Perspective

In his famous book, "A Lover's Discourse," Roland Barthes writes from the perspectives of writer, literary critic, philosopher and person. His theories on the Image-repertoire, the internal lover's discourse, draws on his philosophical background as well as his personal experiences. Supporting his conclusions and theories are numerous references to iconic writers and philosophers from the last several centuries and times of yore including Goethe, Plato, Nietzsche, Hugo, Balzac, Freud and others. In the preface, adding first-hand witness, Barthes states that his thoughts come from casual reading and academic research, some from conversations with friends and "there are some which come from my own life."

The overarching perspective is from the point of view of "the lover." The writings cover the internal joy or misery that a lover endures in attempting to deal with his relationship. For example, one episode entitled, "Waiting" describes a situation and thinking process to...