ABSTRACT
Marriage represents a death because it is only in the renunciation of infantile narcissism that cooperative love relationships can grow. Edward VIII gave up his identity, his future, and his dreams, because Wallis Simpson stimulated in him some deep, unmet childhood need that had remained hidden until the development of their relationship. Eros, god of love, had a special quality about him that made his fashion of love particularly dangerous. It was said of Eros that he “relaxes the limbs, and in the breasts of all gods and all men subdues their reason and prudent counsel. Marriage signifies the putting away of individual concerns. It is, in fact, the last hurrah for infantile narcissism. The love affair between Edward and Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee, has gone down in the annals of history as one of the most remarkable examples of the triumph of love.
