Cupid’s Arrow: The Course of Love through Time

Love is strange. It can be the source of both profound inspiration and deep misery. Its complexities and dimensions have possessed us since the beginning of time, and no emotion is as linked to human history as love. It defines who we are, what we do, and how we live and yet remains an enigmatic presence in our lives. In Cupid’s Arrow, renowned psychologist Robert J. Sternberg presents a unique psychological approach to our understanding of this powerful emotion. He explores human relationships, revealing how and why people fall in and out of love. The book draws on fields ranging from history to cognitive science to folklore, offering a fascinating and comprehensive account of love in its many forms. Sternberg applies his triangular theory, examining the many varieties of love through combinations of intimacy, passion, and commitment. Using this theory as a focal point, Cupid’s Arrow delivers both a fresh perspective on the experience of love during the lifetime of the individual, and a rich history of the conceptions of love throughout the ages. This book will prove to be enlightening and engaging reading for anyone who has ever dared to try to understand love. Robert J. Sternberg is IBM Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University. He has received numerous awards, including the Sylvia Scribner Award of the American Educational Research Association in 1996. He has authored hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including Thinking Styles (Cambridge, 1997) and Successful Intelligence (Simon and Schuster, 1996).