Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book tests the idea that romantic love has exerted such profound and diverse effects, because it is an intrinsically radical and subversive force. Romantic love has been credited with the ability to erode and sometimes destroy the social structures and institutions that have traditionally determined and ordered human intimacy. The book interrogates both the radicalism and the conservatism of romantic love from a wide range of perspectives. Some contributions are broadly sympathetic to claims for the radicalism of romantic love, others are more critical or sceptical. The book addresses the 'The Rise and Fall of the Romantic Ideal' with a different emphasis and largely contemporary focus. Romantic love has been the site of intense conflict and contestation, at least since the emergence of the romantic movement at the end of the eighteenth century.