They emerge from the church in processions, with all the sparkling pageantry of a Hollywood film. On Tuesday, one hundred couples tied the knot at the historic Marylebone Town Hall in central London, to celebrate the venue's 100th birthday.

It is a rare celebration of romance in an age of cynicismBelieving that people are only motivated by self-interest and not a good intentions.. It is rare to find people who still believe in the visionary power of love; even fewer still believe in marriage. This year, the proportion of adults in England and Wales who are married or in a civil partnership fell below 50% for the first time.¹ The number of single women is rising in every age range under 70.²

What is missing? Love is supposed to be sacred. After all, it is our path to meaning: we look to others to help us understand ourselves, to behold the deepest parts of ourselves mirrored in them. In Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, she writes "whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same".

This idea is a constant in stories of love and passion. In Jane Eyre, Mr Rochester describes Jane as "my equal and my likeness". In the Book of GenesisThe first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. , it is written that a man shall "be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh". Finding love in another is said to makes us whole.

It is no wonder we feel this way. The Greek philosopher PlatoOne of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.  wrote that humans once had four arms, four legs and two faces, before we were split in half by ZeusThe king of the gods, known to the Romans as Jupiter. as a punishment for our pride. Now, we are forever doomed to walk the Earth seeking our other halves.

The idea of the "other half" has held currency throughout history too. In YiddishA language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. , the term "bashert", which translates roughly to "destiny", refers to your ideal, predetermined marriage partner. Samuel Taylor ColeridgeAn English poet and critic whose thoughts and writing greatly influenced modern poetry. wrote in the 19th century that "to be happy in Married Life... you must have a Soul-mate".

But some say love can be what prevents us from finding ourselves. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's epistolaryInvolving or made up of letters. novel The Sorrows of Young Werther tells the story of a young man so desperately in love with a woman betrothed to another that he takes his own life.

But it is also the story of a self enslaved to its passions: he writes "I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing."

In fact, many of literature's disillusioned heroes and heroines feel even more isolated when they are around those they should love. Albert CamusA French philosopher and author, born in 1913. ' The Outsider depicts a dispassionate protagonistMain character. living in existential solitude, who seems to feel nothing for either his deceased mother or his girlfriend.

And Kafka's Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find himself transformed into a huge, verminous insect in his family home in The Metamorphosis, is reviled by his loved ones. He writes, "I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself."

It is a horrible idea: that we might be completely alone, eluding the understanding of everyone around us. But psychiatrists say we might not even understand ourselves. Some studies have shown that even our coworkers are better at rating parts of our own personality than we are.³

Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote that "the only journey is the one within". We hope desperately to be known by love, when perhaps we should be focused on knowing ourselves.

Does anyone really know you?

Yes: We should keep the belief in soulmates. Some people find others who completely understand them, who they can be completely comfortable with. It will not happen for all of us, but true love is still possible.

No: It is the ultimate curse of humankind. We live in constant existential terror, desperately hoping to find meaning in another. But there is none to be found, and we remain in immutable, impenetrable solitude.

Or... We can never hope to be entirely understood, head to toe. Some of our feelings are inexplicable even to ourselves. But as humans, we have more in common than we take into account. Every single one of our feelings has been understood by somebody else in history.