Love and Lust: Two Different Concept
Love and Lust: Two Different Concepts
Love has a different meaning for many. For some, it may be an act of loyalty, and for others, it could be a comforting relationship. It is also an act in which everyone is happy. However, few differentiate love from lust like the character of Tomas from the book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera does. In fact, the function of the fifth part is to prove that even though Tomas has sexual relationships with other women, he still loves Tereza. Sex and love are two distinct concepts for Tomas who loves Tereza but then sleeps with other women. He justifies this distinction by referring to his colleague’s research that “claimed that during any kind of dream men have erections, which means that the link between erections and naked women is only one of thousands way the Creator set the clockwork moving in a man’s head.” (236). Indeed, it is with the imagery of a mechanism that allows the function of a device that permits the imagination to link the distinction of love and lust to something quite technical. Therefore, man can be sexually excited by anything symbolizing that Tomas has no real control over the attraction he feels towards other naked women. However, Tomas can choose the one he loves and he chose Tereza. Moreover, he also believes that “Attaching love to sex is one of the most bizarre ideas the Creator ever had” (237) meaning that love and lust are truly two different concepts for Tomas who would rather not be disturbed “by the aggressive stupidity of sex” (237) while loving Tereza. In other words, Tomas does not believe that lust should be a medium that will allow him to prove his love for Tereza.
Tomas is characterized as always wanting to fight for the greater good but for Tereza, he stopped, proving that he loves her. Indeed, Tomas linked the tale of Oedipus with the situation in which the world was currently in because of Communists. He then developed an “analogy [that] so pleased him that
Love has a different meaning for many. For some, it may be an act of loyalty, and for others, it could be a comforting relationship. It is also an act in which everyone is happy. However, few differentiate love from lust like the character of Tomas from the book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera does. In fact, the function of the fifth part is to prove that even though Tomas has sexual relationships with other women, he still loves Tereza. Sex and love are two distinct concepts for Tomas who loves Tereza but then sleeps with other women. He justifies this distinction by referring to his colleague’s research that “claimed that during any kind of dream men have erections, which means that the link between erections and naked women is only one of thousands way the Creator set the clockwork moving in a man’s head.” (236). Indeed, it is with the imagery of a mechanism that allows the function of a device that permits the imagination to link the distinction of love and lust to something quite technical. Therefore, man can be sexually excited by anything symbolizing that Tomas has no real control over the attraction he feels towards other naked women. However, Tomas can choose the one he loves and he chose Tereza. Moreover, he also believes that “Attaching love to sex is one of the most bizarre ideas the Creator ever had” (237) meaning that love and lust are truly two different concepts for Tomas who would rather not be disturbed “by the aggressive stupidity of sex” (237) while loving Tereza. In other words, Tomas does not believe that lust should be a medium that will allow him to prove his love for Tereza.
Tomas is characterized as always wanting to fight for the greater good but for Tereza, he stopped, proving that he loves her. Indeed, Tomas linked the tale of Oedipus with the situation in which the world was currently in because of Communists. He then developed an “analogy [that] so pleased him that
Cited: Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. New York: HarperPerennial, 1999. Print. .