《胭脂扣》是香港小說家李碧華最重要的作品之一，相關評論大多試圖發掘文本跟九七回歸相關的政治與文化意涵，甚少就人物互動及心理進行深入的研究。本文借用禮物和社會交換理論探討主要人物間的關係，剖析故事中有形與無形的禮物交換及情債等相關主題，以說明當中複雜矛盾的感情經驗，並探索情人的付出與回報之間隱含的心理機制和倫理面向。本文分為三個部分，首先以十二少送給如花的禮物為例，解釋禮物行為的弔詭及如何成為求愛的藝術，然後闡述二人愛戀中有關犧牲、寄生和情債的主題，並特別就殉情的橋段提出愛情的倫理問題。最後焦點轉往袁永定和如花的「霧水情緣」，討論永定的施恩如何糾纏於欲望的蠢動與壓抑之間並涉及權力的向度。本文指出李碧華透過小說中兩段感情的描述，讓讀者深刻地體會愛情的複雜曖昧性。

A prominent novel by Lillian Lee, Rouge has attracted a lot of critical attention. However, most critics focus mainly on the allegorical dimension of this work, paying insufficient attention to the characters’ curious interactions and subtle psychology. To address this apparent neglect, this paper seeks to explore the complexity of love and the psychic mechanisms involved by analysing the closely related themes of gift, social exchange, and the “debt of love” in the novel. The article is divided into three parts. The first explicates the paradoxical nature of gift and how gift-giving becomes an “art of love.” The second discusses the ideas of sacrifice, parasitism, and the “debt of love” with reference to the difficult amatory relationship between Fleur and Shier Shao, attending particularly to the suicide episode that bears significant ethical implications. Finally, the article enquires how Yuan Yongding’s relation with Fleur is caught between hospitality and repressed sexual desire. The article concludes that the author, through the two sub-plots, allows readers to better appreciate and reflect on the rich and ambiguous experience of love.