pursues knowledge through philosophy. In regards to love my life has taught me that it is somewhat particular to the individual; this is why questions that ask about “What is love?” are hard to answer, because love is shaped by the desires of the lover. Love is not just one simple thing but it does seem to come about in a fairly consistent way. In Plato’s Symposium, the very subject of love is discussed. Many of the characters describe love as a god, being benevolent and beautiful; others saw it as more of a connection that existed between two people. The most intriguing explanation of love was introduced by a woman named Diotima in a story told by Socrates. She explained that love is not a god, but instead a medium that connects an individual with the form of beauty. This connection ultimately leads one to the greatest good. After reflecting on this speech I believe that Diotima’s explanation of love was the most accurate. Love’s identity is a mystery but it has been shown that it connects an individual to the things he/she desires. It is not a connection that leads to the greatest good, at least not directly, but does have the potential to bring out what is most good inside of humans. Not only does love connect us to inanimate objects but also to living objects, the most important being other humans. This is the nature of love, a medium that connects an individual’s desires to the object of their love. Love plays this role in each and every instance, from a man and woman getting married to a person pursuing a music career. Love acts as a medium; as a means to satisfy one’s desires, and more importantly, can help guide an individual to maximizing their fullest potential as a human. 

Before I go into what the nature of love is, I must first define what I mean when I use the term object and the two categories of an object which I use, living and non-living. My definition of a non-living object is essentially the same as Aristotle’s definition of an inanimate object in his great chain of being. This includes any tangible substance that does not possess life such as material possessions and food. I also extend non-living objects to also include intangible ideas such as music, art (or beauty), and math. A living object, as used by me, is strictly limited to human beings. Even though I believe that there are some animals which can experience love, for the sake of simplicity I am limiting living objects to humans because it is easiest to relate the experience of love using the most developed rational beings that I know exist. To begin, rational beings that are capable of thinking and contemplation are the only objects that can experience and feel the emotion of love. Love begins with an individual. When he/she interacts with the world around them, they begin to develop different attachments to both living and non-living objects. The individual discovers desirable characteristics within the object which perpetuate continued positive interactions with the object. When the feelings associated with those attachments persist and become stronger, the individual then experiences the emotion of love. This love can be referred to as linear love. The individual projects their feeling of love onto the object of their love. This creates a relationship of the lover and the beloved. The lover can, for the most part, come to love anything if the environment they are raised in allows for it. The lover can love both living and non-living objects alike; however, there are some differences in the experience of projecting linear love onto them. Non-living objects are not affected by the love projected onto them. An individual can have a love of music, but the music is not at all changed as a result of the individual’s love. If an individual comes to love another living object, another human, then the feelings of the lover can indeed have an effect on the beloved. As reality and media alike have shown, people can react positively or negatively to linear love. In some cases the beloved learns about the feelings of the lover and as a result the beloved’s feelings towards the lover are stimulated, potentially resulting in the reciprocation of linear love. It is also possible that the beloved becomes distressed upon learning of the lover’s feelings. If the lover is bold in his/her advances, the beloved my reject the lover openly and this can have effects on the lover’s feelings given enough time and the strength of the feeling. Whether or not the beloved reciprocates the feeling of love depends primarily on if they find desirable characteristics within the lover, but is also dependent on the social factors such as if either of them already have significant others or the economic status of the lover. The factors which determine if an individual will love a non-living object are also dependent on social factors and the number of positive experiences one has with the object. If one is exposed to math for much of their life and has always been successful when practicing it, it is possible that the individual will develop a love for math; however, if this individual is exposed to math but not successful in it they may ultimately express hatred or disinterest in math. Linear love functions like this most of the time, but this is not the entire experience of love for a living object. 

In the many cases where the beloved reciprocates the feelings of the lover, and projects their own linear love onto the lover, this creates a bond that it is stronger and rarer than linear love. The love that results when two individuals share mutual desires and feelings of linear love is called composite love. Composite love can be roughly defined as the love that exists between two living beings. Of the two loves, it is more complex in the relationships that are formed because the individual desires of both lovers are what shape the outcome of composite love. There are different types of relationships that people can establish where composite love is expressed. The most obvious expression of this love is by two intimate lovers. Even though different people express these feelings differently, it is common for two lovers to share exclusive physical desires for one another as well as the desire to create a family depending on how serious the relationship becomes. Another relationship (which in my opinion is overlooked too often) where composite love is expressed is the bond between two friends. Friendship bonds are created when two individuals find similar activities to be enjoyable and after repeated encounters the two begin to express feelings of linear love, which eventually creates the bond of composite love. The third relationship where composite love is present is the bond between family members. Family bonds are different in that we cannot choose who our family consists of and so the composite love between family members tends to be similar to bonds of friendship, or in less socially acceptable circumstances bonds between lovers. Linear and composite love is similar and obviously related, but composite love differs from linear love for various reasons. First, when two people share mutual desires when expressing composite love, this establishes solidarity and strengthens their feelings to a degree that exceeds linear love completely. Second, when composite love is shared by two individuals a set of special obligations are formed between the two. This happens with family, friends, and lovers alike. Third, an individual experiencing linear love typically seems focused on satisfying their own desires, but when an individual experiences composite love they are concerned if not equally than more so with satisfying the beloved’s desires as well. It goes to say that with both linear love and composite love, an individual is not limited to making only a single connection. A human being has the capacity to create as many linear and composite love bonds as he/she has the opportunity to do so. Humans do not simply love one person for all their lives. We can have several friends with whom we share composite love with, and most humans have multiple family members that they share love with. Even with intimate relationships that entertain only two people at a time, if that bond falls apart the individuals can come to love other people or even love each other again. Humans also can have love for several non-living objects. We can love music, movies, books, food, and hundreds of other objects simultaneously. All of these different connections, as mentioned above, are partially dependent on the positive interactions we have with the objects. What happens, though, if after a love has developed a series of negative experiences persist? Just as love is not singular, it is also not eternal. This applies to both linear and composite love; however, tends to be less common with linear love when the beloved is a non-living object. This is because humans do not have an all-or-nothing position with non-living objects. For example, an individual with a love of books does not love every book in existence. There are some that they like more than others and some which they dislike all together, but ultimately they still have a linear love of books. Composite love is more susceptible to negative experiences. It is a common occurrence for human desire to change, and when this happens between two individuals that share a composite love bond the resulting change may cause tension if the desires conflict with one another. If these complications are serious enough or persist for too long, the relationship may come to an end. 

After discussing the particular ways in which love is experienced the next step is to discuss some of the other aspects that are accompanied by the experience of love. Even from young ages people contain ideations about love and about falling in love. Social influences are part of the reason but it goes without saying that one does not need to be told to seek out love in the form of friendship or intimate relationships. Why is it that we seek out connections to other humans so fervently? What do we gain from the experience of linear and composite love? Two philosophers have presented works which I have read to help me answer these questions. The first is Aristotle who writes about the nature of friendship and love in the Nicomachean Ethics. He speaks about the three ways in which friendships are formed, and states that when formed for the sake of utility or pleasure they tend to be short-lived. There is a stronger friendship which is simply for the sake of itself which is the strongest friendship. It is this friendship which is applicable to what I have called composite love. Two people that share a bond of composite love care about the well-being of each other, and it is only when their desires begin to conflict that their relationship is in danger; however, when this happens they are willing to make changes to their own desires for the sake of the relationship. If the relationship is merely a superficial bond of composite love or, as Aristotle describes, established for the sake of pleasure or utility the relationship will cease. Aristotle’s ultimate objective in writing the Nicomachean Ethics was to show the ways in which humans can achieve their full potential as humans. He states that friendship is one of the essential things that humans need to do this. In the context of love this also holds true because it is through love that people maximize their humanness. When we are connected to other humans through composite love, and sometimes even linear love, we perform at our peaks. We tend to be most ethical towards the ones we love, we are inspired to work harder and perform better in front of the ones we love, and we show our true selves in front of our friends, families, and lovers. Using Diane Jeske’s work Families, Friends, and Special Obligations we can come to understand even more as to why humans seek love and also the ways in which these relationships are beneficial. In her work she discusses the nature of special obligations that are formed in bonds of friendship and family. Essentially when these bonds are formed there are implicit and explicit agreements that are created. The obligations that form are a factor of both the desires in the individuals and the social constructions of what the relationships mean. In friendship there is the obligation that one will not do anything to harm the other in any way, and this is pretty much a universal belief. The relationships between intimate lovers are more versatile depending on the culture. Typically in American society one has a single lover and is expected to not have sex with another person, while in another society in Asia spouses can have sex with other people but it is seen as a breach of obligation if one eats with the opposite sex in public. The obligations that are established in a certain relationship depends greatly where one is from. By looking at both Aristotle’s and Jeske’s works, the benefits to having these special obligations becomes apparent. Bonds of composite love, such as friendship, bring out the maximum potential in humans; however, this is not only for individuals but for the community as a whole. For centuries and longer humans have engaged in a society that is dependent on people providing different services and goods for the community. By establishing bonds of composite love with different people in the community one then gains the means to a better and easier life through the special obligations that are created. We can ask for favors when in a crisis and have access to those that are similar to us. This allows us to experience both the physical pleasures and the intangible joys that can only be experienced with the help of other people. 

Love is recognized as such an important emotion that there is an entire genre of movies dedicated to the experience of love. Romance films have been around for decades, and the multitude of films based on love has not reduced their production in the current generation of movies. Many films today tend to over-romanticize scenarios of love compared to the way love typically occurs in the average human life. Even though the movies are not great at showing accurate portrayals, they are still able to capture the nature of love that I have discussed above. The 2011 film Friends with Benefits does a fairly good job at showing many of the different aspects of love that I have presented. The movie is basically about two individuals that meet by chance and form a friendship. Having recently experienced bad break-ups with their former intimate partners, they eventually decide to have casual sex without the special obligations of being in an intimate relationship. The initial forming of their friendship shows the initial stages of their development of linear love. They find desirable qualities within each other and engage in several positive experiences to the point where they develop a mutual linear love, and then form a strong friendship as a result of the composite love they feel. The way in which their relationship is shaped by desires is also shown by the different activities they do together. The next part of the film focuses on how their friendship becomes threatened because their desires are changing. At a certain point they realize that they have different expectations and their relationship begins to fall apart. This part of the movie shows how conflicting desires can put serious strain on the relationship. Special obligations between family members are also shown at this point in the movie when the male individual shows that he is not ashamed of his father’s behavior as a result of his Alzheimer’s. The conclusion of this movie happens when the male character realizes he wants the same relationship as the female character, and with their desires once again aligned their connection of composite love is restored and strengthened. If one has seen this movie then they will most likely agree that it is not at all common for someone to win back the heart of their lover by organizing a flash mob in the middle of Times Square as if it’s the easiest thing to do; however, even with the over-the-top events we can see through film the nature of love and how the human experience of it is complex.

I have discussed how an individual first experiences the feeling of love. They begin by acknowledging desirable qualities within an object and after continued positive experiences the linear love for that object comes about. If the object is non-living the relationship between the lover and the beloved will most likely remain constant because non-living objects cannot change in the way that living objects can. If the object is living, i.e. human, then the linear love projected by the lover can be reciprocated or rejected. In the case of reciprocation where the beloved also projects linear love onto the lover then a new, stronger bond called composite love is formed. Composite love is not only stronger through solidarity, but also creates special obligations between the two individuals. The kinds of obligations that are created depend on the nature of the relationship that composite love operates in. The relationships that composite love can exist within are friendship, family, and the bond between intimate lovers. It is important to note that some of the obligations that are created are socially constructed and can vary from culture to culture. American society can have different expectations when it comes to intimate and family relationships than an East Asian culture. Humans are not limited to just one feeling of linear or composite love. We can make as many connections as our environment allows for, whether we have several ones simultaneously or experience them sequentially. Using Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics the reason as to why humans seek love as if driven by instinct was examined. Humans desire companionship because we operate in a society that depends on the structure of the community, each person specializing in a role that they are suited to do. By forming bonds of linear and composite love we are not only able to enjoy earthly/physical pleasures but we are able to create special obligations which will help make our lives easier. Diane Jeske speaks specifically on the nature of special obligations, showing that all three relationships that composite love exists within have special obligations that are valid because they are voluntarily accepted. Part of the reason why composite love is such a strong bond is because humans enter this bond freely, we enter friendships and intimate relationships of our own volition (and since family tends to be similar to that of friendships, or sometimes lovers, the composite love bond is entered voluntarily as well). Media does its best to capture the experience of love especially in film. The movie Friends with Benefits shows the changing relationship between two individuals. In different scenes of the film we see aspects of linear love, composite love, and examples of how these bonds can end and how desires can shape the nature of the relationship. Media tends to exaggerate the scenarios in which love plays out, but there is no denying that it is a powerful and complex emotion. The bonds that we form through love, bonds of friendship and family, make us better people when the relationships are full of positive events. The experience of love is essential to bringing out the full potential of humanness that we strive to achieve. 

(DISCLAIMER: THIS IS AN OLDER WORK OF MINE AND I DO PLAN TO WRITE A SECOND ESSAY EXPANDING ON THE CONCEPTS I SPEAK OF HERE)

FEEL FREE TO LEAVE ANY CRITIQUES YOU HAVE   Works Cited Fumerton, R., and D. Jeske. Introducing philosophy through film: Key texts, discussion, and film selections. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing, 2010. Print.

Gluck, Will, dir. Friends with Benefits. Screen Gems, 2011. Film. 20 Apr 2013.

"Nicomachean Ethics." The Internet Classics Archive. N.p., 14 Mar 2011. Web. 29 Apr 2013. <http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.8.viii.html>.