What was the title of C.S. Lewis’s 1936 study of medieval allegorical love poetry?

C.S. Lewis’s 1936 study of medieval allegorical love poetry was The Allegory of Love.

The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition was published in 1936. It examines the development of allegorical writing about love from the medieval period into the Renaissance, discussing authors and traditions including courtly love and the Roman de la Rose.

The book helped establish Lewis’s scholarly reputation. It was not a popular fantasy novel but a major work of literary criticism produced during his Oxford career. Its subject is the history and interpretation of literary ideas rather than Lewis’s own fictional mythology.

The title is sometimes confused with The Discarded Image, Lewis’s later study of the medieval and Renaissance worldview. The two books are related through Lewis’s expertise in older literature, but The Allegory of Love is the work specifically devoted to literary traditions surrounding love.