Deeper and harder than solitude: social isolation. Comparison between the play “La vida es sueño”, written by the Spaniard Pedro Calderón de la Barca and in the story “Everyday Use”, created by the American author Alice Walker.

Octavio Paz, in one of his most famous works, "The Labyrinth of Solitude", defined solitude as "the profoundest fact of the human condition". He also stated that we are "the only being who knows he is alone". However, while loneliness is often temporary, true social isolation tends to last years or decades as a chronic condition.

According to the Cambridge handbook of personal relationships, social isolation concerns "the objective characteristics of a situation and refers to the absence of relationships with other people" (Vangelisti, 486). This supposes, obviously, a lack of social support, defined by the book "The Second Fifty Years: Promoting Health and Preventing Disability" as "the resources provided by other persons" (Berg, 243). These resources can be emotional, social, physical or financial forms of care and they have a wide number of sources, e.g.

Pedro Calderón de la Barca

barca

Bronze relief representing Life is a Dream. Detail...

individuals and institutions.

As it is observed, the absence of social interaction has a reasonable and obvious influence in the way in which a human being develops. A social network provides help and comfort, but also opportunities to acquire certain resources and to develop a more clear and personal perception of reality.

The influence of social isolation in the development of identity can be observed both in the play "La vida es sueño", written by the Spaniard Pedro Calderón de la Barca and in the story "Everyday Use", created by the American author Alice Walker, through the solitude that two of the central characters experienced, making them insecure individuals with a very undefined idea of themselves and their reality, but able to develop a unique identity and strong individuality after an enormous effort.

The purpose of this essay is...