The image of the ‘halved soul’ originates in Plato’s idea that men and women are two halves of beings that were originally one. It is this primal separation that supposedly inspires our longing for each other and the widely held belief that if only we can find our soul mate — our ‘other half’ — we will lose our sense of incompleteness and find true happiness at last.
By treating the characters who have appeared in literary and religious myths (Eve, Lilith, Iseult and Guenevere, among others) as individuals rather than archetypes, and by allowing them to reconsider and retell their stories, I show that it is often the wounds of childhood expressing themselves in the dysfunctional longings of Romantic Love, not an inherent incompleteness. This is why relationships so often fail to satisfy these needs. Identifying the real source of our longings and healing our wounds is the key to transforming the myths of Romantic Love.