Does Eros Aim at Happiness?

Does Eros Aim at Happiness?

It is said that having a mate is like holding a mirror up to yourself. You see how good you look and how much emotional surgery is still required. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. [Oprah Winfrey (“Love: the Real Thing” Oprah Magazine, 2004, 25)] Of course, pure love brings happiness. But falling in love is not just talking about that. Imagine having a relationship as two people standing in front of the mirror, not only can we see ourselves clearly in a relationship, but we can also have a deep understanding of our partners. Sometimes we find ourselves charming, sometimes we find ourselves disgusting. We can lead a romantic style of love. However, from my point of view, having a romantic relationship does not guarantee any happiness, not to mention whether Eros aims at happiness or not.
According to C. S. Lewis, As Venus within Eros does not really aim at pleasure, so Eros does not aim at happiness. [C. S. Lewis (“The Four Loves, 1960)] I think it is true, and the reasons are as followed. Firstly, it is the early attraction, not the desire to be happy, to make people to form a loving relationship. In addition, people care about whether they can be with the partner rather than staying happy with the partner. They have strong commitment to each other. Most importantly, Eros actually aims at having intimacy with the beloved. The triangular theory of love [Robert J. Sternberg (A Triangular Theory of Love, 1986)] will be used to strengthen my points and the film Twilight (2008) will be discussed too.
First of all, people fall in love because of feelings but not happiness. They have strong physical preferences. When they get together, they do not even think about whether they will be delightful or not. For example, in the movie Twilight, Bella finds Edward special and perfect. This is love at first sight. At that moment, neither Bella nor Edward thinks that falling in love with each other will bring happiness but they still decide to get together. In fact, they are...

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