Kosinskaya A. S.

The philosophy of love in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Pp. 142–150.

UDC 821.111-31.09«19»

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2024.84.3.016

 

Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of the origins and specifics of J. R. R. Tolkien’s philosophy of love based on his epic The Lord of the Rings. The philosophy of love is considered at the level of the theme and plot of the work, as well as the system of Tolkien’s characters in a comparative aspect. The leading research methods in the article are comparative-historical and typological. The focus of the comparative analysis is on the motives of amorousness (romantic love), friendship, love for one’s native land, spiritual love of the self-sacrificing hero in Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings and the philosophical and psychological description of the same varieties of love in C. S. Lewis’s treatise On Love (The Four Loves). The paper traces the connection between Tolkien’s artistic world and Lewis’s philosophical treatment of the phenomenon of love. The views of the writer’s colleague and close friend, who was also a member of the literary fellowship of the Inklings, undoubtedly influenced Tolkien’s work both at the ideological and plot levels. A comparative approach to the study of the character system in the epic allows us to trace, on the one hand, the influence of the artistic tradition of the Icelandic sagas on the formation of female images in The Lord of the Rings, and on the other hand, the connection with English literature of the 19th century (the works of Charles Dickens and William Thackeray). For the first time, the influence of the tradition of Dante Alighieri on the philosophy of love in the works of Tolkien is studied. The female images of The Lord of the Rings are compared with the image of Beatrice in Dante’s Divine Comedy, the nature of love and the relationship between lovers in the works of the two classics are compared. It is concluded that Tolkien is a follower of the courtly tradition of Dante (in contrast, for example, to the tradition of Petrarch) in Western European literature of the 20th century.

 

Keywords: J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, the theme of love, The Lord of the Rings, the tradition of Dante Alighieri.

 

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