Young Bruehl, Elizabeth. "Where Do We Fall When We Fall In Love." Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society 8.2 (2003): 279-288.

This article looks at a scientific approach to love and how Freud’s ideas about love distance themselves from the strictly Darwinian approach to the act of falling and being in love. The article explores the various reasons why people fall in love and are attracted to the idea of falling and being in love. These ideas include chemical reactions that force the brain into thinking that it is in love, a deep-rooted narcissism that subconsciously forces people to seek approval through love in others, and an idealization of the other in order to idealize ourselves (the last two idea are closely linked). The article ultimately argues that the desire to be loved or the act of being in love is not caused by one’s desire to love another or genuine admiration for another person. Instead, Young-Bruehl says that the amphetamine rush accompanied by the idealization of a partner tricks the brain and the person into believing not that he or she is in love but that he or she can be loved.

This article is particularly interesting when looked at within the context of the character of Dr. Constance Peterson. The character herself notes that love is not an emotional response but a series of chemical reactions. She states that love is a powerful illusion until she herself feels the pull of love when she falls for the mysterious John Ballantine. Just as Dr. Peterson follows to a tee the evolutionary response to an attractive man with feelings of love, she also exhibits the signs of mania that Freud and his followers argue follows the period of mourning over a romantic loss. In the case of Dr. Peterson, this loss manifests itself through her quest to free John Ballantine and to prove his innocence. Ultimately the two end up together, happy. But according to the article if the film peaked in on the two lovebirds down the line we would not find a happy couple. Instead we would find two people who had come off their amphetamine highs only to realize that their ideal mates were in reality surrogate receptors for the love that they wish they could give themselves.