Mith: sorry for any antagonistic vibes in my previous post - I know they are there. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
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You say that LotR is not about romance, it's about good vs. evil. But is love not the truest antidote to evil?
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Yes, I would say that love is at least part of the antidote to evil, but not necessarily romantic love. Love of country, love of companions, love of life, et al. are all more than equal to romantic love, especially in Tolkien’s works.
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And discounting romantic love as "filth" is not the course I would agree on, in literature, or in life.
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I agree, I think romantic love is one of the author’s most foolproof tools. However, Tolkien was a good enough storyteller not to need it as much as some others do, therefore he did not use it as much as some others. It is a mistake to read into his work what is just not there.