StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Importance of Self-Expression - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The articulation of thoughts and ideas, inherently possessed by every individual is vital for survival. To deny this possession and right of expression is equivalent to reducing a man’s social animal persona…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.8% of users find it useful
The Importance of Self-Expression
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Importance of Self-Expression"

Download file to see previous pages

This is what Charlotte Perkins Gilman explained in her literary work in 1892, “The Yellow Wallpaper”. With her own personal experiences on this predicament, she narrated her poignant tale of suffering, depression and nervousness. She asserted that vitality can be achieved only when pent-up emotions are given the right of self-determination. In her case, or of her narrator, suppression of emotions and lack of mental stimulation jeopardized her sanity and further worsened her mental illness rather than curing it.

The monotony in her life turned out to be detrimental in her psychological well-being. As aforementioned, a mind needs an outlet to express the imagination it holds. This imagination is meant to be projected and communicated. Hence, a simple idea existing in mind can provoke a reaction and convey it in a coherent, lucid form. Be it in a form of art, words, plain gestures or even attitude, these expressions are a form or a medium for communication. If this connection is held back, only trouble brews inside the mind without any release or escape.

Without release, mind and body, both go in a state of helplessness and lunacy. And this is what the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” experienced. In her case, insanity took over because of her powerlessness to control her life. The constant reminder of not exhausting herself from any mental or physical work by her physician husband, John, situates her in a mental asylum. His patronizing attitude and lack of understanding about her feelings reduces their relationship into “.trust me as a physician?

” (Gilman 278) one. Rather than interacting and understanding his wife’s problem, he abandons her to isolation of the house to cure her depression. Assuming that isolation from work and an idle mind would heal depression was actually not the right conjecture here. It’s because of this her imagination soars to new heights. With nothing worthy to do except stare at objects around her, she falls for the menacing yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. The horrid wallpaper then becomes her personal consolation and a subservient object of her undivided attention.

She obsesses about discovering the intricate patterns and for the first time feels the thrill of the power to solve the enigmatic wallpaper patterns. The connection she feels after every discovery of the patterns is what excites her. This is how normally a sane person would react too. The need to express and share discoveries is ubiquitous and expressing one’s self or one’s perception is profound. Without self-expression, the communication process simply stops. The silence then becomes darkening and intimidating.

And then eventually, the purpose of living easily succumbs to the black hole of nothingness. If this can disappoint a sane person, then the narrator of the “The Yellow Wallpaper” was already a victim of nervousness. The burgeoning desire to confront her problems permits her to discover means of expression. But the restrictions imposed on any mental and physical work shun her mental capability. This provokes her to find reprieve in keeping a secret diary. By jotting her feelings, she finds a relation with the ‘dead paper and a great relief to my mind’ (Gilman 272).

As she figures that her insight on any mundane task isn’t appreciated or understood by any of her family member, she resorts to writing. It becomes her sole companion who without any questions listened to her whine about her

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Importance of Self-Expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1453582-the-importance-of-self-expression
(The Importance of Self-Expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/english/1453582-the-importance-of-self-expression.
“The Importance of Self-Expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1453582-the-importance-of-self-expression.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Importance of Self-Expression

Emotions: Defining and Measuring

Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW: EMOTIONS Literature Review: Emotions [Name of the Writer] [Name of Institution] Introduction Broadly speaking, emotions are the feelings that humans exert through behavior which can be positive or negative.... For some people, it is easy to find out their emotional state, whereas some people find difficulty in measuring their emotional state....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Oppression of Victorian Women and Expression of Feminist Sentiments Concerning Hysteria

Oppression of Victorian Women and Expression of Feminist sentiments concerning Hysteria By: [Subject] [Presented to] [Institution] Hysteria as an expression of feminist sentiments in Gothic genre: During nineteenth century, America and Britain welcomed urbanisation and industrialisation and henceforth, gender roles were re-defined, which as Weinmann explained, were divided between public and private spheres, and males were given excessive authority over women (2010, p....
11 Pages (2750 words) Dissertation

Cultural Understanding Of Emotion

Emotion is the regulator of individual behavior in society.... The expression of emotion differs within different cultures.... Western cultures favor a more individualistic perspective, where an individual's concept of self is tied up with the achievement of personal goals and objectives.... … The expression of emotion is therefore also attuned to the achievement of personal goals....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Importance of Body Language and Gesture in the Counselling Exchange

It is personal and dynamic relationship that exists between two individuals, a counsellor and a counselee in order to deal with the problem of the later with… The aim of counselling is to draw out a plan in order to help the counselee understand what he can do, what he should do and how he should do, and to strengthen his best qualities towards a rational solution of the problem....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Analysis of civil rights in Hard Times

It is due to this reason, increasing amount of importance has been provided over protection of civil rights in modern times; however, the issue of protecting basic rights of common people received different manifestations in different periods of time.... The rational of natural laws and social governance, since early dawn of the human civilization, has asserted that human beings, irrespective of their socio-cultural, religious or gender differences, are equal and they also are expected to be treated equally by a state or the… According to jurisprudential rational of natural law, a society enshrines its inhabitants with certain rights and liberties that need to be respected by the system of governance and also provide the common people with adequate However, an overview of human civilization would clearly show that people have always acted as the most important factors against ensuring equality to their counterparts and most of the time such deprivation of rights is done due to fulfillment of personalized interests....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Fashion as a Visual Expression: The Nuances of Femininity

This paper "Fashion as a Visual Expression: The Nuances of Femininity" discusses Andy Bennett's statement that fashion is a visual expression of identity that has theoretical and practical connotations.... It was based on the historical development of the concepts of femininity, feminism, and beauty....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Self Expression Through The Clothes We Wear

In a community that is highly paying more attention on image, where the most influential thing on a first intuition is the physical look of an individual, what one chooses to wear defines what the person is.... It is mostly undoubtedly true that individuals make presumptions about… “From what you look like, what you choose to wear, to the sum of the little details like hair, nails, makeup and jeweler, it all contributes to how you are seen and perceived by others....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Analysis of Self-Expression in The Yellow Wallpaper

The narrator has reflected moments and characters, which show The Importance of Self-Expression in society.... The whole story reflects The Importance of Self-Expression, and how it has, recently, become a major issue in the society we are currently living.... With the help of the symbolism connecting the wallpaper and the narrator's life, a reflection of The Importance of Self-Expression is portrayed in the whole story.... hellip; The value of self-expression, therefore, is influential and has a great impact on society (Athina and Scherer)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us