Original artwork, not a still
The Handmaid's Tale ‧ 1985
The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker notes an irony: when loving the actual person nearby was hardest, faith in love as an abstract, complete ideal grew stronger. Devotion to the idea can become a substitute for the harder work of caring for a particular, flawed individual.
Context reviewed
