Isolation: a journey through history, literature, and art

Reflections on Isolation

The entire world is now living a terrible period of isolation due to the Coronavirus pandemy. This forced quarantine has made me think about the true meaning of being isolated from the rest of the society and how this condition has developed throughout history and literature. I would say that such a peculiar situation is a common and universal condition but it can be caused by several factors and can therefore evolve strongly differently.

Physical and Spiritual Isolation

First of all it must be noticed that this phenomenon can be both physical and spiritual: the first one is surely the most evident and clear to understand but I would focus my attention on the latter since it includes a sense of frustration directly derived from emotional and mental isolation. The subject clearly suffers because he cannot change his condition and is therefore unable to find any sort of solace. Another important distinction that must be mentioned is surely the fact that it can be both a voluntarily or involuntarily decision.

The Romantic Movement

When it comes to a free choice it is clear that the most important example has to be found in the Romantic Movement. As a matter of fact this is the period in which the artist wants to separate himself from society since someone unique in his creative faculties. He defines himself as a prophet divinely inspired who enjoys and shares the same creative ability as God. Young romantic artists turned into social rebels rejecting traditional moral values, thanks to their being endowed with a greater sensibility and tenderness. Thanks to this perception the literary production of the era tends to recreate this sense of self isolation as an escape from a tough world that does not allow poets and artists in general to freely express themselves without depending on fixed rules.

Coleridge and Espronceda

This idea is perfectly embodied in English literature in Coleridge’s masterpiece The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner in which the protagonist finds himself lost at sea in order to be purified from the convention of society that have been corrupting the whole mankind. Probably even more representative of this idea is figure of the pirate in the well known ballad from the Spanish poet Espronceda. In his La Canción del Pirata he perfectly depicts the figure of a man who has freely decided to be margined from his native land in order to find freedom and pursue his individual peace. The protagonist identifies his motherland with the sea and he has been able to mould his own world on his ship, a place where he and his fellow mariners live in perfect harmony not only with each other but also with nature. What surely catches the reader’s attention is basically the fact that he describes social ties with the expression “ el yugo del esclavo” as to underline how they limit the individual in his personal development imprisoning him with invisible laces as if he were a slave.

Romanticism in Art

It is sure that being representative of a huge movement this concept has not just to be applied in literature but also in art. Romantic artists embody, as well as writers, the idea of superiority which automatically puts those ‘prophets’ in a higher and privileged position. Romanticism laid emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of the past and nature. The artists of the movement created works which highlighted that sense and emotions were as important in experiencing the world as reason and balance. They stressed on the individual, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional and the visionary. This characteristics can be clearly evinced from the manifesto of the movement, traditionally said to be Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog in which great importance is given to nature. The man feels small in front of the never ending but at the same time finds refuge and identifies himself with the landscape, the only safe place to express his inner thoughts and feelings.

Wilde's Aestheticism

Going back to literature we can find similar attitudes also in the aesthetic movement and in particular in Wilde’s masterpiece The Picture of Dorian Gray in which the protagonist, devoting his entire life to dandyism, detaches himself from the rest of society moulding his own world in which the highest value is beauty. He loses all his previous relationships such as the one with Basil Hallward and we can say that in this way he self-isolates himself, in this case more spiritually than physically: the choices he has made have caused his now being completely alone and he can barely stand this new condition that ends up committing a suicide.

Forced Isolation in History

As I mentioned before isolation can also be a forced condition and actually the examples supporting this definition are far more numerous. It is not difficult to find people or entire classes that have been completely marginalised due to different social political or ideological factors. Since the earliest ages there has always existed a dominant class who entirely depended on other people identified for example as slaves or servants. Years of oppression, abuse of power and tyranny have led to important historical events, the biggest of which is for sure the French Revolution. But things have never actually changed.

Industrial Revolution and Alienation

Historically speaking a social wave of isolation has been surely originated from the industrial revolution which has contributed in identifying people only with their work. Poor classes were seen as machines and every single person, from children to women was terribly exploited. This has surely played a leading role in the creation of a widespread sense of frustration that has also been increased due to the terrible living conditions of that time. Lower classes were so marginalised and not considered at all; they felt incapable of changing their realities and powerless. The so called alienated work was created during this period thus generating a common lack of hope and creating a wider and wider gap between factory owners and workers.

War and Mental Isolation

In the end I would focus on what in my opinion is the most interesting aspect of isolation, that is to say its mental and moral importance, which actually is still a still vivid connotation in nowadays society.

Continuing the line of historical events surely have to be noticed the harsh conditions soldiers experienced during the First World War since, after the initial enthusiasm, horrors of the trench life immediately caused a widespread mood of discomfort and disillusionment. Soldiers felt betrayed by generals who had convinced them to fight in a war that lasted way longer than promised. War poets such as the English Owen and Brooke, or the Italian Ungaretti revealed the atrocities of war and through their words we can learn about their sufferance and solitude as they felt completely abandoned to an awful death.

Solitude in Art and Literature

As regards arts a painting picturing this sense of solitude and mental consequences of such a condition is surely evident in the The Alienate by the French Gericault, a series of works in which he stresses for the first time the importance of isolation and mental instability on different subjects.

In literature it must be highlighted the example offered by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein in which the monsters is in a perpetual condition of isolation due to his physical appearance. He just wanted to be accepted but this is considered impossible by the others, especially for his own creator, the first to be disgusted by his existence.

This is how society contributed is making him feel inadequate thus generating terrible feelings in his hearth. It is evident that this situation is still unfortunately a reality in the world we all live in which suggests that maybe we could all learn to spread positivity, encouraging each other and not destroying and isolating whoever looks different to us, not just by his appearance but also for his passions and believes.