Literary Analysis Essay on "Civilization and Its Discontents" and "A Room of One's Own"

Introduction

Anger also termed as wrath, is a strong and intense emotional state that can be described by a powerful uncomfortable and unfavorable response to simple or hard provocations to a person. Anger also makes an individual react in a hostile way when subjected to threat or when one is hurt. Angered persons are normally subjected to physical conditions, for example, increased blood pressure, high rates of heartbeat, and high adrenaline levels. Generally, anger is a strong emotion that triggers the brain and results in a specific response. It can influence an individual into actions that can have both physical and mental consequences. It is a feeling that is predominant on cognitive, physiological, and behavioral aspects of a human being. The physical manifestation of anger can be through psychological response, facial expressions, and body language or through acts of aggression, either publicly or privately. None the less, anger can result in loss of self-monitoring ability; hence, one indulging in aggressive acts. As discussed below, from the concepts of Sigmund Freud in the book "Civilization and its Discontents," anger results to aggression. He argues that human beings possess varying degrees of aggressiveness. The aggressiveness may result in anxiety and guiltiness; that is, it ends up causing crushing guilt to an individual. This instills a feeling of self debtness that results in ones suffering. This integrates a "guilty conscience" that torments an individual, a situation Freud describes in Freudian terms as superego. Virginia Woolf also holds her arguments on the concepts of anger as depicted in the book, "A Room of One's Own" Therefore, as described below, anger is depicted as not being productive as it results in uncomfortable feelings and emotions that may influence an individual into acting aggressively and perform deeds that will make him guilty later.

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Anger is a strong emotion that results in destructive outcomes when it cannot be handled appropriately. Uncontrolled anger leads to arguments, physical fights, and abuse, assaults as well as self-harm. It is generally a strong emotion that triggers the body of an individual into a fight or flight response. Anger results in aggressiveness. This holds the concept of unproductivity of anger. According to Freud Sigmund arguments on aggressiveness, it results in individual actions that are inappropriate. These actions may result in anxiety and guiltiness. If the aggression is not relieved, then it ends up subjecting a person in an inward feeling of a person being the cause and develops extreme guiltiness and anger. This anger can end up influencing a person into unfavorable things creating a feeling of debt towards oneself. This in turn in ordinates suffering. This is what Sigmund described as superego in Freudian terms. Therefore, it can be clearly justified that anger will result to aggressiveness and this will end up resulting to persons expressing their aggression in public or private ending up to destructions (Sigmund, and James 15). From Sigmund's discussion, individuals tend to be in their response towards unhappiness; however, they have to adhere to some rules and regulations. His discussion postulates that there is variance in people's levels or degrees of aggressiveness. Therefore, this can give a clarification that people's degree of anger varies. Sigmund presents the concept of aggressive instinct as a universal impulse that presents the sole impediments to important aspects of civilization, which are, Christian love and civilized society.

Nonetheless, it can be depicted from the title of Freud Sigmund's book, "Civilization and its Discontents" that the unhappiness that succumbs the lives of people, that is, the discontents in the aim of acquiring civilization also leads to aggressiveness. His ideas were that human is driven by the incentive of the "pleasure principle" that holds the concept of human beings aim at maximizing their pleasures and avoiding all possibilities of being subjected to pain. Therefore, aggressiveness results from the failure of this principle, subjecting human into anger. The anger forces them to do unfavorable actions that may subject them into more suffering and guiltiness, or sometimes do actions that they end up unforgiving themselves. These "discontents" makes them angry and respond inappropriately with bad actions or the so-termed anger explosions. Normally, many people have little control of the aggressiveness and therefore explode in varying levels. The aggressiveness is mostly in the form of physical abuse or violence. In other cases, anger, resulting from people being unhappy when they seek happiness, causes them to manipulate other people so as to feel superior and powerful. This, therefore, has to involve aggression since they cannot suppress their anger.

More so, Sigmund is driven by anger while writing the book, "Civilization and its Discontents." it is his intense hostility towards Christianity that has influenced him to define and discuss civilization in Christian terms. His anger has driven him into extreme levels such that the title of the book can be changed into another satisfactory title, "Christian Society and its Discontents." Therefore, it can be seen that anger is not productive as it drives people into aggressiveness and weakness of fighting for superiority because when one is angry, he is subjected to a feeling of being inferior. Freud Sigmund's life is a clear depiction of unproductivity of anger (Sigmund, and James 27). After writing the book, "Civilization and its Discontents" and describing different concepts of humanity and how human beings try to seek happiness, he ends up committing physician-assisted suicide. Freud Sigmund discussed significant ideologies of civilization and Christianity concepts, for instance, of love and sex. His arguments are of extreme kindness towards humanity and are composed of efforts towards the reduction of human suffering. However, after all these efforts he spends nine years in exile in England, where he is weak and ill. It can be suggested that it is out of his anger that he decides to commit a physician-assisted suicide by asking his doctor to offer him a lethal morphine dose. This clearly shows that anger is not productive as it influences people to make unfavorable decisions. Anger makes Sigmund unable to endure suffering basing the concept of all his kind deeds but ends up suffering. Therefore he feels inferior and decides to commit suicide with the aim of seeking superiority and eliminating the instance of unhappiness.

Virginia Woolf, in her book, "A Room of One's Own," clearly outlines that anger is unproductive and fruitless. Her book is an outline of her efforts to determine why many books are written by men and not women, and the reasons as to why some of the books contain information that criticizes women. His idea on that is that men are in anger of women, and therefore seek for power and superiority. According to her, it is this manipulation of women and power that men try to suppress their anger with. The unproductivity of anger in this situation is that men criticize women in these books and views them as inferior. They also seek power in order to dominate women. It is through anger that Virginia unwittingly draws a picture of an angry looking professor who is unattractive while working on the books that describe the inferiority of women. Anger makes her build a bad image of a man, a professor because the professor is building the concepts of the inferiority of women (Virginia 18). It is because of extreme anger that makes Virginia draw a conclusion that she is bad, inferior, and useless. This makes her not to draw any attention to what is written in the book, and the arguments in the books and her extreme anger make her wonder why all men are angry. Her anger dissipates, and out of control returns books and head for lunch. This clearly shows that anger is unproductive and interferes with people's goals and objectives.

Virginia`s objective of making an analysis of why many books are written by men rather than women is not met due to her anger. She finds the books useless; anger makes her lose her goals to lose meaning. Anger makes people lose patience. It is out of anger that Virginia loses patience in what she had to do with the books that she had picked from the library for analysis.

Nonetheless, anger destroys merit. As depicted from Virginia's book, "A Room of One's Own" when she heads for lunch and reads newspapers she realizes that men have power, money, make important decisions and hold major positions. However, according to her, men are angry. This anger makes them lose merit; she predicts their fear to lose power, being the responsive cause of anger. She describes that it is out of anger that men have to criticize women as a logical defensive mechanism to make themselves superior to women (Virginia 29). Therefore, the analysis of this concept is that men feel superior to women and get angry and fearful when their superiority is subjected to threats and have to respond in a negative for example by criticizing women and also cut them down in an attempt to superiorize themselves. This outlines the concept of instinctive aggression which is usually harmful in such a way that influences the freedom of thought, whereby, men are concerned about their superiority and end up attacking the other sex and concentrate on their gender. This makes their arguments lose objectivity and results in a confined way of thinking. More so, the anger produces social ills, for instance, war, whereby men will destroy whatever they are fighting for. This justifies the unproductiveness of anger.

Virginia also argues that anger interferes with the effectiveness of writing as she holds the idea that individuals mind should be empty of interferences to create and build an effective literature writing. It is as a result of anger that the books are written about the inferiority and negative sentiments of women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clearly justified from the above discussion, that anger does not bring productivity, but rather, is unproductive as it leads to aggressiveness, which is harmful. Anger results to lack merit, and it is the responsive cause of men diminishing women, and criticizing them. From the analysis, we view anger to result in harmful actions such as war, responsible for men's desire to be powerful and superior and makes people lose the meaning of patience. It is out of anger that people are depicted to make wrong decisions, jump into conclusions, and end up failing to attain their goals and objectives. In most cases, the response towards anger is always negative and results in sadness and sometimes suffering. Most people fail to express their anger in a healthy way resulting in destructions and inappropriate decisions. Therefore, it is of great importance to learn how to respond and express anger.

Works Cited

Freud, Sigmund, and James Strachey. Civilization and its Discontents. Hogarth Press, 1963.

Virginia, Woolf. "A Room of One's Own." New York 47 (1929).