A cultural history of love in the age of enlightenment

The 18th century has often been situated at the heart of an affective revolution, where new discourses about the meaning and significance of love transformed how families were created and related to one another. More broadly, love was inextricably bound up with many of the guiding social and political ideals of the Enlightenment, not least the pursuit of happiness. As such, it had crucial implications for constructions of gender, class, race, and power, and who was, and was not, permitted to feel. It further assumed new importance as a political emotion, shaping changing ideas about patriotism, nation, democracy, and revolution. This volume studies love in its manifold forms and contexts as a critically important emotion which was threaded through the major debates and developments of the era.
Drawing upon both visual and textual sources, A Cultural History of Love in the Age of Enlightenment presents an overview of the period and examines key cultural case studies on the themes of romantic love; love in families; friendship; love in communities; love and the divine; love in politics; physiologies of love; and love in art and material culture.