Song of Songs, Narcissus, and "The Mirror Stage"

Song of Songs:
        It seems like the strongest link between the lover and the beloved in this poem is desire. The beloved is the lover’s object of desire. The lover is constantly in the act of loving the beloved and the beloved constantly seeks love from the lover. The lover says things like, “your eyes behind your veil are doves”, “your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely”, and “you are a garden locked up”. The beloved responds by saying “Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.” These lines create an image of the lover admiring the beloved and the beloved offering herself to him. It is the same when the woman takes the role of lover. She admires her beloved: "Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest  is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.” The lover is taking and the beloved is giving. They each seem to have their own specific roles in this love.
        By using eroticism, this poem does not leave as much room for interpretation as a poem depicting purely emotions of love might. It is easier for a reader to decipher feelings of desire than feelings of love. Some people might not have experienced love, but everyone experiences desire (sexual or nonsexual) on a daily basis. If the Old Testament intended to share a broader idea, eroticism would be the best way to get that idea across.

Narcissus:
        Narcissus falls in love with his image reflected in the water. But, his image is not just a simple reflection. Along with this image came all of the feelings of desire. He saw this seemingly perfect being in front of him but was unable to touch it. He was stuck in the limbo of lust, eternally unable to satisfy it. He was not in love with himself; he fell in love with an “insubstantial hope”. It is written that he was “fired by the sight, and excited by the very illusion that deceived his eyes.” Much like Echo and the others that loved Narcissus to no avail, they simply could not give up their love, even if it was unrequited and would be virtually fruitless. Even if it wasn’t his reflection that he became infatuated with, it wouldn’t matter. What mattered to Narcissus was fulfilling his own needs to feel desire and be consumed by it.This type of love is selfish and self-destructive, as is ultimately exemplified by Narcissus’  death.

 Lacan:
        During the “Mirror Stage”, one’s own reflected image creates a sort of gestalt within his own existence and the reality around him and this is what creates the “I”. In other words, one begins to believe that the “I” is existing to complete the reality of the world around them. When someone gets older, the “I” from the mirror stage morphs to function as the “I” we use to express our “primordial jealousy”, as if to say “I” am an integral part of this existence just as “you” are.
        I do see some literal similarities in the Mirror Stage and Narcissus, such as Narcissus leaning into his reflection, which is described as an inevitable event when experiencing the Mirror Stage. There is also the idea that Narcissus is pining after an image of himself which, in the text, is described as being nonexistent. This is reaffirmed with the concept of the Mirror Stage (assuming my interpretation of the mirror stage wasn't a complete flop). There is no self, therefore he can not be in love with himself, and if he is not in love with any person, then he is in love with some ideal or emotion.