Tag Archives: Romance

The Eternal Feminine

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Abigail

The Eternal Feminine Many years ago – it was our last evening in Paris – the first boy I loved told me that I had become, for him, “the eternal feminine.” Later I learned that his reference to Goethe’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "normal" woman, "normal" woman's life, 586 BC, Abraham and Sarah, Adam and Eve, Arch of Titus, biblical couples, boy/girl stuff, couples therapy, covenant renewal, Dara Horn's Eternal Life: A Novel, deathless heroine, debris of history, detritus of history, enthralling tale, eros of history, essence of history, eternal life, eternal people, evenings in Paris, false transcendence, feminist formulas, first love, First Temple, French seduction, God as Witness, Goethe's Faust, having children, heroine, honeymoon in Rome, idiosyncratic hermeneutics, immortal heroine, imprinting, Jacob and Rachel, Jewish continuity, Jewish girl, Jewish relation to time, Jewish survival, Jewish time, Jewish womanhood, John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale", living through it, living too long, love story, lovers, marital difficulties, marriageable girl, Mount Sinai, Mowgli, newly married, outlasting enemies, outliving one's children, outliving one's husband, outliving one's world, Outliving one’s time, Roman antiquities, Roman conquest, Romance, romantic difficulties, romantic novels, Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, seductive formulas, sharing fate, significant other, surviving genocide, taking romance seriously, The Covenant, the eternal feminine, the generations, the human generations, the Jewish essence, the past as present, the romantic essence, the Ur-couples, Ur-stories, wild child, woman's life | 2 Comments

“Unhappiness”

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Abigail

“Unhappiness” Now there’s a rich topic! It seems easier to do (achieve) than happiness, or at least easier to write about. The New York Times Book Review — where you have a weekly roundup of what the people who read, … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Autonomy, Chivalry, Cities, Class, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, History, history of ideas, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master, Memoir, Mind Control, Modernism, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, Power, Psychology, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Seduction, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Sociobiology, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Confessions of a Young Philosopher", alienation, angst, anomie, anxiety, Australia, Australian unhappiness, bad guys, Brené Brown's "The Power of Vulnerability", choice of evils, Confessions of a Young Philosopher, despair, doom, enabling, failed romance, falling in love, false love, first love, frustration, generosity, good guys, happy endings, heartbreak, hidden facts, hidden life, Homer's Odyssey, lies and identity, literate readers, looking to score, lying, Mr. Right, New York Times Book Review, Odysseus, predators, psychic stability, rescuing others, Romance, saving others, seducers, self-sacrifice, Siren's Song, social defenses, staying in love, stolen identity, the fadeout, The Right Guy, the shootout, true love, unavoidable losses, unhappiness, unhappy loves, unhappy women Down Under, unsuitable loves, vulnerability, Westerns, writers | Leave a comment

“Brokenness”

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Abigail

“Brokenness” By “brokenness” I mean what occurs in our psyches, not what happens when a vase shatters on a tile floor. But what is this psychic brokenness? It seems to occur in our conviction that something – whatever it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Alienation, Art, Chivalry, Courtship, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, history of ideas, Ideology, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Masculinity, Memoir, motherhood, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman, Time | Tagged "Infidel", "Look Homeward Angel", "To Lucasta Going to the Wars", "Witness from Hell: The bravery of a North Korean Escape", "You Can't Go Home Again", a mother's love, argument, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, discursive argument, first love, fragmentation, honor, irreparable, Jay Nordlinger, longing, love ballads, Metropolitan Museum, philosophic verities, repression, revenge, Richard Lovelace, Romance, Romeo and Juliet, substitution, Thomas Wolfe, Titanic, transcendence, true love, vainglory, weddings, Yeonmi Park | 2 Comments

“Learning to Ride”

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Abigail

“Learning to Ride” Fran, my therapeutic riding teacher, told me today that – – slow and steady – – I am putting together the different pieces of a rider’s ride. By degrees, I am getting “stabilized” in holding the position … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Gender Balance, Hegel, History, Literature, Love, Male Power, Memoir, motherhood, nineteenth-century, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Power, Psychology, relationships, Roles, Sexuality, Social Conventions, Spirituality, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Time | Tagged "Conversions: A Philosophic Memoir", adolescence, affinities, American teenagers, bescherte, Brooklyn, childhood make-believe, communist, companionship, coquetry, courtship, dating, dressage, earthiness, Flirting, gender roles, Gustave Flaubert, hamish, handicap, Hegel, identity, intellect, love, lovers, man/woman game, Marriage, Paris, partnerships, primitivity, providence, role models, Romance, sentimental education, spirituality, student demonstrations, the 60s, the counterculture, therapeutic riding, Yiddish | Leave a comment

“Keeping Promises”

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Abigail

“Keeping Promises” As a little girl, one of my vivid memories of being caught in the wrong belongs to the gift a camp counselor once gave me. This gift-giving happened the last day of the season of the Day Camp … Continue reading →

Posted in Alienation, Art, Chivalry, Courtship, Desire, Erotic Life, Faith, Guilt and Innocence, Male Power, Memoir, Psychology, relationships, Social Conventions, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged admonition, Australia, broken promises, childhood, chivalric vow, disobedience, Down Under, embarrasment, engagement, gallantry, gifts, guilt, humiliation, hypocrisy, medieval tapestry, Metropolitan Museum, New York, one-upmanship, power games, promises, reproach, Romance, stages of life, summer camp, the gift | Leave a comment

“All About Love”

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Abigail

“All About Love” On a wintry Parisian evening, I was sitting with my Czech friend Anna in Chez Maurice, one of the seedier cafes on the rue de Tournon. A group of young Russians were within earshot, one holding forth … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Friendship, Philosophy, relationships, Social Conventions, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged Anna, Arts, burden, Guess, Jerry L. Martin, love, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mr. Right, Paris, philosophy, professor, relationships, Romance, Russian, Russian language, suffering, teaching | Leave a comment

“Success”

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Abigail

“Success” When I was about twenty-five, I said to a friend, “I thought, when I’d be twenty- five, I’d be at least wonderful. But I’m not.” What did I mean by “at least wonderful”? I think it meant, at home … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Art, Cool, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Femininity, Feminism, Friendship, Gender Balance, history of ideas, Literature, Masculinity, Philosophy, Political, relationships, Sexuality, Social Conventions, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged Al-Quds University, Art, belle of the ball, Brandeis, Brandeis University, career, classical antiquity, Corporate ladder, failure and success, female philosopher, female professor, Fine art, friendship, Greek philosophy, Jerusalem, Jews, Kabbalah, Leo Bronstein, life goals, Marriage, paideia, philosophy, popularity, prophecy, Romance, Sari Nusseibeh, spirituality, Success, true love, twenty-five year old woman, wallflower, working woman, wunderkind | 3 Comments

“Finding Mr. Right”

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Abigail

“Finding Mr. Right” To marry off Abigail was never a cinch. My undergraduate years passed in a women’s college to which I commuted from a home that interested me more than my professors did, much less the callow young male … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Femininity, Feminism, Gender Balance, history of ideas, Masculinity, Philosophy, Political, Psychology, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged American woman, Chronicle of Higher Education, female friendship, Feminism, Feminity, Finding Mr. Right, Gender, gender roles, Long-distance calling, love, Marriage, Masculinity, Mr. Right, New York City, Paris, philosophy, relationships, Romance, Sydney, Western Wall | 4 Comments

“Seduction”

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Abigail

“Seduction” Thanks to the “most interesting man in the world,” pictured above in the ad for Mexican beer, I don’t have to explain what I mean by “seduction.” Look deeply and fixedly into his eyes, ladies, and tell me nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Femininity, Feminism, Gender Balance, history of ideas, Literature, Masculinity, Philosophy, Political, Psychology, relationships, Sexuality, Social Conventions, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged classical antiquity, coquetry, courting, Creator, Flirting, girl, God, intimacy, Knesset, love, Marriage, Rabbi, relationships, Roman, Romance, seduction, sex, suitor, the most interesting man in the world, vulnerability, woman | Leave a comment

“Romantic Love”

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Abigail

“Romantic Love” Some years back I attended a wedding at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Erotic Life, Gender Balance, relationships, Sexuality, The Problematic of Woman | Tagged London, Madison Avenue, New York, New York City, Poetry, Romance, Romantic Love, United States | Leave a comment

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Tag Archives: Romance

“Finding Mr. Right”

“Romantic Love”

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