Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a science of pure phenomena. The aim of phenomenology apparently is to bring us down and back to basics. Eagleton says that it's aim was to return to the concrete, solid, ground. It would provide a method of studying whatever we needed. If we could understand the phenomena, we could analyze the work because we would know the underlying meaning. The meaning would thus transcend beyond the thing itself. This sounds pretty close to Plato's notion of the "ideal". A particular text could connect us to the universal meaning behind what is just on the page. The example Eagleton gives us is that a rabbit is not just a rabbit but the notion and phenomena of a rabbit. Therefore, it should lead us to the universal essence of rabbits. With that in mind, do we look at a phenomenon-- say sacrificial love in Romeo and Juliet and not just look at the play itself but have that be a starting point that leads us to the universal understanding of that kind of love? I would think so since the idea of phenomenology is to take us from the specific to the universal.