Kierkegaard and the Treachery of Love (Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought, Series Number 9)

This is a major study of Kierkegaard and love. Amy Laura Hall explores Kierkegaard's description of love's treachery, difficulty, and hope, reading his Works of Love as a text that both deciphers and complicates the central books in his pseudonymous canon: Fear and Trembling, Repetition, Either/Or, and Stages on Life's Way. In all of these works, the characters are, as in real life, complex and incomplete, and the conclusions are perplexing. Hall argues that a spiritual void brings each text into being, and her interpretation is as much about faith as about love. In a style that is both scholarly and lyrical, she intimates answers to some of the puzzles, making a poetic contribution to ethics and the philosophy of religion. Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 List of abbreviations......Page 10 Preface......Page 11 Introduction......Page 15 WRITING TO OFFEND......Page 25 CONVERTING THE DANCE HALLS......Page 30 THE LAW OF LOVE......Page 36 STRUCTURAL INTIMATIONS......Page 38 THE BONDAGE OF A CHRISTIAN......Page 51 CHRIST IN THE PARLOR......Page 55 A PENULTIMATE NOTE......Page 59 DWELLING WITH SIN......Page 62 INTRODUCTION......Page 65 CONSIDERING ABRAHAM AND DOUBTING OURSELVES......Page 70 MOUNTING A WINGED HORSE......Page 77 LIFE UNDER DIVINE CONFISCATION......Page 83 FOR CAIN AND ABRAHAM ARE NOT IDENTICAL......Page 85 THAT THE LORD MAY HAVE MERCY UPON US......Page 89 RETURNING TO MOUNT MORIAH......Page 92 INTRODUCTION......Page 97 TEXTUAL INTENTIONS......Page 98 LOVING AS THE POETS DO......Page 100 THE TOUGH SLIME OF SAGACITY......Page 103 THE VAMPIRE VISITS BERLIN......Page 106 THE HIGHER POET OF REPETITION II......Page 110 DIVINE PROTECTION IN WORKS OF LOVE......Page 114 REPETITION, BUT WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING......Page 119 DISENGAGING THE TEXT......Page 122 WILLIAM’S BAPTIZED THIEVERY......Page 126 INTERLUDE: THEFT IN THE SANCTUARY......Page 133 AN ULTIMATUM......Page 135 THE ‘‘TEMPERATE CLIMATE’’ FOR LOVE......Page 141 A BRIEF WORD IN CLOSING TO THOSE OF THE FAIR SEX......Page 148 INTRODUCTION......Page 153 DIVINING RODS AND UNMENTIONABLE CRAVINGS......Page 156 OBJECTIONS TO THE MARRIED MAN’S ANSWER......Page 159 STAGES ON LOVE’S WAY?......Page 165 INTERLUDE......Page 166 THE DIARIST’S RETREAT......Page 167 OF SECRETS AND SALVES......Page 171 THE PRAYER OF A DIARIST......Page 174 FROM DIARY TO DISPATCH......Page 177 LOVING THE LEPER WITHIN......Page 180 INTRODUCTION......Page 186 WHAT LOVE IS NOT......Page 189 MORAL VERTIGO......Page 193 CRAWLING IN VAIN......Page 196 INDENTURED TO GOD......Page 202 INTRODUCTION......Page 214 1 THE CALL TO CONFESSION IN KIERKEGAARD’S WORKS OF LOVE......Page 215 2 PROVOKING THE QUESTION: DECEIVING OURSELVES IN FEAR AND TREMBLING......Page 220 3 THE POET, THE VAMPIRE, AND THE GIRL IN REPETITION WITH WORKS OF LOVE......Page 224 4 THE MARRIED MAN AS MASTER THIEF IN EITHER/OR......Page 226 5 SECLUSION AND DISCLOSURE IN STAGES ON LIFE’S WAY......Page 227 6 ON THE WAY......Page 229 SECONDARY WORKS......Page 231 Index......Page 235

This major study of Kierkegaard and love explores Kierkegaard's description of love's treachery, difficulty, and hope. It reads his Works of Love as a text that both deciphers and complicates the central books in his pseudonymous canon: Fear and Trembling, Repetition, Either/Or and Stages on Life's Way. Amy Laura Hall argues that a spiritual void brings each text into being, and her interpretation is as much about faith as about love. Her scholarly and lyrical style makes this study a poetic contribution to ethics and the philosophy of religion.

Christianity is not infrequently presented in a certain sentimental, almost soft, form of love. By Amy Laura Hall. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 217-220) And Index.