Ready for a different view of love altogether? Read We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love, by Robert A. Johnson. The author completes a Jungian analysis (a school of psychoanalysis developed by Carl Jung) of the myth of Tristan and Iseult, which introduced the concept of romantic love to the West.

Essentially, he explains that Western Man has significantly devalued and lost feminine values (relatedness, emotionality, sensitivity, etc), and seeks to attain these things, which are missing in himself, through romantic love. Johnson believes that many men fall in love with a woman that they view to be an ideal feminine goddess, rather than a flesh-and-blood human being. Thus, once the magic potion of love wears off and he finally sees the real person, he is disappointed, and continues searching for that ideal elsewhere in his life.

Johnson believes that men need to incorporate feminine values within themselves, and only then can they achieve wholeness and experience true human love, based on commitment, respect, and support.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 13 Feb 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.