On Love

On Love is a philosophical treatise by Stendhal which delves into love and its many connotations. It was prompted by author's hopeless love for Métilde Dembowski. The first part of the book is an analysis of love, in which Stendhal lists four kinds of love: physical love, purely sexual in scope; love as a social game, removed from passion; vanity love, a type necessary for high social standing; and passion, the finest form of love, which the author idealized. He also outlines 7 progressive stages of love, from admiration to «crystallization,» or the process by which the lover attributes all types of perfection to the beloved. In the second part of the work Stendhal presents his views against marriage, advocating for the full education and moral liberty of women.