“He Does Not Love Me, Nor I He!” The Critic's Love is of Critique, not of Law

Abstract

Attempting to create an image, a figure adequate to the critic's discourse on the law, this paper develops a series of variations on the notion of the critic's love for the law, responding to the comments of Peter Goodrich and Oren Ben-Dor, both of whom criticised critique for not breaking with law, for remaining internal to law. Taking their positions perhaps more literally than intended, Goodrich's “love” is considered as an instance of Freud's analysis of what motivates some men's object choice in love, which is then read allegorically, and Ben-Dor's “anticipation” is considered as a version of the story of Tristan and Iseult, as interpreted by de Rougemont. Both are revealed to be instances of mis-identification, with, however, the critic's delusion redeemed as nobler than that of the spouse, perhaps even a more profound knowledge. The critic loves, the apologetic espouses. The critic's work is not a useless passion.