31 pages • 1 hour read
C. S. LewisThe Four Loves
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1960A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Cliff
Early in the book, Lewis discusses the necessity of taking a detour (through life) in order to draw nearer to God. He uses the metaphor of a man standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the village where he lives. However, there is no straight road down to the village. In order to reach his home, he must follow the path, which is long, winding, and leads him far away from the edge of the cliff where he could see his destination. In order to find his way back, he must stay on the path and keep his goal firmly in his mind so that he does not forget why he is walking. Whenever one is faced with the choice to act in a loving (God-like) manner, or to satisfy one’s own desires, one has reached the edge of the cliff. By staying on the path, however circuitous it becomes, the only way of drawing nearer to God during a mortal existence is to follow the path He has set and to try to act as He would.
The Beloved
The various versions of The Beloved in The Four Loves take the forms of friends, fond acquaintances, lovers, spouses, and God and Christ themselves. Feelings of love occur within one person but are manifested towards beings outside of themselves. It is the presence of a Beloved that allows someone to demonstrate that their love is an external as well as an internal reality. Humans find themselves in the privileged position of being The Beloved of God. Despite their inferior status and dependence upon Him, they are in His thoughts and their well-being is important to Him. Lewis argues that once one is aware that he matters enough to be in God’s thoughts, the only appropriate reaction is humility and service.
Perfection
Lewis returns to the theme of perfection many times. God did not have to create the world, or the people upon it. That he did so proves to Lewis that, because “God is love” (1), there must be a reason for the creation—and that reason can only be love. God created the world out of Charity in order to give His children a proving ground in which they could strive to perfect themselves and return to Him. Any good parents want the best for their children, but the limits of what human parents can give their children is limited in a way that a divine parent is not. The examination of love in The Four Loves is in some way a performance of Lewis struggling to learn what the perfection of a human looks like through the eyes of God.
Related Titles
By C. S. Lewis
