Description

In this penultimate episode of Hot Takes on the Classics’ season on love, Emily Maeda and Tim McIntosh step back to reflect on what a sustained engagement with classic texts has revealed about love itself. Drawing on philosophy, novels, poetry, and plays explored throughout the season, they consider why love is harder to portray than war, why modern culture lacks an adequate vocabulary for love, and why friendship has been undervalued. The conversation revisits themes from C.S. Lewis, Cicero, Jane Austen, Tolstoy, and others, while also looking ahead to future seasons and the kinds of questions classic literature continues to provoke.

Episode Outline

• Introduction and framing the season on love in contrast to the prior season on war
• Why conflict is easier to dramatize than love
• The need for a richer vocabulary of love beyond romantic eros
• Reconsidering the importance and rarity of true friendship (philia)
• Distinguishing friendship from camaraderie and social closeness
• Reflections on The Wind in the Willows and Cicero as models of friendship
• Love as an ontological and demanding subject rather than entertainment
• Revisiting major literary masterworks on love and why they remain underrated
• Affection (storge) as love of place, home, and belonging
• Mysticism and love: Simone Weil and Waiting on God
• The range of genres and voices explored during the season
• Romantic love as a mystery in classical thought
• Rapid-fire reflections and closing thoughts on the season’s legacy

Key Topics & Takeaways

• Love vs. War in Literature: War is often more narratively exciting because it centers on conflict, while love is more difficult to portray precisely because it aims at harmony and unity.
• The Poverty of Modern Love Vocabulary: English lacks precise terms for different kinds of love, flattening distinctions that were carefully preserved in Greek and Latin traditions.
• The Recovery of Friendship (Philia): True friendship is rare, selective, and morally demanding—far more than mere companionship or camaraderie.
• Affection and Love of Place (Storge): Love of home and country need not depend on superiority or perfection, but on belonging and loyalty despite flaws.
• Masterworks Remain Underrated: Familiar texts like Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, and Anna Karenina are often misunderstood because their popularity obscures their depth.
• Mysticism as Energizing Love: Simone Weil’s Waiting on God presents love not as sentimental or escapist, but as demanding attention, patience, and openness.
• Romantic Love as Mystery: Classical thinkers treated romantic love as something strange, destabilizing, and difficult to explain—closer to a force of nature than a manageable emotion.

Questions & Discussion

• Why is love harder to portray in literature than war?
  Consider how conflict, suffering, and resolution function differently in narratives about love versus narratives about violence.
• Do we need more words for love today?
  Reflect on how language shapes moral imagination and whether modern culture collapses distinct loves into a single category.
• What distinguishes true friendship from camaraderie or social closeness?
  Think about Cicero’s idea of friendship as “another self” and how that challenges modern assumptions.
• Why do classic love stories remain undervalued despite their fame?
  Consider whether overexposure dulls attentiveness and how rereading changes interpretation.
• Is romantic love best understood as rational choice or mystery?
  Compare modern expectations of romance with classical portrayals of love as destabilizing and inexplicable.

Suggested Reading

• Waiting for God by Simone Weil
• The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis   
• On Friendship by Cicero
• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame    
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 
• Devotchka