The Ethics of Love in Toni Morrison’s Love

Abstract

This study focuses on the dual narrative structure of Toni Morrison’s Love. While the narrative unfolds the characters’ internal monologues and omnipotent voice through a third-person perspective, it is framed by the spectral voice of the first-person narrator, L. L’s subtle, humming voice interjects into the main narrative, providing analytical insights into events and characters. Her sensory, fragmented narration is intimately tied to Julia Kristeva’s concept of “herethics”—a transgressive ethics of love rooted in maternal relationships that embraces self/other ambiguity and challenges hierarchical patriarchal order. L manipulates Cosey’s will and weaves characters’ stories into a therapeutic quilt, thereby revealing patriarchal narrative, maintained through female hostility, while also creating a space for the reconciliation of the shattered relationship between Heed and Christine, potentially extended to Junior and the readers. This study elucidates how L’s narration challenges patriarchal language, disrupts social hierarchies, and extends a hand of invitation to others into an intersubjective relationship grounded in the heretic ethics of love.