The Amorous Heart: An Unconventional History of Love

by Marilyn Yalom

Overview

An eminent scholar unearths the captivating history of the two-lobed heart symbol from scripture and tapestry to T-shirts and text messages, shedding light on how we have expressed love since antiquity

The symmetrical, exuberant heart is everywhere: it gives shape to candy, pendants, the frothy milk on top of a cappuccino, and much else. How can we explain the ubiquity of what might be the most recognizable symbol in the world?

In The Amorous Heart, Marilyn Yalom tracks the heart metaphor and heart iconography across two thousand years, through Christian theology, pagan love poetry, medieval painting, Shakespearean drama, Enlightenment science, and into the present. She argues that the symbol reveals a tension between love as romantic and sexual on the one hand, and as religious and spiritual on the other. Ultimately, the heart symbol is a guide to the astonishing variety of human affections, from the erotic to the chaste and from the unrequited to the conjugal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465094714
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	01/09/2018
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	31 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Marilyn Yalom is a senior scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, and the author of A History of the Wife, among other books. She lives in Palo Alto, CA, with her husband, Irvin.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Amorous Heart in Antiquity 7

Chapter 2 Arabic Songs from the Heart 19

Chapter 3 The Heart Icon's First Ancestors 25

Chapter 4 French and German Songs from the Heart 33

Chapter 5 Romances of the Heart 43

Chapter 6 Exchanging Hearts with Jesus 59

Chapter 7 Caritas, or the Italianized Heart 69

Chapter 8 Birth of an Icon 83

Chapter 9 A Separate Burial for the Heart 95

Chapter 10 The Independent Heart 105

Chapter 11 The Return of Cupid 113

Chapter 12 The Reformation and Counter-Reformation 125

Chapter 13 How Shakespeare Probed the Heart's Secrets 137

Chapter 14 Heart and Brain 149

Chapter 15 Exposing the Female Heart 159

Chapter 16 The Heart in Popular Culture 171

Chapter 17 Hearts and Hands 179

Chapter 18 Romanticism, or the Reign of the Heart 189

Chapter 19 Valentines 205

Chapter 20 I ♥ U 219

Acknowledgments 229

Notes 231

Bibliography 255

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/01/2018
Yalom (senior scholar, Clayman Inst. for Gender Research, Stanford Univ.) writes an introductory survey of how the heart became a symbol of love from the age of antiquity through contemporary times. She begins by asking how and when did the heart come to be associated with love, what led it to become a global symbol of love, and how have different religious traditions reconciled amorous and spiritual love? To answer these questions, Yalom began an investigation of cave drawings and songs of French and German troubadours along with historical art, jewelry, poetry, and literature. In reviewing the Bible, she considers the writings of the church fathers, the Latin concept of caritas, the celebration of Valentine's Day, and the current use of the heart emoji. This survey takes us from ancient Greece and Rome to North Africa, from the Middle Ages to the present. VERDICT An engaging and fascinating account of the heart becoming synonymous with love, both in the amorous sense and as a vehicle for the word of God. This slender volume contributes mightily to a small area of scholarship and would be beneficial to general and academic readers.—Jacqueline Parascandola, Univ. of Virginia

Library Journal

01/08/2018
Yalom (How the French Invented Love) traces the many iterations of heart iconography and its use as a metaphor for love throughout history in this dynamic study. When the heart shape first appeared more than 2,500 years ago, it had not yet taken on the romantic meaning it has today and was simply used for decoration. The first heart shape associated with the concept of love was conelike and appeared in the art of medieval France and Italy, and 14th-century European painters are credited with the evolution of the iconic, bi-lobed shape. Now the two-sided heart appears everywhere and is one of the most recognizable symbols on Earth. Over the course of this interdisciplinary study, Yalom examines the “heart’s turbulent emotions” in Shakespeare’s work, travels back to the first celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day in the Middle Ages, and explores heart symbolism in Christianity. Yalom’s book is a scholarly and fresh approach to art history. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"From Christian theology to erotic poetry, Shakespearean drama to contemporary heart symbolism, The Amorous Heart is a fascinating history of the heart as symbol, icon and inspiration."—Mercury News (San Jose, CA)

"Yalom's writing is always clear and thoughtful, and at times (in congruence with her subject) it verges on the mildly frolicsome."—Wall Street Journal

"A charming and curious account of the heart in Western culture."—Times Literary Supplement

"This history of the heart will woo romantics and iconographers alike."—Booklist

"Dynamic... Yalom's book is a scholarly and fresh approach to art history."—Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating and enlightening... Yalom takes us from the Ancient Egyptians (who believed the organ was the seat of amorous feelings) to the kitsch and commercialism of Valentine's Day and the advent of the emoji. We heart this book!"—Indulge Magazine

"[An] illuminating study... combines an impressive depth and reach of knowledge with an engaging style that serves the popular topic well."—Kirkus

"A fascinating journey into the meanings of the heart... full of references to a rich range of literature, opera, art, and everyday objects that together form an enlightening read."—Wellesley Magazine

"For anyone whose heart has ever palpitated in love or devotion, this is a thumping romp through the history of hearts—in love, literature, illuminated manuscripts, and valentine cards."—Christopher de Hamel, author of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

"Lovers have histories; so do hearts. Sprouting in vines, burned in fires, frozen in icy jewels—the hearts in Marilyn Yalom's new book seem in sympathy with Yalom herself: they will their secrets—not to just anyone, but to her, such a warm writer, yes, they will confide."—Alexander Nemerov, author of Soulmaker: The Times of Lewis Hine

"Another tour de force by one of America's leading cultural historians. Marilyn Yalom's account of the heart's symbolization as the seat of passion takes us from antiquity to the Middle Ages to valentine kitsch of our own age. An exquisite book full of historical surprises and revelations."—Robert Pogue Harrison, author of Juvenescence and The Dominion of the Dead

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