Question | Answer |
agape | Greek term defining actions of the spirit or soul (in an intellectual or aesthetic sense) including love for another's mind; adopted by Christianity as love for God and one's fellow beings; generally understood as the opposite of sexual love |
canto | a division of a long poem, such as The Divine Comedy, corresponding to a chapter in a book |
conspicious consumption | phrase coined by Thorstein Veblen connoting the desire to make a public display of one's wealth |
courtly love | an artificial and codified set of rules governing the mating behavior of the upper classes during the late Mid Ages and the Ren; principle among those was the right of the lady to make any demands she wished in order to test the loyalty of a suitor |
double standard | originally a reference to the understanding in the Victorian period that men would have sex outside of marriage but women should not |
eros | Greek term referring to the appetites of passion and the flesh; used as the opposite of agape |
gender role | the way each sex is defined by society, including expected behaviors and the right and responsibilities of each sex, especially within marriage |
goliard | a medieval troubadour, usually a young man training for the priesthood, who sang lyrics extolling the hedonistic life and encouraging others to enjoy themselves before entering austere holy orders |
mariolatry | idealization of the Virgin Mary as practiced by some late medieval poets and painters; not only did it ennoble the life and characteristics of the mother of Jesus, but it also tended to elevate the status of upper-class women and women in holy orders |
nuclear family | a family unit of father, mother, and children; once including grandparents, but less apt to now |
Platonic love | originally, an ideal relationship between 2 compatible minds, 1 that may have begun as physical passion but moves to a higher plane that involves mutual interests; it can also define 1's <3 for an idea or work of art w/o desire for it/relationship w/o sex |
romance | a genre of fiction originating in the Middle Ages, featuring the exploits of a dashing knight and his pure love for a lady for whom he is willing to die-and often does |
romantic love | a relationship that may or may not include sex, which is less important in any case, than tender feelings and a desire to be with the other person for the sake of that person, not for satisfaction of personal desires |
utopianism | a belief that the ideal society can be planned and rationally administered |