The Perverse Love And Selfless Love

The Perverse Love and The Selfless Love When most people think of love, they imagine a beautiful concept, one of which is and should be a part of life. Some will imagine the unconditional love of God, others will picture a spouse or family members, and some may even think about materialistic things. While there are many ways in which love can be defined as, it usually has positive connotations. This is not necessarily the case in Lewis’ novel Till We Have Faces, at least through the character Orual. Love is a major theme in the novel and is portrayed in both a humanly and a divine way. The humanly love which Lewis displays is mainly shown through Orual and is demonstrated as a perverse love. The divine love is presented through Psyche and is portrayed as selfless. In Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis differentiates perverse love and selfless

Glome is a somewhat morbid place, led by King Trom, father of Orual, Redival, and Psyche. Trom is an uncharitable, malicious king who is completely selfish. Ungit, the goddess who is worshiped in Glome, shares common characteristics, proving to be a brutal and dark goddess. One who even requires blood sacrifices. Orual describes ungit saying, “She is a black stone without head or hands or face, and a very strong goddess. My old master, whom we called the Fox, said she was the same whom the Greeks call Aphrodite” (4). Aphrodite, being the goddess of love and beauty is often viewed as a gentle and kind goddess. This represents the love in which Aphrodite stands for. In contrast, Ungit being strong and dark in appearance symbolizes the love which she represents, and that in which the kingdom of Glome has come to know through worshiping her. We see this dark and powerful love through the way Trom treats his daughters, the way the priest speaks of Psyche’s sacrifice, and the way Orual loves Psyche, Bardia, and the