The Collected Works of Dorothy Tennov

About The Trial:

Abstract, Contents, and Characters: The Novel and the Reality 2004
Dorothy Tennov

Background
y 1979 book Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being In Love has had a strange history. Reviews were unfavorable (e.g., Journal of Contemporary Psychology) or sarcastic (Time magazine and the Journal of the American Medical Association). Academic social science ignored the scientific implications. My first presentation of the subject at an International Conference had the dubious honor of not being included in the published Proceedings (Conference in Swansea, 1973). Yet Love and Limerence has been cited and sometimes praised in virtually every book on love written since its publication (typically without mentioning the terrible term); it never went completely out of print; and it was re-issued in 1999. The original publisher called it a permanent book. Browsing the Internet turns up hundreds of references (with all kinds of spellings limmerance, limerance, limmerence, etc.), but most are gross misinterpretations. Furthermore, those who got it right were not able, any more than I have been thus far, to stimulate further scientific work. The degree of misunderstanding was demonstrated by an unfortunate event. I see limerence as a genuine (i.e. normal) unit of human emotional and cognitive experience. Yet, and despite my efforts, in a recent television documentary in which I was interviewed, the host introduced my segment with the statement that I would discuss a type of mental illness! Much of this background finds its way into The Trial in the way in which characters react differently according to how limerence intersects their life trajectories. Superficially, it might seem that the book deals with two topics, limerence and psychotherapy. But the real topic that underlies and combines them concerns the ways that accepted methodologies of academic psychology inhibit human self-discovery. The fictional psychotherapist Peter Young behaves inappropriately because the psychology in which he was trained had not accepted limerence theory. To several of the other characters in the book the distinctness of the limerence instinct is accepted. Peter represents the fields of human nature science, notably clinical psychology. Comprehension comes to him late. Neuroscience may verify limerence theory through identification of physiological markers that enable the condition to be detected by means other than self-report. That capability would remove a major stumbling block to scientific investigation and raise a hornets nest of moral outcry. As emphasized in the novel, the relevant wing of establishment human nature science has not yet taken limerence research further. In fact, at least one investigator flatly refuses to adopt a method of subject selection and identification that would winnow limerence from other, nonlimerent, experiences of sexual attraction and affiliation. Much is on techniques for differentiating limerence from other conditions, my

A Scientist Looks at Romantic Love and Calls It Limerence:

primary assertion being that there is a detectible difference between limerence and other experiences that are also labeled being in love, and that the reason why the difference is important is that limerence is so distinct that researchers will be able eventually to isolate the physiological correlates, and from there go on to discover the real Brew3, the means of controlling romantic passions to bring limerent desire in better alignment with other life goals. That is the science fiction aspect. I hypothesize, in Brew3, that complete control will be obtained, and that this will have far-reaching social and biological effects. I describe in some detail evidence of why I believe this. These points are spelled out most clearly in the plot of the play and may be expanded further in the final version of the novel. Additionally, this point is also discussed at length in one of the essays (494 Essay in Section #6, But Seriously, not, unfortunately, yet ready for publication, and so not included in this work). Much of this controversy finds its way into The Trial, which was written over twenty years after Love and Limerence and limerence theory, and is based on two thousand personal testimonies from readers of the earlier book. Limerence intersects life trajectories of the characters in multiple ways. Reaction to the subject depends on experience with it directly or indirectly, The letters from readers of Love Two were independently examined by fictional characters Xavier and Ruth, but in actuality the collection is quite real. At present, it remains safely in my possession. No one else has read the entire collection, although several have read samples. See Limerence Stories on the Life Tips website. They are similar in many respects to those in my collection. A precursor of The Trial was a set of dialogues that I wrote about twelve years ago to demonstrate how people react to the concept as a function of their personal experiences when faced with convincing evidence of its reality. I sent the dialogues to a few colleagues and received important reactions written as a class exercise. Because they were fictional constructions I did not attempt to publish them in a professional journal, or anywhere else, nor did I did believe them to be marketable except to a professional audience.

The Novel as Truth

I was writing The Trial when I heard him say that. Reactions to other means of attempting to communicate the significance of limerence as a phenomenon, and limerence theory as a set of conjectures based in limerence findings, had been disappointing, although I eventually came to have some understanding of them. 1 As I have detailed elsewhere, there was reality to virtually everything that happened to the characters in the novel. Many events, especially those related to limerence research and psychotherapy, really happened. The varied responses to Love and Limerence I observed over the years repeatedly forced my attention back to limerence from other matters. Although I didnt publish much, letters from readers and colleagues, kept the

ore Vidal, that incisive and infuriating genius, said recently during a C-SPAN interview, If you want the real truth of a situation, you must turn to the novel.

Essentially, there were two problems. People who have not undergone the experience cannot conceive of it. Descriptions are therefore interpreted either as exaggeration or pathology. A second problem is that limerence is at this time detected only by self-report, a method traditionally objected to as a source of scientific information.

The Collected Works of Dorothy Tennov

subject alive, but my attention shifted from study of the state itself to the study of reactions to the subject. The Trial shows many of them.

The Play
A psychodynamic psychotherapist is sued for misrepresentation by a patient toward whom he behaves inappropriately having succumbed to the condition of limerence (here called Love Two). Health insurance money blows it up into a front-page dialogue between those pro and con the psychotherapeutic enterprise at the same time that advocates for the mentally ill are pleading in The United States Senate 2 for parity. Testimony at the trial takes psychology severely to task for both clinical and academic failures. Meanwhile, and of greater eventual consequence, back at the lab, conscientious and socially-driven scientists synthesize that for which, if folklore is to be believed, humanity has always longed: an effective love potion. There are repercussions.

The Story of Limerence

The Trial (TT) tells the story of limerence research and theory including both its source and its ramifications on other aspects of human life. It is a complex tale, not easily conveyed, but limerence (Love Two) affects every characters life in some way. The problematic nature of psychodynamic psychotherapy, related and unrelated to limerence, is also exposed. The Trial conveys serious messages despite obligatory (but relevant) touches of sex, violence, and politics.

The Style and Intended Audience

he absence of usual trappings of novel-writing detailed descriptions people, places, and actions, the drama of the courtroom, expressions of feelings of love, joy, despair, passion, and abandonment are mentioned lightly and from a distance. The reader must infer them. While these omissions may deprive the typical novel reader of aids to enjoyment of the tale as drama, the focus is on concepts. 3

2 3

Senators Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and the late Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.

Those elaborations might be included in a later edition, but I felt that they would inflate unnecessarily without advancing September 12, 1986 the central purposes.)

F lowers by Dorothy Tennov

A Scientist Looks at Romantic Love and Calls It Limerence:

Social Implications
and detectable state that might also be controllable. 4 The Trial is a polemic favoring scientific research on the physiology of romantic love that takes the distinctness of limerence into account. It will happen. It may be happening as I write.

I foresee troublesome implications should limerence ever be generally accepted as a distinct, involuntary,

Reactions to the idea of love as an evolved aspect of human reproduction -- involuntary, accidental, physiological and distinct are of interest in their own right. I believe they predominate, even if often unconsciously.

Topics dealt with in the novel

uperficially, The Trial deals with two topics, limerence and psychotherapy, but the real topic that underlies and combines them concerns the ways that accepted methodologies of academic psychology inhibit human self-discovery. The fictional psychotherapist Peter Young behaves inappropriately because the psychology in which he was trained had not accepted limerence theory. To several of the other characters in the book the distinctness of the limerence instinct 5 is accepted. To Peter, who represents the fields of human nature science, notably clinical psychology, comprehension comes late. I believe that neuroscience may soon verify limerence theory through identification of physiological markers that will enable the condition to be detected by means other than self-report. That it is currently detected only by self-report is a major stumbling block to scientific investigation.

Real Events
uch of The Trial consists actual events. Sometimes they are only thinly disguised. For example, like the fictional Pamela Cushing author of Patient, Beware! 6, I was also warned that antipsychotherapy writing would bring trouble. Years later, after much looking back, I think it did. Whistleblowing seldom brings unmixed approval, especially from those whose covers have been blown. That aspect of my own story is detailed elsewhere. While real episodes in my life are distributed among the characters, The Trial is more analytical in its underpinnings and more serious in its intentions than would be an autobiography, fictional or otherwise. In the novel, as in my own experience, Alan Browne received the personal testimony of almost 2,000 readers of Love Two. They were examined in Nebraska by the fictional characters Xavier and Ruth. Those letters are the data that support limerence theory. 7 A precursor of The Trial was a set of dialogues that

I explore some socio-political implications in the dialogues (The Limerence Retreat), the novel (The Trial), the play (The Brew3 Quintet) and a number of papers and articles. There has been controversy in the scientific literature over the use of the word instinct. Psychotherapy: The Hazardous Cure

5 6 7

My own collection presently resides, as it has for years, in a large drawer in one of the rooms of my residence. I am the only person who has read the entire collection, although several people have read samples.

The Collected Works of Dorothy Tennov

demonstrate how people with differing personal experiences react to the concept of limerence when confronted with convincing evidence of its reality. 8

Research of the Future

In the future, study of limerence should focus on physiological mechanisms. Such work is beyond my present capacities. I devote my efforts instead to the philosophy and sociology of the various human nature sciences. My subsequent writings on limerence -- fiction and nonfiction have been attempts to explain how the subject is serious but often misconstrued by the media, academia, and the general public, even the arts.

Because they were fictional constructions I did not submit them for publication, as I did not believe them to be marketable except to a professional audience. They were written for use in the classroom. Colleagues provided reactions. See The Limerence Retreat 1989, 9, 500 words, and See About Limerence Retreat, 1999, 230 words.

A Scientist Looks at Romantic Love and Calls It Limerence:

Real People of The Trial

The following are mentioned or quoted in the first draft (some only in footnotes to the annotated version): George Albee, Woody Allen, Amazing Randi, Violet and Chery Amirault, John Ashcroft, Francis Bacon, Simone de Beauvoir, Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, Ingrid Bergman, Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush, Napoleon Chagnon, Noam Chomsky, Montgomery Clift, Martha Cockriel, Michael Lamport Commons, Philip Cushman, Martin Daly, Antonio Damasio, Nick Davies, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Rene Descartes, Frans de Waal, Tana Dineen, Windy Dryden, Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Albert Ellis, Joseph Ellis, Hans Eysenck, Colin Feltham, Helen Fisher, Sigmund Freud, Glen O. Gabbord, Ernest Gellner, Audrey Gillan, Deena R. Harris, Helen Harris, Marvin Harris, Nigel Hawkes, Joseph Heller, Jesse Helms, J. Allan Hobson, Allan V. Horwitz, Alex Howard, Roman Jakobson, Senator Jim Jeffords, John F. Kihlstrom, Melanie Klein, Jonathan Leonard, Gareth Leng, Monica Lewinsky, George MacPherson, Jeffrey Masson, Norbitt L. Mintz, John Mirowsky, Stanley Moldawsky, Charles Mann, Elaine Morgan, Randolph Nesse, Candance Elizabeth Newmaker, Lynn OConnor, Leonard Orr, Paula Panzer, Gregory Peck, A. Piper, Ken Pope, Marcus Raichle, Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anne Rosenfeld, Catherine E. Ross, Oliver Sacks, William Shakespeare, Melitta Schmideberg, William Schofield, Anna Sands, Barbara Seaman, Martin Seligman, Peter Singer, David L. Smith, Alan Sokal, Andrew Solomon, Thomas Szasz, Patrick Tierney, Alan Turing, Leona Tyler, Van Dauler, Bruce Wampold, Richard Webster, Sidney Weissman, Craig Welstein, Richard Wilkinson, E. O. Wilson, Margo Wilson, Oprah Winfrey, Joseph Wolpe Copyright 2005 Dorothy Tennov