Mark Rego M.D.

Modern Life Changes the Brain. Here's How to Change It Back

What is "frontal fatigue" and how do we treat it.

Posted June 6, 2022 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

  • The demands of modern life are relentless and can have negative effects on our brain's prefrontal cortex (PFC).
  • A weakened PFC can make us more vulnerable to mental disorders and poor well-being.
  • I call this weakened and vulnerable state "frontal fatigue," and argue that most people in the modern world have it to some degree.
  • There are ways to minimize frontal fatigue and protect ourselves from its effects.

 Pexels

Suicide . Depression . Anxiety . Medication . Psychiatric hospitalizations.

The signs are everywhere. Across the industrialized world, urban and rural, east and west, our mental states seem to only get worse by the year. The biggest commonality in this passage of time is that our societies become increasingly more modern and more technological. In spite of the many priceless benefits of modernity, it is also true that for any group, the more modern they become, the more mental illness and less emotional well-being they tend to have.

In a recent article , I explored ways to understand our modern predicament. Modern life is a constant flood of choices, decisions, and tasks, each more complex and abstract than the last. The most common and the most momentous parts of our lives are equalized by calendar reminders. Many cultures and traditions that formerly guided us in the work of living are now the stuff of nostalgia . Meanwhile, social media can distort our identities into cartoon versions, often depressed and alone.

How did we build such a world? In my last post, I argued that we built the modern world to run on the sizeable power of the human prefrontal cortex (PFC). We use our mighty PFCs to manage our current world, often enough with success. However, there’s a chink in the armor. The incessant and stressful demands we put on the PFC tend to weaken it. Weakened, it fails at its work while releasing vulnerabilities to mental illness and negative emotions.

This weakened, tired PFC is what I call "frontal fatigue" and describe in my book, Frontal Fatigue. The Impact of Modern Life and Technology on Mental Illness. Frontal fatigue is the vulnerability we all carry due to the demands of the modern world, our dearth of personal connections, and the effects all this has on our brains.

Unfortunately, the pace of modern life’s demands shows no sign of slowing down—in fact, they are escalating. Any individual person can, however, take steps to moderate the effects of this assault on their brain. Unplugging and leaving stress behind are not options for most of us. For those of us who must remain plugged in, there is still much we can do to attend to the health of our PFCs, and thus our minds.

3 Steps to Take Care of Your PFC

In the middle of the 20th century, it became obvious that, for the first time in human history, we had to exercise and diet to have a healthy body. A similar time has come for our minds. Disciplines such as meditation and yoga are wonderful but take considerable practice. I believe a more targeted approach affords control and relief without such efforts.

There are three methods I recommend to address this broad personal project. These are different from general stress reduction. They are aimed more directly at the PFC by supplying both outlets and control over these brain functions and hopefully restore some balance to our lives.

These three categories summarize my approach.

  • Know when the PFC is strained. This is different from just stress or fatigue, and we need to recognize it.
  • Have reliable ways to disconnect not just from technology, but from engaging the world only through the PFC.
  • Because much of the time we will remain stuck in our own minds, and thus PFCs, we need to be greater masters of our thoughts and feelings.

These approaches are not intended to reinvigorate us so we can jump back into the thick of things. Instead, we should strive for a better sense of balance and control over how our lives and PFCs interact. If, as you examine these plans, they seem like one more thing to add to your to-do list, then you may not have time available. Rest may be what you need the most. Otherwise, focus on and practice the tasks that resonate with you.

essay about the modern life

1. Know the signs of PFC strain.

  • Do you strain to maintain attention ? Especially reading difficult material or repetitive data such as numbers in a column—do you often need caffeine to continue?.
  • Do you forget words and small things? Where you put things; what you thought a moment ago; the word you are looking for, often a name or a word you uncommonly use? This is a breakdown of working memory .
  • Do you struggle to multi-task? This is really rapid-shifting as in cooking multiple dishes or managing multiple tasks simultaneously by jumping from one to the next.
  • Do you let emotions slip through? Usually irritability. Or, do you say emotionally charged things you would not normally say?

When these signs appear, it likely means your PFC is at its limit due to stress, fatigue, or overuse. If you can, disengage from what you’re doing. Do something simpler, or nothing at all. The PFC is the only part of the brain that actually fatigues like a muscle with overuse. As with muscles, rest is essential.

2. Disconnect.

We need to engage with the world in ways other than just our PFCs. The PFC is always working, but we can use other brain systems to directly engage with life. There are no tricks or unusual techniques to learn here. These are fully human activities. Your body and mind will feel at home with their practice. We did these things every day in pre-modern societies:

  • Engage life with your hands. Do crafts, cooking, art, play an instrument, garden, or take on a DIY project. Physical (as opposed to virtual) experience brings a level of care and easy focus.
  • Engage life with your senses. We are starved for common beauty. Enrich your senses. See, smell, hear, and taste what life offers. Investigate new foods, art, music, and especially nature. Whatever pulls you in via a sense door, follow it (within reason). Green environments are very important in this endeavor. More and more, research finds them to be calming, restorative, and necessary for a healthy mind.
  • Engage life with others. Talk with, question, greet, or chat with others—and not just those close to you, but people you see, work with, pass by, and wait in line with. People love to talk about themselves. Let them and hear their stories. I do not believe that chit-chat is mindless and trivial. Connecting dilutes the minor struggles of the day: the weather, traffic. It relieves stress by spreading out concerns among more people. Participate in some chit-chat even if it’s not your concern at the moment.

3. Better manage your thoughts and feelings.

As I mentioned above, you will not always be able to get out of your head and away from PFC-based activities. So, you must cultivate certain skills to use on an ongoing basis. These are not intended to conquer the mind or any similar grand spiritual goals . Rather, they give you more options when the effects of frontal fatigue build up.

  • Practice a way to quiet your mind. You can hear, see, and feel the mind. You want it quiet sometimes such as before bed, but it can be so during the day. This need not be meditation, which can require practice and skill—although breathing exercises are easier and can accomplish this goal. Most people commonly quiet their minds with diversion. I have taken up landscape painting. Others use sports, crafts, or long walks. Learn to listen in on your mind to see how noisy it is. You will find things that quiet it down. Practice these.
  • Read deeply. This is western meditation. It focuses, engages, and slows the mind all at once. Find something to read that intrigues or entertains you, but with a challenge. In other words, not page-turners. We have become skim readers due to the amount we digest from the internet’s constant flow. Read slowly on purpose.
  • Begin to own your emotions. Observe that you are not irritat ed , but rather, irrit able . This halts the arguments in your mind and the search for blame. I mention this, of all the ways we can explore our inner selves, because it allows you to reassert control over emotions that the PFC has lost. This is a large project in itself. Begin with one pair of feelings, contrasting an external and internal source then owning the internal one. Irritated/irritable is a good choice for most (other choices are: angered and nearly angry; saddened and already sad).

Lastly, disconnect from tech and social media whenever you can. This will enhance the effects of all the tools listed above. As we further develop our understanding of how modernity fits into our lives, we can better refine what a mentally healthy life means for each of us.

Mark Rego M.D.

Mark Rego, M.D., is a psychiatrist and a clinical assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

  • Find a Therapist
  • Find a Treatment Center
  • Find a Psychiatrist
  • Find a Support Group
  • Find Teletherapy
  • United States
  • Brooklyn, NY
  • Chicago, IL
  • Houston, TX
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • New York, NY
  • Portland, OR
  • San Diego, CA
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Washington, DC
  • Asperger's
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Chronic Pain
  • Eating Disorders
  • Passive Aggression
  • Personality
  • Goal Setting
  • Positive Psychology
  • Stopping Smoking
  • Low Sexual Desire
  • Relationships
  • Child Development
  • Therapy Center NEW
  • Diagnosis Dictionary
  • Types of Therapy

January 2024 magazine cover

Overcome burnout, your burdens, and that endless to-do list.

  • Coronavirus Disease 2019
  • Affective Forecasting
  • Neuroscience

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

  • Essay Database >
  • Essays Examples >
  • Essay Topics

Essays on Modern Life

31 samples on this topic

Our essay writing service presents to you an open-access directory of free Modern Life essay samples. We'd like to emphasize that the showcased papers were crafted by proficient writers with proper academic backgrounds and cover most various Modern Life essay topics. Remarkably, any Modern Life paper you'd find here could serve as a great source of inspiration, valuable insights, and content organization practices.

It might so happen that you're too pressed for time and cannot allow yourself to waste another minute browsing Modern Life essays and other samples. In such a case, our service can offer a time-saving and very practical alternative solution: an entirely unique Modern Life essay example crafted particularly for you according to the provided instructions. Get in touch today to learn more about effective assistance opportunities offered by our buy an essay service in Modern Life writing!

Conception Of An Urban Modernism: Free Sample Essay To Follow

Art & Architecture

A-Level Essay On The Idea Of Commons And Communing For Free Use

The Idea of Commons and Communing

Essay On A Rose For Emily

Free biological and social aspects of sex differences essay: top-quality sample to follow, essays that wow - family traditions, good queer theory-paris is burning course work example.

Questions for Women and Cinema

1. Transgender It is a state in which an individual’s gender is not matching his or her assigned sex responsibility. It refers to the trans-genders, such as homosexual, bisexuals, heterosexual. In the Paris burning film, the issue of Transgender is explored using various characters men and women. For instance, Trans women used as members of the club to show realness. The women are sued to enhance transgender in the film, this shows that as much as they are women they can also compete men and become real (Besnier and Kalissa 34).

‘name’ Term Paper Samples

‘Instructor’s Name’

Free Exercise Of Human Agency Through Collective Efficacy Essay Example

Sample critical thinking on the key to happiness & unhappiness: shantideva & einstein – a critique, civilization and its discontents in a modern context essay examples, example of dream theories research paper, good example of plan of investigation essay.

Introduction:

Good Essay On Are We Too Dependent On Computers

Good essay about lightness, abdullah alshaib essay samples.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by Eliot

Making Informed Decisions For A Future Happy Life Business Plan Samples

Good literature review on the love song of j. alfred prufrock by eliot.

Introduction

Free Research Paper On Human And Society Nature Disconnection

Jazz education and its impact on child behavior research paper examples.

Jazz Music and the Modern Society

Good Example Of Essay On Sedentary Life And Colon Cancer

Mid term integration paper essay example.

Mid Term Integration Paper Mid Term Integration Paper

Good Essay About Stress Management

Stress management

Poetry Or A Song Essays Example

Literary Criticism of T. S. Eliot’s Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

Example Of Thesis On The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Article review on sociology, free essay on campbells soup by andy warhol, essay on protestant reformation, free essay on existential crisis hemingways use of prose and the ambiguity of.

Modern Life

Course Work On Critique Of News Report

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

submit your paper

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

essay about the modern life

50 Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

' src=

Liberty Hardy

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

View All posts by Liberty Hardy

I feel like essay collections don’t get enough credit. They’re so wonderful! They’re like short story collections, but TRUE. It’s like going to a truth buffet. You can get information about sooooo many topics, sometimes in one single book! To prove that there are a zillion amazing essay collections out there, I compiled 50 great contemporary essay collections, just from the last 18 months alone.  Ranging in topics from food, nature, politics, sex, celebrity, and more, there is something here for everyone!

I’ve included a brief description from the publisher with each title. Tell us in the comments about which of these you’ve read or other contemporary essay collections that you love. There are a LOT of them. Yay, books!

Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

They can’t kill us until they kill us  by hanif abdurraqib.

“In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib’s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.”

Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas  by Jenny Allen

“Jenny Allen’s musings range fluidly from the personal to the philosophical. She writes with the familiarity of someone telling a dinner party anecdote, forgoing decorum for candor and comedy. To read  Would Everybody Please Stop?  is to experience life with imaginative and incisive humor.”

Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. By signing up you agree to our terms of use

Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds  by Yemisi Aribisala

“A sumptuous menu of essays about Nigerian cuisine, lovingly presented by the nation’s top epicurean writer. As well as a mouth-watering appraisal of Nigerian food,  Longthroat Memoirs  is a series of love letters to the Nigerian palate. From the cultural history of soup, to fish as aphrodisiac and the sensual allure of snails,  Longthroat Memoirs  explores the complexities, the meticulousness, and the tactile joy of Nigerian gastronomy.”

Beyond Measure: Essays  by Rachel Z. Arndt

“ Beyond Measure  is a fascinating exploration of the rituals, routines, metrics and expectations through which we attempt to quantify and ascribe value to our lives. With mordant humor and penetrating intellect, Arndt casts her gaze beyond event-driven narratives to the machinery underlying them: judo competitions measured in weigh-ins and wait times; the significance of the elliptical’s stationary churn; the rote scripts of dating apps; the stupefying sameness of the daily commute.”

Magic Hours  by Tom Bissell

“Award-winning essayist Tom Bissell explores the highs and lows of the creative process. He takes us from the set of  The Big Bang Theory  to the first novel of Ernest Hemingway to the final work of David Foster Wallace; from the films of Werner Herzog to the film of Tommy Wiseau to the editorial meeting in which Paula Fox’s work was relaunched into the world. Originally published in magazines such as  The Believer ,  The New Yorker , and  Harper’s , these essays represent ten years of Bissell’s best writing on every aspect of creation—be it Iraq War documentaries or video-game character voices—and will provoke as much thought as they do laughter.”

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession  by Alice Bolin

“In this poignant collection, Alice Bolin examines iconic American works from the essays of Joan Didion and James Baldwin to  Twin Peaks , Britney Spears, and  Serial , illuminating the widespread obsession with women who are abused, killed, and disenfranchised, and whose bodies (dead and alive) are used as props to bolster men’s stories. Smart and accessible, thoughtful and heartfelt, Bolin investigates the implications of our cultural fixations, and her own role as a consumer and creator.”

Betwixt-and-Between: Essays on the Writing Life  by Jenny Boully

“Jenny Boully’s essays are ripe with romance and sensual pleasures, drawing connections between the digression, reflection, imagination, and experience that characterizes falling in love as well as the life of a writer. Literary theory, philosophy, and linguistics rub up against memory, dreamscapes, and fancy, making the practice of writing a metaphor for the illusory nature of experience.  Betwixt and Between  is, in many ways, simply a book about how to live.”

Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Ada Calhoun

“In  Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give , Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is: not the happy ending of a love story or a relic doomed by high divorce rates, but the beginning of a challenging new chapter of which ‘the first twenty years are the hardest.’”

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays  by Alexander Chee

“ How to Write an Autobiographical Novel  is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing—Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley—the writing of his first novel,  Edinburgh , and the election of Donald Trump.”

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays  by Durga Chew-Bose

“ Too Much and Not the Mood is a beautiful and surprising exploration of what it means to be a first-generation, creative young woman working today. On April 11, 1931, Virginia Woolf ended her entry in A Writer’s Diary with the words ‘too much and not the mood’ to describe her frustration with placating her readers, what she described as the ‘cramming in and the cutting out.’ She wondered if she had anything at all that was truly worth saying. The attitude of that sentiment inspired Durga Chew-Bose to gather own writing in this lyrical collection of poetic essays that examine personhood and artistic growth. Drawing inspiration from a diverse group of incisive and inquiring female authors, Chew-Bose captures the inner restlessness that keeps her always on the brink of creative expression.”

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy  by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“‘We were eight years in power’ was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America’s ‘first white president.’”

Look Alive Out There: Essays by Sloane Crosley

“In  Look Alive Out There,  whether it’s scaling active volcanoes, crashing shivas, playing herself on  Gossip Girl,  befriending swingers, or squinting down the barrel of the fertility gun, Crosley continues to rise to the occasion with unmatchable nerve and electric one-liners. And as her subjects become more serious, her essays deliver not just laughs but lasting emotional heft and insight. Crosley has taken up the gauntlets thrown by her predecessors—Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, David Sedaris—and crafted something rare, affecting, and true.”

Fl â neuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London  by Lauren Elkin

“Part cultural meander, part memoir,  Flâneuse  takes us on a distinctly cosmopolitan jaunt that begins in New York, where Elkin grew up, and transports us to Paris via Venice, Tokyo, and London, all cities in which she’s lived. We are shown the paths beaten by such  flâneuses  as the cross-dressing nineteenth-century novelist George Sand, the Parisian artist Sophie Calle, the wartime correspondent Martha Gellhorn, and the writer Jean Rhys. With tenacity and insight, Elkin creates a mosaic of what urban settings have meant to women, charting through literature, art, history, and film the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes fraught relationship that women have with the metropolis.”

Idiophone  by Amy Fusselman

“Leaping from ballet to quiltmaking, from the The Nutcracker to an Annie-B Parson interview,  Idiophone  is a strikingly original meditation on risk-taking and provocation in art and a unabashedly honest, funny, and intimate consideration of art-making in the context of motherhood, and motherhood in the context of addiction. Amy Fusselman’s compact, beautifully digressive essay feels both surprising and effortless, fueled by broad-ranging curiosity, and, fundamentally, joy.”

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture  by Roxane Gay

“In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are ‘routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied’ for speaking out.”

Sunshine State: Essays  by Sarah Gerard

“With the personal insight of  The Empathy Exams , the societal exposal of  Nickel and Dimed , and the stylistic innovation and intensity of her own break-out debut novel  Binary Star , Sarah Gerard’s  Sunshine State  uses the intimately personal to unearth the deep reservoirs of humanity buried in the corners of our world often hardest to face.”

The Art of the Wasted Day  by Patricia Hampl

“ The Art of the Wasted Day  is a picaresque travelogue of leisure written from a lifelong enchantment with solitude. Patricia Hampl visits the homes of historic exemplars of ease who made repose a goal, even an art form. She begins with two celebrated eighteenth-century Irish ladies who ran off to live a life of ‘retirement’ in rural Wales. Her search then leads to Moravia to consider the monk-geneticist, Gregor Mendel, and finally to Bordeaux for Michel Montaigne—the hero of this book—who retreated from court life to sit in his chateau tower and write about whatever passed through his mind, thus inventing the personal essay.”

A Really Big Lunch: The Roving Gourmand on Food and Life  by Jim Harrison

“Jim Harrison’s legendary gourmandise is on full display in  A Really Big Lunch . From the titular  New Yorker  piece about a French lunch that went to thirty-seven courses, to pieces from  Brick ,  Playboy , Kermit Lynch Newsletter, and more on the relationship between hunter and prey, or the obscure language of wine reviews,  A Really Big Lunch  is shot through with Harrison’s pointed aperçus and keen delight in the pleasures of the senses. And between the lines the pieces give glimpses of Harrison’s life over the last three decades.  A Really Big Lunch  is a literary delight that will satisfy every appetite.”

Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me  by Bill Hayes

“Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by. But, at forty-eight years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change. Grieving over the death of his partner, he quickly discovered the profound consolations of the city’s incessant rhythms, the sight of the Empire State Building against the night sky, and New Yorkers themselves, kindred souls that Hayes, a lifelong insomniac, encountered on late-night strolls with his camera.”

Would You Rather?: A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out  by Katie Heaney

“Here, for the first time, Katie opens up about realizing at the age of twenty-eight that she is gay. In these poignant, funny essays, she wrestles with her shifting sexuality and identity, and describes what it was like coming out to everyone she knows (and everyone she doesn’t). As she revisits her past, looking for any ‘clues’ that might have predicted this outcome, Katie reveals that life doesn’t always move directly from point A to point B—no matter how much we would like it to.”

Tonight I’m Someone Else: Essays  by Chelsea Hodson

“From graffiti gangs and  Grand Theft Auto  to sugar daddies, Schopenhauer, and a deadly game of Russian roulette, in these essays, Chelsea Hodson probes her own desires to examine where the physical and the proprietary collide. She asks what our privacy, our intimacy, and our own bodies are worth in the increasingly digital world of liking, linking, and sharing.”

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.: Essays  by Samantha Irby

“With  We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. , ‘bitches gotta eat’ blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making ‘adult’ budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette—she’s ’35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something’—detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father’s ashes, sharing awkward sexual encounters, or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms—hang in there for the Costco loot—she’s as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.”

This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America  by Morgan Jerkins

“Doubly disenfranchised by race and gender, often deprived of a place within the mostly white mainstream feminist movement, black women are objectified, silenced, and marginalized with devastating consequences, in ways both obvious and subtle, that are rarely acknowledged in our country’s larger discussion about inequality. In  This Will Be My Undoing , Jerkins becomes both narrator and subject to expose the social, cultural, and historical story of black female oppression that influences the black community as well as the white, male-dominated world at large.”

Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays  by Fenton Johnson

“Part retrospective, part memoir, Fenton Johnson’s collection  Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays  explores sexuality, religion, geography, the AIDS crisis, and more. Johnson’s wanderings take him from the hills of Kentucky to those of San Francisco, from the streets of Paris to the sidewalks of Calcutta. Along the way, he investigates questions large and small: What’s the relationship between artists and museums, illuminated in a New Guinean display of shrunken heads? What’s the difference between empiricism and intuition?”

One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays  by Scaachi Koul

“In  One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter , Scaachi Koul deploys her razor-sharp humor to share all the fears, outrages, and mortifying moments of her life. She learned from an early age what made her miserable, and for Scaachi anything can be cause for despair. Whether it’s a shopping trip gone awry; enduring awkward conversations with her bikini waxer; overcoming her fear of flying while vacationing halfway around the world; dealing with Internet trolls, or navigating the fears and anxieties of her parents. Alongside these personal stories are pointed observations about life as a woman of color: where every aspect of her appearance is open for critique, derision, or outright scorn; where strict gender rules bind in both Western and Indian cultures, leaving little room for a woman not solely focused on marriage and children to have a career (and a life) for herself.”

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions  by Valeria Luiselli and jon lee anderson (translator)

“A damning confrontation between the American dream and the reality of undocumented children seeking a new life in the U.S. Structured around the 40 questions Luiselli translates and asks undocumented Latin American children facing deportation,  Tell Me How It Ends  (an expansion of her 2016 Freeman’s essay of the same name) humanizes these young migrants and highlights the contradiction between the idea of America as a fiction for immigrants and the reality of racism and fear—both here and back home.”

All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers  by Alana Massey

“Mixing Didion’s affected cool with moments of giddy celebrity worship, Massey examines the lives of the women who reflect our greatest aspirations and darkest fears back onto us. These essays are personal without being confessional and clever in a way that invites readers into the joke. A cultural critique and a finely wrought fan letter, interwoven with stories that are achingly personal, All the Lives I Want is also an exploration of mental illness, the sex industry, and the dangers of loving too hard.”

Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish: Essays  by Tom McCarthy

“Certain points of reference recur with dreamlike insistence—among them the artist Ed Ruscha’s  Royal Road Test , a photographic documentation of the roadside debris of a Royal typewriter hurled from the window of a traveling car; the great blooms of jellyfish that are filling the oceans and gumming up the machinery of commerce and military domination—and the question throughout is: How can art explode the restraining conventions of so-called realism, whether aesthetic or political, to engage in the active reinvention of the world?”

Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America  by Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding

“When 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, how can women unite in Trump’s America? Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward.”

Don’t Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life  by Peggy Orenstein

“Named one of the ’40 women who changed the media business in the last 40 years’ by  Columbia Journalism Review , Peggy Orenstein is one of the most prominent, unflinching feminist voices of our time. Her writing has broken ground and broken silences on topics as wide-ranging as miscarriage, motherhood, breast cancer, princess culture and the importance of girls’ sexual pleasure. Her unique blend of investigative reporting, personal revelation and unexpected humor has made her books bestselling classics.”

When You Find Out the World Is Against You: And Other Funny Memories About Awful Moments  by Kelly Oxford

“Kelly Oxford likes to blow up the internet. Whether it is with the kind of Tweets that lead  Rolling Stone  to name her one of the Funniest People on Twitter or with pictures of her hilariously adorable family (human and animal) or with something much more serious, like creating the hashtag #NotOkay, where millions of women came together to share their stories of sexual assault, Kelly has a unique, razor-sharp perspective on modern life. As a screen writer, professional sh*t disturber, wife and mother of three, Kelly is about everything but the status quo.”

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman  by Anne Helen Petersen

“You know the type: the woman who won’t shut up, who’s too brazen, too opinionated—too much. She’s the unruly woman, and she embodies one of the most provocative and powerful forms of womanhood today. In  Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud , Anne Helen Petersen uses the lens of ‘unruliness’ to explore the ascension of pop culture powerhouses like Lena Dunham, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, exploring why the public loves to love (and hate) these controversial figures. With its brisk, incisive analysis,  Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud  will be a conversation-starting book on what makes and breaks celebrity today.”

Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist  by Franchesca Ramsey

“In her first book, Ramsey uses her own experiences as an accidental activist to explore the many ways we communicate with each other—from the highs of bridging gaps and making connections to the many pitfalls that accompany talking about race, power, sexuality, and gender in an unpredictable public space…the internet.”

Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls  by Elizabeth Renzetti

“Drawing upon Renzetti’s decades of reporting on feminist issues,  Shrewed  is a book about feminism’s crossroads. From Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign to the quest for equal pay, from the lessons we can learn from old ladies to the future of feminism in a turbulent world, Renzetti takes a pointed, witty look at how far we’ve come—and how far we have to go.”

What Are We Doing Here?: Essays  by Marilynne Robinson

“In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.”

Double Bind: Women on Ambition  by Robin Romm

“‘A work of courage and ferocious honesty’ (Diana Abu-Jaber),  Double Bind  could not come at a more urgent time. Even as major figures from Gloria Steinem to Beyoncé embrace the word ‘feminism,’ the word ‘ambition’ remains loaded with ambivalence. Many women see it as synonymous with strident or aggressive, yet most feel compelled to strive and achieve—the seeming contradiction leaving them in a perpetual double bind. Ayana Mathis, Molly Ringwald, Roxane Gay, and a constellation of ‘nimble thinkers . . . dismantle this maddening paradox’ ( O, The Oprah Magazine ) with candor, wit, and rage. Women who have made landmark achievements in fields as diverse as law, dog sledding, and butchery weigh in, breaking the last feminist taboo once and for all.”

The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers and Life  by Richard Russo

“In these nine essays, Richard Russo provides insight into his life as a writer, teacher, friend, and reader. From a commencement speech he gave at Colby College, to the story of how an oddly placed toilet made him reevaluate the purpose of humor in art and life, to a comprehensive analysis of Mark Twain’s value, to his harrowing journey accompanying a dear friend as she pursued gender-reassignment surgery,  The Destiny Thief  reflects the broad interests and experiences of one of America’s most beloved authors. Warm, funny, wise, and poignant, the essays included here traverse Russo’s writing life, expanding our understanding of who he is and how his singular, incredibly generous mind works. An utter joy to read, they give deep insight into the creative process from the prospective of one of our greatest writers.”

Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race by Naben Ruthnum

“Curry is a dish that doesn’t quite exist, but, as this wildly funny and sharp essay points out, a dish that doesn’t properly exist can have infinite, equally authentic variations. By grappling with novels, recipes, travelogues, pop culture, and his own upbringing, Naben Ruthnum depicts how the distinctive taste of curry has often become maladroit shorthand for brown identity. With the sardonic wit of Gita Mehta’s  Karma Cola  and the refined, obsessive palette of Bill Buford’s  Heat , Ruthnum sinks his teeth into the story of how the beloved flavor calcified into an aesthetic genre that limits the imaginations of writers, readers, and eaters.”

The River of Consciousness  by Oliver Sacks

“Sacks, an Oxford-educated polymath, had a deep familiarity not only with literature and medicine but with botany, animal anatomy, chemistry, the history of science, philosophy, and psychology.  The River of Consciousness  is one of two books Sacks was working on up to his death, and it reveals his ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless project to understand what makes us human.”

All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom (Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God)  by Deborah Santana and America Ferrera

“ All the Women in My Family Sing  is an anthology documenting the experiences of women of color at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It is a vital collection of prose and poetry whose topics range from the pressures of being the vice-president of a Fortune 500 Company, to escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, to the struggles inside immigration, identity, romance, and self-worth. These brief, trenchant essays capture the aspirations and wisdom of women of color as they exercise autonomy, creativity, and dignity and build bridges to heal the brokenness in today’s turbulent world.”

We Wear the Mask: 15 True Stories of Passing in America  by Brando Skyhorse and Lisa Page

“For some, ‘passing’ means opportunity, access, or safety. Others don’t willingly pass but are ‘passed’ in specific situations by someone else.  We Wear the Mask , edited by  Brando Skyhorse  and  Lisa Page , is an illuminating and timely anthology that examines the complex reality of passing in America. Skyhorse, a Mexican American, writes about how his mother passed him as an American Indian before he learned who he really is. Page shares how her white mother didn’t tell friends about her black ex-husband or that her children were, in fact, biracial.”

Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith

“Since she burst spectacularly into view with her debut novel almost two decades ago, Zadie Smith has established herself not just as one of the world’s preeminent fiction writers, but also a brilliant and singular essayist. She contributes regularly to  The New Yorker  and the  New York Review of Books  on a range of subjects, and each piece of hers is a literary event in its own right.”

The Mother of All Questions: Further Reports from the Feminist Revolutions  by Rebecca Solnit

“In a timely follow-up to her national bestseller  Men Explain Things to Me , Rebecca Solnit offers indispensable commentary on women who refuse to be silenced, misogynistic violence, the fragile masculinity of the literary canon, the gender binary, the recent history of rape jokes, and much more. In characteristic style, Solnit mixes humor, keen analysis, and powerful insight in these essays.”

The Wrong Way to Save Your Life: Essays  by Megan Stielstra

“Whether she’s imagining the implications of open-carry laws on college campuses, recounting the story of going underwater on the mortgage of her first home, or revealing the unexpected pains and joys of marriage and motherhood, Stielstra’s work informs, impels, enlightens, and embraces us all. The result is something beautiful—this story, her courage, and, potentially, our own.”

Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms  by Michelle Tea

“Delivered with her signature honesty and dark humor, this is Tea’s first-ever collection of journalistic writing. As she blurs the line between telling other people’s stories and her own, she turns an investigative eye to the genre that’s nurtured her entire career—memoir—and considers the price that art demands be paid from life.”

A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause  by Shawn Wen

“In precise, jewel-like scenes and vignettes,  A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause  pays homage to the singular genius of a mostly-forgotten art form. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and meticulously observed performances, Wen translates the gestural language of mime into a lyric written portrait by turns whimsical, melancholic, and haunting.”

Acid West: Essays  by Joshua Wheeler

“The radical evolution of American identity, from cowboys to drone warriors to space explorers, is a story rooted in southern New Mexico.  Acid West  illuminates this history, clawing at the bounds of genre to reveal a place that is, for better or worse, home. By turns intimate, absurd, and frightening,  Acid West  is an enlightening deep-dive into a prophetic desert at the bottom of America.”

Sexographies  by Gabriela Wiener and Lucy Greaves And jennifer adcock (Translators)

“In fierce and sumptuous first-person accounts, renowned Peruvian journalist Gabriela Wiener records infiltrating the most dangerous Peruvian prison, participating in sexual exchanges in swingers clubs, traveling the dark paths of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris in the company of transvestites and prostitutes, undergoing a complicated process of egg donation, and participating in a ritual of ayahuasca ingestion in the Amazon jungle—all while taking us on inward journeys that explore immigration, maternity, fear of death, ugliness, and threesomes. Fortunately, our eagle-eyed voyeur emerges from her narrative forays unscathed and ready to take on the kinks, obsessions, and messiness of our lives.  Sexographies  is an eye-opening, kamikaze journey across the contours of the human body and mind.”

The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative  by Florence Williams

“From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.”

Can You Tolerate This?: Essays  by Ashleigh Young

“ Can You Tolerate This?  presents a vivid self-portrait of an introspective yet widely curious young woman, the colorful, isolated community in which she comes of age, and the uneasy tensions—between safety and risk, love and solitude, the catharsis of grief and the ecstasy of creation—that define our lives.”

What are your favorite contemporary essay collections?

essay about the modern life

You Might Also Like

10 of the Best Historical Fiction Books About Books

Black History Month: Select Books 30% Off

The Writer of Modern Life

The Writer of Modern Life

Essays on Charles Baudelaire

Walter Benjamin

Edited by Michael W. Jennings Translated by Howard Eiland, Edmund Jephcott, Rodney Livingstone, and Harry Zohn

Harvard University Press books are not shipped directly to India due to regional distribution arrangements. Buy from your local bookstore, Amazon.co.in, or Flipkart.com.

This book is not shipped directly to country due to regional distribution arrangements.

Pre-order for this book isn't available yet on our website.

This book is currently out of stock.

Edit shipping location

Dropdown items

  • Barnes and Noble
  • Bookshop.org
  • Waterstones

ISBN 9780674022874

Publication date: 11/15/2006

Request exam copy

Walter Benjamin's essays on the great French lyric poet Charles Baudelaire revolutionized not just the way we think about Baudelaire, but our understanding of modernity and modernism as well. In these essays, Benjamin challenges the image of Baudelaire as late-Romantic dreamer, and evokes instead the modern poet caught in a life-or-death struggle with the forces of the urban commodity capitalism that had emerged in Paris around 1850. The Baudelaire who steps forth from these pages is the flâneur who affixes images as he strolls through mercantile Paris, the ragpicker who collects urban detritus only to turn it into poetry, the modern hero willing to be marked by modern life in its contradictions and paradoxes. He is in every instance the modern artist forced to commodify his literary production: "Baudelaire knew how it stood with the poet: as a flâneur he went to the market; to look it over, as he thought, but in reality to find a buyer." Benjamin reveals Baudelaire as a social poet of the very first rank.

The introduction to this volume presents each of Benjamin's essays on Baudelaire in chronological order. The introduction, intended for an undergraduate audience, aims to articulate and analyze the major motifs and problems in these essays, and to reveal the relationship between the essays and Benjamin's other central statements on literature, its criticism, and its relation to the society that produces it.

In these essays, written in the 1930s, German critic Benjamin masterfully succeeds in changing our perception of French poet Charles Baudelaire as a late Romantic dreamer. Instead, he shows Baudelaire to be a thoroughly modern writer involved in a life-and-death struggle with that urban commodity, capitalism, which had begun to emerge in Paris in the 1850s. Benjamin portrays Baudelaire as a flaneur--a stroller who roamed the lonely Paris streets lost in the faceless crowd--as well as a lone modern hero searching for a means of selling his poetry. In the urban crowds, all traces of individuality are erased, and Baudelaire's famed "spleen" is actually disgust at that defining aspect of the modern condition. Indeed, in "The Painter of Modern Life," an essay Baudelaire wrote in 1863, he makes several acute observations about his sense of alienation that definitely establish him as a modern writer. Stimulating reading. —Bob T. Ivey, Library Journal
Brilliant essays. —Richard Wolin, The Nation
It's depressing to be a critic within a hundred years of Benjamin: he got there first on so many things. The poet Charles Baudelaire died twenty-five years before Benjamin was born, in 1892, but Benjamin writes about him as if they were there together in nineteen-twenties Berlin, making a ruckus. For Benjamin, Baudelaire represented 'the modern.' That doesn't mean that he claims Baudelaire wrote 'about' modernity but that his poetry embodies it. For example, Benjamin notes the influence on Baudelaire of new technologies such as photography, and writes that 'Baudelaire was his own impresario,' an artist who knew that his poems were commodities even before they were done. —Sasha Frere-Jones, New Yorker
Now comes The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire , edited by Princeton University professor Michael Jennings, and based on the writings of Walter Benjamin, a long dead German genius. Benjamin dissects the author of Les Fleurs du Mal ( The Flowers of Evil ) with a Marxist scalpel, among other unusual literary procedures. Why is all this happening? Maybe because in a unique way we fearful and confused souls recognize that Baudelaire's mordant and yet often exquisitely beautiful poetry and screwed-up life are a kind of mirror noir of our own teetering times. The same violent deaths, political treacheries, religious confrontations--and yet brief Roman candle bursts of loveliness are there. —Leslie H. Whitten Jr., Washington Times
This is an excellent collection of essays by one of the greatest critics of the first half of the 20th century about one of the greatest poets of the 19th century. In presenting Baudelaire in these landmark studies, Benjamin situates the first truly modern poet against the backdrop of the first truly modern city. From wide brushstrokes about the figure of the flaneur to close readings of specific poems, Benjamin's acumen makes clear that he was that rare breed of critic who could deftly weave the macro and the micro in seamless discussions. —S. Whidden, Choice
This is an excellent collection of essays by one of the greatest critics of the first half of the 20th century about one of the greatest poets of the 19th century. In presenting Baudelaire in these landmark studies, Benjamin situates the first truly modern poet against the backdrop of the first truly modern city. From wide brushstrokes about the figure of the flaneur to close readings of specific poems, Benjamin's acumen makes clear that he was that rare breed of critic who could deftly weave the macro and the micro in seamless discussions...Jennings' supporting critical apparatus, complete with useful notes at every turn, frames these important texts in a way that reveals not only Benjamin and Baudelaire but also the intersections of modernity, poetry, history, urbanism, and many other fields. —S. Whidden, Choice
Benjamin planned to write a book on Baudelaire, but it never materialized. With the exception of 'On Some Motifs in Baudelaire,' which appeared in a journal edited by Max Horkheimer and Adorno in 1939, his Baudelaire essays were published posthumously. In the past thirty years, some of them have surfaced in English translations, but all of them have now been retranslated and brought together in a single volume entitled The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire , complete with a valuable introduction and notes by Michael W. Jennings. —Eric Bulson, Times Literary Supplement
Benjamin's work continues to fascinate and delight because it has something for everyone: the literary critic, art historian, philosopher, urban theorist and architect. Whether he is talking about children's toys, Mickey Mouse, Surrealism, photography, or Kafka, Benjamin has a knack for figuring out what they can tell us about the wider world that produced them. —Eric Bulson, Times Literary Supplement
  • Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) was the author of many works of literary and cultural analysis.
  • Michael W. Jennings is Class of 1900 Professor of Modern Languages at Princeton University.
  • Howard Eiland is an editor and translator of Benjamin’s writings.
  • Rodney Livingstone is Professor Emeritus in German Studies at the University of Southampton. He is well known as a translator of books by Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and Max Weber, among others.

Book Details

  • 0-7/8 x 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches
  • Belknap Press

From this author

Origin of the German Trauerspiel

Origin of the German Trauerspiel

One-Way Street

One-Way Street

Early Writings (1910–1917)

Early Writings (1910–1917)

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media

Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, 4: 1938–1940

Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, 4: 1938–1940

Recommendations.

Divagations

Divagations

André Gide

A New History of French Literature

Absent without Leave

Absent without Leave

Rimbaud’s theatre of the self.

       

Sorry, there was an error adding the item to your shopping bag.

Expired session

Sorry, your session has expired. Please refresh your browser's tab.

Main navigation

An item has been added to the cart

Added to shopping bag

  • Copy to clipboard

Set your location

It looks like you're in   . Would you like to update your location?

Unavailable

Harvard University Press titles are not shipped directly to India due to local distribution arrangements.

Unavailable in country .

Shopping Bag

Your shopping bag is currently empty. Add items to your shopping bag, to complete check out.

Essay on Life for Students and Children

500+ words essay on life.

First of all, Life refers to an aspect of existence. This aspect processes acts, evaluates, and evolves through growth. Life is what distinguishes humans from inorganic matter. Some individuals certainly enjoy free will in Life. Others like slaves and prisoners don’t have that privilege. However, Life isn’t just about living independently in society. It is certainly much more than that. Hence, quality of Life carries huge importance. Above all, the ultimate purpose should be to live a meaningful life. A meaningful life is one which allows us to connect with our deeper self.

essay on life

Why is Life Important?

One important aspect of Life is that it keeps going forward. This means nothing is permanent. Hence, there should be a reason to stay in dejection. A happy occasion will come to pass, just like a sad one. Above all, one must be optimistic no matter how bad things get. This is because nothing will stay forever. Every situation, occasion, and event shall pass. This is certainly a beauty of Life.

Many people become very sad because of failures . However, these people certainly fail to see the bright side. The bright side is that there is a reason for every failure. Therefore, every failure teaches us a valuable lesson. This means every failure builds experience. This experience is what improves the skills and efficiency of humans.

Probably a huge number of individuals complain that Life is a pain. Many people believe that the word pain is a synonym for Life. However, it is pain that makes us stronger. Pain is certainly an excellent way of increasing mental resilience. Above all, pain enriches the mind.

The uncertainty of death is what makes life so precious. No one knows the hour of one’s death. This probably is the most important reason to live life to the fullest. Staying in depression or being a workaholic is an utter wastage of Life. One must certainly enjoy the beautiful blessings of Life before death overtakes.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Improve Quality of Life?

Most noteworthy, optimism is the ultimate way of enriching life. Optimism increases job performance, self-confidence, creativity, and skills. An optimistic person certainly can overcome huge hurdles.

Meditation is another useful way of improving Life quality. Meditation probably allows a person to dwell upon his past. This way one can avoid past mistakes. It also gives peace of mind to an individual. Furthermore, meditation reduces stress and tension.

Pursuing a hobby is a perfect way to bring meaning to life. Without a passion or interest, an individual’s life would probably be dull. Following a hobby certainly brings new energy to life. It provides new hope to live and experience Life.

In conclusion, Life is not something that one should take for granted. It’s certainly a shame to see individuals waste away their lives. We should be very thankful for experiencing our lives. Above all, everyone should try to make their life more meaningful.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

tutor

  • Travelling Essay
  • Picnic Essay
  • Our Country Essay
  • My Parents Essay
  • Essay on Favourite Personality
  • Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
  • Essay on Knowledge is Power
  • Essay on Gurpurab
  • Essay on My Favourite Season
  • Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Google Play

Art History Unstuffed

Baudelaire and “The Painter of Modern Life”

by Jeanne Willette | Aug 27, 2010 | Modern , Modern Aesthetics , Modern Art , Modern Art Criticism , Modern Culture

THE PAINTER OF MODERN LIFE

Like many writers before and after him, Baudelaire wrote without specific commission, on “spec” as it were. This essay on Constantin Guys, an illustrator for the Illustrated London News , was actually written in 1860 and would not be published until 1863 in installment form in Figaro . The publication of the article coincided with the infamous Salon des Réfusés and the debut of Édouard Manet as an artist of scandal.  Suddenly, what had been a nebulous concern, about content and technique in art making, became urgent and topical. Manet had presented a courtesan as a modern “Venus,” a prostitute as a modern “Nude,” and had quoted Renaissance artists, Raphael and Titian to do so.  In addition, the painter had eschewed “good” drawing and approved “finish” for a causal and notational manner of transcribing.  The Painter of Modern Life made sense of what Manet had done to art—made painting “modern.” There is a real question as to whether or not the “painter” of whom Baudelaire wrote was less important than the essay itself.  While it is certainly true that any writer uses others as vehicles for his or her views, the selection of Constantin Guys was crucial to the main point of the essay.  Guys, who, according to Baudelaire, refused to be named in the essay, was an old soldier who had served in that most romantic of conflicts, the freedom of Greece. As widely traveled as the poet was provincial, Guys had spent years as a reporter and an war correspondence for the Illustrated London News during the Crimean War. The artist informed the English audience of the details of an unpopular war at a time where his pen was much quicker than the camera.  Born in 1802, Guys was far older than Baudelaire when he returned to live in Paris, and he lived much longer than the poet who suffered from syphilis and drug addiction. Guys died in a tragic traffic accident in 1892.

essay about the modern life

Baudelaire saw Guys as a bohemian hero, an outsider, the “observer, philosopher, flâneur” and as “the painter of the passing moment and of all the suggestions of eternity it contains.”   Like Baudelaire, he, a “man of the crowd,” was a journalist who was trained to watch and look carefully, especially at the details, or what the poet described as, “particular beauty, the beauty of circumstances and the sketch of manners.”   But Baudelaire drew a distinction between the dandy—Guys “has a horror of blasé people…” (like the dandy)—and the flâneur , or the “passionate spectator.”   Baudelaire made the point, over and over, that the flâneur was someone who is traveling “incognito” or, in other words, the flâneur fades into the crowd, unnoticed. “…the crowd is his element,” Baudelaire said, “…the lover of universal life enters into the crowd as though it were an immense reservoir of electric energy.”  “Monsieur Guys,” due to the necessary haste to record what he saw “drew like a barbarian, or a child,” producing “primitive scribbles,” was declared by Baudelaire to be “not precisely an artist, but rather a man of the world.”  “…the mainspring of his genius is curiosity. ”   The working methods of the artist were traditional in that he looked, he saw, he scribbled and then, using his memory, completed his thought later in a sketch-like record. Baudelaire stressed the “rights and privileges offered by circumstances…for almost all our originality comes from the seal which Time imprints on our sensations.”   Reaching back to Friedrich Schiller, perhaps, Baudelaire compares the artistic condition of Guys to be that of childhood, suggesting that the illustrator was an instinctive artist, from whom images simply flow, without hierarchy and without restraint.  Under the direction of no one, Guys simply sketched what he saw.  “But genius is nothing more not less than childhood recovered at will..,” Baudelaire stated.  So, it is implied, that only the “childlike artist,” who was Schiller’s “naïve artist,” is equipped to see and record the new world.  The salient quality of The Painter of Modern Life is what and whom Guys, the grown man, found interesting. “Modern Life,” for Baudelaire, appeared to be located among la bohème , which, in itself, was a creation of the modern world. First, there is the dandy. The dandy is one of Baudelaire’s heroes and makes many appearances in the urban scenes captured by Guys.  “Dandyism,” the poet said, “borders upon the spiritual and stoical…Dandyism is the last spark of heroism amid decadence…Dandyism is a sunset; like t he declining daystar, it is glorious, without heat and full of melancholy. But alas, the rising tide of democracy, which invades and levels everything, is daily overwhelming these last representatives of human pride and pouring floods of oblivion upon the footprints of these stupendous warriors…” This man has “an air of coldness…a latent fire…(which) chooses not to burst into flames,” he concluded, alluding to the resigned cynicism of an endangered species in the face of unstoppable changes.

essay about the modern life

The female, in contrast to the male, is described, not in terms of character or psychology, but as a spectacle: “She is a kind of idol, stupid perhaps, but dazzling and bewitching.” But far from dismissing the female, Baudelaire continues for pages, focusing on cosmetics and fashion.  For Modernism, fashion is the leading indicator or the “ephemeral, the fugitive, the contingent,” for nothing is more changeable than fashion.  Fashion stands for the new consumerism, showcased in the arcades, where commodities were protected in passages of iron and glass.  Positioned between the major avenues, the arcades were the domain of the flâneur , both male and female, and the precursors to the department stores.  Consumer capitalism needs to create desire to tempt the buyer to purchase, which meant the creation of products that, by their very nature, needed to be renewed.  Not food or another necessity, but an artificial desire for a non-necessity drove the economy.  The woman becomes the carrier of artificiality. Baudelaire, a city dweller, is no nature lover:  “I ask you to review an scrutinize whatever is natural—all the actions and desires of the purely natural man: you will find nothing but frightfulness.  Everything beautiful and noble is the result of reason and calculation. ”  And cosmetics. “Fashion should thus be considered as a symptom of the taste for the ideal which floats on the surface of all the crude, terrestrial and loathsome bric-à-brac that the natural life accumulates in the human brain: as a sublime subordination of Nature, or rather a permanent and repeated attempt at her redemption.”   There is a slippage in Baudelaire’s writings from “women” to “prostitutes,” as if, for the poet there is no divide. It is known that his only relationship was with a prostitute, but that kind of connection was not uncommon, in an age where marriage was often a financial alliance.  Baudelaire seemed to have no interest in the so-called respectable woman, who reflected her husband’s position and the values of the bourgeois society.  The prostitute is a free and liberated woman, from the poet’s perspective and thus wears modernity as cosmetics and fashion, proclaiming the artificial.  Indeed, the poet compares the application of make up to the creation of a work of art: “Maquillage has no need to hide itself or to shrink from being suspected.  On the contrary, let it display itself, at least if it does so with frankness and honesty.”

essay about the modern life

The very position of Guys, as an illustrator, put him outside the citadel of the Academy and its rules and regulations. As a journalist, the artist was placed, by academic standards, outside the beaux-arts. He was a “minor” artist at best. Thus, this “minor” artist was also free of the strictures of academic training and of the laws of Salon exhibitions. Guys drew, sketched and painted as he pleased, and, as the ultimate realist, sought to capture the passing parade that was Paris during the Second Empire. Baudelaire, then, selected an unknown outsider as his candidate for the observer of modernité, indicating that, in his opinion, an artist, “trained” in the beaux-arts, would be incapable of thinking or seeing in the way that this former reporter did. In Baudelaire and Photography: Finding the Painter of Modern Life ,  Timothy Raser noted, “Guys is a singularly appropriate choice for the painter of modern life, for in add-on to being unknown, he is also a reporter of news: he seeks out what is novel, unknown, unfamiliar, and reproduces it with a view to communicating his perception in the shortest time possible: his drawings are done quickly; they are expedited by the fastest means possible to the offices of the Illustrated London News, where they are translated into engravings, published, and sold. The process is one that produces tremendous waste: of the hundreds of drawings done by Guys only a few are printed, aah those that are printed are of value only as long as they are new.” The traditional artist, showing in the Salons, saw “art” as eternal and painted or sculpted accordingly. When introducing the life in his hometown of Organs, Courbet’s work had a stillness to it, as if country life had always been thus and would always be frozen in his work. But between them, Guys and Baudelaire turned the notion of “realism” on its head, removing “realism” from objectivity or empiricism or from positivism and remaking it as something related to the temporal. Realism became modern, existing in the now, and thus, escaped a particular mode of representation and became instead not a matter of how the work was painted or what was painted but when it was painted. Baudelaire who mediated on “beauty” for years, through his poetry and prose, began to draw distinctions between sternal beauty and a new modern beauty, which had to be relative to its other, which was necessarily circumstantial. He referred to “the garb of an age” and linked it to “the mysterious element of beauty,” and then  Baudelaire stated,

By ‘modernity’ I mean the ephemeral, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art whose other half is the eternal and immutable…This transitory, fugitive element, whose metamorphoses are so rapid, must on no account be despised or dispensed with. By neglecting it, you cannot fail to tumble into the abyss of an abstract and indeterminate beauty, like that of the time the first woman before the fall of man..In short, the any ‘modernity’ to be worthy of one day takings place as ‘antiquity,’ it is necessary for the mysterious beauty which human life accidentally puts into it to be distilled from it.”

This is the founding definition of modernity, coined by a poet and evidenced by an illustrator of the “crowd,” who, as Baudelaire stated, “It is this task that Monsieur G. particularly addresses himself.” The poet suggested that “almost all or originality comes from the seal which Time imprints on our sensations.”

Gradually, as the essay draws to a conclusion, Guys, the “painter of modern life,” has become less important that the social conditions he observed and recorded. Modern life, fueled by commodities and their artificial manufacture of artificial desires, is defined by a new and bewildering urban environment, populated by new kinds of people, the demimonde . Nothing is real and everything changes and, above all, nothing is natural. Baudelaire understands that art is not a copy of nature.  Art is inherently and definitionally artificial, as artificial as fashion, as ephemeral as a fad. The role of the artist is not to re-imagine the “eternal” or the antique but to seize upon the passing fancy, that salient detail that captures the mood of the moment.  The Painter of Modern Life predicts the paintings of Manet, such as The Street Singer of the same year—-a grisette (low level prostitute), or street entertainer, strides past the flâneur .  She is eating cherries and glances briefly at the spectator and is caught in a brief instant of time, and quickly moves on, her wide skirts embellished in the latest fashionable embellishments.   The idea of the passive observer who merely records, the demand that that watcher react quickly to what the photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, would call “the decisive moment,” looks forward to the Impressionist artists who were much less cynical and sophisticated than the art writer. Baudelaire did not live long enough to see a group of painters embrace the sketch-like approach of “the painter of modern life,” but his essay became foundational in its description of modernity: all that is “transitory” and “fugitive.”   It has been a hundred and fifty years since The Painter of Modern Life was published and with the benefit of hindsight one can only marvel at how much our world resembles that of the poet.

See also “Baudelaire as Art Critic” and Baudelaire and Modernity”

If you have found this material useful, please give credit to

Dr. Jeanne S. M. Willette and  Art History Unstuffed .  Thank you.

[email protected]

Recent Posts

  • Art Deco and Women
  • Le Corbusier: Purism as the Ideal City
  • Le Corbusier: The Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau
  • The Soviet Pavilion 1925
  • Constructivism and the Avant-Garde

Money and Modern Life Essay

Introduction, sources of power in modern society, pierre bourdieu-sense of distinction, principles of stratification, research methodology, works cited.

Money is a scarce resource valued and accepted by members of society as a means of payment for goods and services. Money is characterized by its functions such as unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of values, medium of exchange and standard of deferred. Money is the major way of property acquisition in the society.

The society is differentiated in terms of ownership of capital. The owners of capital own the means of production while the less privileged exist at the mercy of the owners of capital. In all known societies, there is some form of inequality depicted by the manner in which scarce and valued resources are distributed. People have differences in terms of wealth, power, status and prestige. The rich and the powerful are at the top while the poor and helpless are at the bottom, the rest lie in-between.

Two forms of social stratification exist both of which are brought by ownership of capital (Solon 59). Horizontal is on the basis of social attributes such as race, gender, ethnicity and religion while vertical stratification is in terms of economic differences. Horizontal classification plays a big role in stratifying society because it is out of it that economic order of society is realized.

This paper exposes the existing differentiations in society. It applies the social stratification theory as postulated by various scholars to support the facts. Social stratification is important to socialists since it is universal that is, it exists in both capitalistic and communistic societies.

Max Weber’s Ideas on Economy and Society

Max Weber lived between 1864 and 1920; he discussed three forms of social stratification. Weber classified that an individual is simultaneously a member of three different orders in the society. The three orders are intertwined and do money and resources influence both. Enjoying the high status of one order enables an individual to acquire another. This is how the society is organized as far as monetary economy is concerned. The three orders are discussed below and how they influence the modern societal organization.

Economic Order (Social Class)

Weber used the term to discuss how goods and services are distributed. It is the way people appropriate property that is, who owns what, who owns property and who is a non-owner of property. There are those members of society today who own property through income earning, they posses professional skills. Others have nothing to offer but their cheap labor, which is readily available in the market. The main distinguishing factor is ownership and non-ownership of capital.

The owners of capital are positively privileged while the non-owners are negatively privileged. Those distinguished by skills are also positively privileged because of their rare skills. In the society today, there is an emerging social class called the petty-bourgeoisies who are mainly shopkeepers and retailers. They also influence the way goods and services are distributed though in minor extents.

Social Order (Status Groups)

Weber used the term status groups to describe how prestige, status and honor are distributed in the society. Money is the determining factor in allocating honor to individuals. People with massive resources occupy high statuses in the society. Status groups are people who belong to a group that share specific styles of life and enjoy certain kind of prestige.

According to personal experiences, there are some cultures in society with unique values. The values are developed and passed from one generation to another. For example, the entrepreneurial values among Indian community, they are investors in small-scale but successful businesses.

They dominate most of the East African retail markets. Social order is closely related to economic order because different economic classes tend to belong to different status groups. Status group is differs with economic social status (economic order) because it comprises of collective actions of groups that cannot be understood or defined in economic terms alone. People are proved having different cultures, tastes, family values and religions (Weber 85).

Legal Order (Political Parties)

Political parties are normally based on ideologies and are major identifying factor in society because human beings are power seekers. Power is sought through a political party in the modern society hence attainment of legal power is tied to democracy. It facilitates the maintenance and acquisition of status and class privileges.

People have to come together to seek power collectively through political parties. People hope that with attainment of power, they will be able to influence governmental decision-making in their favor. This allows them to make money and perpetuate others in the society. Some parties are associated with the poor while others belong to the rich; money is the determining factor in acquisition of power. Parties with enough resources always sail through in elections.

Parties may be formed along racial lines or even ethnic lines in some societies but the major distinguishing factor is that political parties are formed within groups, which associate in character. Political power is important in determining which social group dominates others in the society; they are closely associated with economic interests. Actually, they are mechanisms in which people can attain economic privileges (Lemert 20).

There are three bases of power in modern society since anarchy and aristocracy is no longer valid. The sources are traditional, charisma and legal/rational.

The traditional power is still exercised especially in Britain but in a more advanced way. Only one family produces leaders but the leaders undergo specific training that makes them good leaders. Charisma is found among leaders who have personal charm or magnetism.

These people easily induce others to follow them especially in times of revolutions. Legal power is acquired through legal processes meaning that members of society contest positions. All these are meant to control monetary flow in the society. Power hands individuals with chances of influencing the behavior of others including manufacturing and distribution of factor products (Hurst 45).

Bourdieu is a French sociologist who analyzed the society trying to understand the sense of distinction. Society has different social classes and each class is characterized by habitus (system of cultural practices). Classes have certain peculiar interests, which develop over a long period.

Classes are defined by the economic and cultural capital among its members. In each class, there are fractions, which oppose one another and compete for domination. Competition among classes is both intra and inter because of the varying choices that are influenced by experiences especially economic (Bourdieu 100).

Members of society have different set of preferences, which are influenced by social conditions of production. Tastes are influenced by cultural practices and economic history of a group. Those with money have different tastes and preferences. In the society today for instance, teachers have a taste of works of art because they are knowledgeable. They know that art is the symbol of status but because of their level of income, they cannot afford.

They look for cheap reprint of the original and elevate them to distinguished works of art. Teachers are trying to gain cultural capital by so doing but because they do not have the means of obtaining works of art in the market, some of them develop aesthetic ascetism that is, negative attitude. Teachers are against the existing economic arrangement in the society because it denies them comfortable life. The subjugated classes can only appropriate art symbolically through knowledge.

In the upper classes, there is tension between the new and the old bourgeoisie because the new tend to consume greatly as opposed to the old who are conservatives and careful in the way they spent their money. The new bourgeoisie can easily mingle with other members of society in unperturbed, and are more learned in the society.

After scrutinizing society thoroughly, it was found out that some things are constant/stable as far as money acquisition is concerned. Certain positions in society are functionally more important than others are. Different positions require different skills for their performance.

Importance of an individual is determined by his/her relative indispensability and replacement. Only limited number of people can move to the top classes in the society hence the elite restrict access to their positions particularly where they have the power to do so (Moore 245).

Those who can afford training and subsequent social training are usually children of parents who also occupy/occupied privileged positions in the society (Mulligan 69). The point in which he/she starts influences an individual’s movement in the social ladder.

The lower the level from which the person starts the greater the capability that an individual will moves. An individual’s social origins and family background have a considerate influence towards his/her social mobility. However, the person’s training and early experience have a strong influence on their chances of success economically.

The relevance of past carriers increases with an individual’s age, which also has some impacts on current job. Age influences first jobs and socio-cultural backgrounds since they decrease with old age. The age of an individual determines the carriers significance since older people have higher old carrier significance compared to present carrier significance that is highly significant to young people. Generally, low social origins can be an impediment to success. Poor education, large families, ethnicity and race worsen the situation.

The three articles on stratification that is, Weber’s ideas on society and economy, Bourdeiu’s sense of distinction and principles of stratification adhere to the scientific methodology. The research instruments used in collecting data are accurate and validated. The samples are representative since it was done randomly hence avoiding biases.

A research conducted in 2006 in Europe confirmed that the new bourgeoisie mingles freely with the low class as long as they do not interfere with their expensive lifestyles. The articles are therefore valid since they can be tested scientifically that it, it is possible to falsify. Whatever must be done is interpreting the ideas to suit modern life.

The world has changed greatly therefore some things no longer hold such as the rich restricting prestigious positions. Experts in the modern world cannot be barred from executing their duties since they are few. Those that cannot be replaced in the market are made to be shareholders in companies to reduce conflicts. What is so amusing is that money in the modern world controls all forms of activities. It is interesting to sociologists because findings can be applied in any dynamic society that is, economic differentiation exists in every society.

Money is the determining factor in the society, for all activities to be undertaken it must be present. Karl Max perceived it as the base in the society meaning the means of production instruments such as tools, raw materials and skills. Money must be present for all these to be acquired. The means of production are the most important compared to all other forms of societal activities. Life is dependent on production and distribution.

The work that people do in society determines their position. It positions them in relation to culture, ideas, politics, education system and religion. Stratification in society is brought about by money. The monetary economy is a capitalistic economy where the markets rearrange consumers. People go for goods that satisfy their needs in the most cost effective way. The market on the other hand favors the innovative traders, those who can offer the best value for money (Birdsall 26).

Birdsall, Graham. New Markets, New Opportunities? Economic and Social Mobility in a Changing World . Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2002.

Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1984.

Hurst, Charles. Social Inequality Forms, Causes and Consequences Sixth Edition , Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2007.

Lemert, Charles. Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings Third Edition . Colorado: Westview Press Boulder, 2004.

Moore, Williams. Some Principles of Stratification. American Sociological Review, 10.1 1945: 242–249.

Mulligan, Charles. Parental Priorities and Economic Inequality . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Solon, Gill. Cross-country differences in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility. Journal of Economic Perspectives 16.3 2002: 59–66.

Weber, Max .The distribution of power within the community: Classes, Stände, Parties,” Translated by Dagmar Waters, Tony Waters, Elisabeth Hahnke, Maren Lippke, Eva Ludwig-Glück, Daniel Mai, Nina Ritzi-Messner, Christina Veldhoen and Lucas Fassnacht, Journal of Classical Sociology , 2010.

  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 25). Money and Modern Life. https://ivypanda.com/essays/money-and-modern-life/

"Money and Modern Life." IvyPanda , 25 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/money-and-modern-life/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Money and Modern Life'. 25 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Money and Modern Life." November 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/money-and-modern-life/.

1. IvyPanda . "Money and Modern Life." November 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/money-and-modern-life/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Money and Modern Life." November 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/money-and-modern-life/.

  • The Peculiarity of Class Stratification
  • Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu on Societal Stratification
  • Marx vs. Weber on Capitalism
  • Theoretical Ideas of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim in “Practice Theory”
  • Stratification and Network Building
  • Marianne Weber’s Views on Marriage
  • Marx and Weber in Relation to History: Materialism and Existential Idealism
  • Marx and Weber and How their Views Differ on Religion
  • Vertical Stratification
  • Stratification: Social Class in American Society
  • Relationship Between Economic Woes and Having Children
  • Forecasting Tools as a ARIMA and Autocorrelation Models
  • Derived Demand: Productive Factor
  • Concept of the Free-market Economy in Free Trade
  • Analysis of the article “Real Estate Principle”

English Essay on “Modern Lifestyle” English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 CBSE Students and competitive Examination.

Modern Lifestyle

In olden days, life was natural, slow (less mechanical), difficult at times but healthy. Today, in modern times, life is fast paced (mechanical), comfortable, ready made, stressful and unhealthy.

Modern lifestyle slowly crept in with changing times-joint families have given way to nuclear families with migration to different cities in search of jobs and better life. Once there was a better job there were more comforts-with a touch of button any domestic work can be done. Environment at work places also changed with the arrival of computers and related technologies. Children reached school by buses, vans or cars and are having more choices now than ever, when compared to children of earlier generations. From children, to adults the ways of life has changed. Presently, we are leading a comfortable life with less physical activity-men and women are working hard, sometimes odd hours of work and find no time for exercise or outdoor activities. The work pressure at times is so high that it creates stress. In family where both parents are working there is less outdoor activity. Children find TV more enjoyable than outdoor games. Children going out to play to sweat it out are very rare sight. With growing competition, children are forced to attend many hobby classes, tuition which leaves very less time for play.’ Even, during the leisure time, they are glued to TV. Or play games on the internet for hours. Taking advantage of the situation arc companies who are attracting children with more variety of video games & parlours. So, ways of family entertainment has totally changed.

Another important aspect of modern life style is changes in food habits. In most the homes traditional simple food has given way to quick and fast food-which am high in calories. Children too are attracted to fried and oily food, now easily available at the nearest bakery or fast food outlets. Greater purchasing power of people is also the reason for the success of some of the fast food chains. Families frequently eat out resulting consumption of lot of soft drinks, fatty food and cm calories. Eating habits, such as eating while watching TV snacking in between meals and munching on when there is no work has all contributes to lifestyle diseases modem day. Babies, to children to adults put on weigh which has become a very common problem in the urban scenario.

Changing work condition, less physical activity. sedentary jobs, comfortable but stressful life and bad eating habits has exposed us to Nome dangerous health hazards like blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. These have become common lifestyle diseases and are a cause of worry allover the world. These conditions which were earlier seen in people pasts fifty years are seen in young people and, children. More people are ending up with heart problems and obese bodies. Easily available, preserved and chemically treated food has also contributed to health risks. There is also an increasing complain of eye problems, back ache problems (especially among women) and mental stress. Deaths due to heart attacks or heart ailments are on the rise in developing countries like. India.

The world health organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide. 24 million people will die of stroke by 2030. Overweight or obesity results is various other health problems like, breathing problems, increased cholesterol levels, imbalance in hormones and depression due to low self-esteem. A little caution, small changes in life style and care if taken, we can prevent these lifestyle diseases from increasing. Mindless eating, lazy ways and attitude should change.

Related Posts

essay about the modern life

Absolute-Study

Hindi Essay, English Essay, Punjabi Essay, Biography, General Knowledge, Ielts Essay, Social Issues Essay, Letter Writing in Hindi, English and Punjabi, Moral Stories in Hindi, English and Punjabi.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

essay about the modern life

  • Literature & Fiction
  • History & Criticism

Amazon prime logo

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

  • Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
  • Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
  • Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
  • A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
  • Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
  • Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: $24.41 $24.41 FREE delivery: Thursday, Feb 22 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon. Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Starbook Store

  • Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
  • Learn more about free returns.
  • Go to your orders and start the return
  • Select the return method

Buy used: $13.35

Other sellers on amazon.

Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Image Unavailable

The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire

  • To view this video download Flash Player

essay about the modern life

Follow the author

Walter Benjamin

The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire Paperback – November 15, 2006

Purchase options and add-ons.

  • Book Description
  • Editorial Reviews

Walter Benjamin's essays on the great French lyric poet Charles Baudelaire revolutionized not just the way we think about Baudelaire, but our understanding of modernity and modernism as well. In these essays, Benjamin challenges the image of Baudelaire as late-Romantic dreamer, and evokes instead the modern poet caught in a life-or-death struggle with the forces of the urban commodity capitalism that had emerged in Paris around 1850. The Baudelaire who steps forth from these pages is the flâneur who affixes images as he strolls through mercantile Paris, the ragpicker who collects urban detritus only to turn it into poetry, the modern hero willing to be marked by modern life in its contradictions and paradoxes. He is in every instance the modern artist forced to commodify his literary production: "Baudelaire knew how it stood with the poet: as a flâneur he went to the market; to look it over, as he thought, but in reality to find a buyer." Benjamin reveals Baudelaire as a social poet of the very first rank. The introduction to this volume presents each of Benjamin's essays on Baudelaire in chronological order. The introduction, intended for an undergraduate audience, aims to articulate and analyze the major motifs and problems in these essays, and to reveal the relationship between the essays and Benjamin's other central statements on literature, its criticism, and its relation to the society that produces it.

About the Author

  • Print length 320 pages
  • Language English
  • Publisher Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press
  • Publication date November 15, 2006
  • Dimensions 5.5 x 0.87 x 8.25 inches
  • ISBN-10 0674022874
  • ISBN-13 978-0674022874
  • See all details

The Amazon Book Review

Frequently bought together

The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays (Arts & Letters) by Baudelaire, Charles (August 24, 1995) Paperback

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press; n edition (November 15, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674022874
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674022874
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.87 x 8.25 inches
  • #241 in German Literary Criticism (Books)
  • #5,052 in Essays (Books)
  • #6,066 in Literary Criticism & Theory

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here .

About the author

essay about the modern life

Walter Benjamin

Walter Bendix Schonflies Benjamin (1892 -- 1940) was a German-Jewish Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator, and philosopher. He was at times associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of Bertolt Brecht and Jewish mysticism as presented by Gershom Scholem.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

  • Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

essay about the modern life

Top reviews from other countries

essay about the modern life

  • Amazon Newsletter
  • About Amazon
  • Accessibility
  • Sustainability
  • Press Center
  • Investor Relations
  • Amazon Devices
  • Amazon Science
  • Start Selling with Amazon
  • Sell apps on Amazon
  • Supply to Amazon
  • Protect & Build Your Brand
  • Become an Affiliate
  • Become a Delivery Driver
  • Start a Package Delivery Business
  • Advertise Your Products
  • Self-Publish with Us
  • Host an Amazon Hub
  • › See More Ways to Make Money
  • Amazon Visa
  • Amazon Store Card
  • Amazon Secured Card
  • Amazon Business Card
  • Shop with Points
  • Credit Card Marketplace
  • Reload Your Balance
  • Amazon Currency Converter
  • Your Account
  • Your Orders
  • Shipping Rates & Policies
  • Amazon Prime
  • Returns & Replacements
  • Manage Your Content and Devices
  • Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Notice
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices

Modern Life – Makes Us Healthy or Weak?

Essays , Technology Advantages and disadvantages of , essay on modern life , Modern Life - Makes Us Healthy or Weak? , modern life advantages and disadvantages 0

Last Updated on October 21, 2020

Modern Life – Makes Us Healthy or Weak? :

  • Modern Life is fanatic filled with fun and frolic
  • Our lifestyle has changed and we live in a modern world
  • Modern life makes us weaker in many ways
  • Science and Technology has advanced a lot
  • But, Modern Life does not lead to a healthy life

Modern Life – Makes Us Healthy or Weak? : (Short Essay)

What is modern life? In simple words, modern life has made everything fast – Fast communication, Fast production, Fast education, Fast food and so on. With our new ways of living, we have been seeing rapid changes around. Fast is good, but fast in everything is not going to help in living a healthy life.  We become healthy by eating natural foods, taking a walk to the nearby place, doing simple works ourselves and such other activities. But, modern life is slowing reducing all these things which definitely is not a good sign for us. By only accepting simple and good activities that lead a healthy life, we can lead a happy life.

Modern Life – Makes Us Healthy or Weak? : (Brief Essay)

The topic does not in to become a good debate – but also is a question that needs to rise in the minds of each and every one of us.

Modern life is a way of living which has separated man from nature. The life span of man was more than hundred years in ancient period. It slowly came down and was 80 to 85 years few decades back. Now, it has reduced even to 70 to 75 years or lesser. This clearly indicates that the way of life we are following is not right.

The kids today sit under air conditioner during summer and have heater during winter. This makes their body less adaptable to climatic changes; hence they become very weak and less immune. The rapid changes in our world have left us only with falling health. Fast foods are easy to prepare, but are they good for health is a big question mark.

When it comes to entertainment, the whole meaning of the word has changed. There was a time when kids played in the ground and run all around. This, in a way, improved their health and in another way built relationships. Kids nowadays like racing cars, play stations, television programs and internet browsing.

Newly invented equipment, highly advanced technologies and big factories have led to unemployment problems in society, laziness among individuals, pollution in the environment and health hazards due to usage or consumption of products.

There are much more things that can be quoted; modern life has lots of disadvantages over advantages. Before we meet the consequences face to face, it is time to wake up and rectify my mistakes as much as possible. A healthy world is much important than a fast moving world.

Related Worksheets and Exercises

  • Future of Science and Technology in India
  • Digital India Campaign – Essay
  • Cashless Economy – Advantages and Disadvantages
  • Cash and Cashless Economy – An Overview
  • Cashless India
  • Why Advertisements should hold Social Responsibility?
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Machines
  • Newspaper – Advantages and Disadvantages
  • Electric Cars and Its Uses
  • Social Networking and Children

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Stress — Stress and Its Role in Our Life

test_template

Stress and Its Role in Our Life

  • Categories: Stress Stress Management Trauma

About this sample

close

Words: 2555 |

13 min read

Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 2555 | Pages: 6 | 13 min read

Works Cited

  • American Psychological Association. (2019). Stress effects on the body. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Coping with stress. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
  • Hansen, N. (2014). The impact of stress on the immune system. Immunology, 144(2), 147-156.
  • Knowlton, S. (n.d.). The positive effects of stress on the body. Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/104523-positive-effects-stress-body/
  • McLeod, S. (2010). Stress and the immune system. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-immune.html
  • Mills, N. (n.d.). Mental effects of stress. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/stress-effects-on-the-body-4124300
  • Segal, J. (2016). Understanding stress. HelpGuide. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-signs-and-causes.htm
  • Simon, H. (2016). How stress affects your body. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
  • Stages of chronic stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://extension.illinois.edu/stress/stages.cfm
  • Top ten causes of stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.stress.org/top-ten-causes-of-stress

Image of Alex Wood

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

  • 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
  • Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

author

Dr Jacklynne

Verified writer

  • Expert in: Nursing & Health

writer

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 1109 words

2 pages / 829 words

1 pages / 401 words

6 pages / 855 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Stress and Its Role in Our Life Essay

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Stress

American Heart Association. (2018, April 4). Stress and Heart Health. American Heart Association. https://www.sleepeducation.org/sleep-topics/stress-and-sleep

Entering college is a significant milestone in one's life, marked by excitement, anticipation, and the promise of new beginnings. However, for many students, including myself, it can also be a time of heightened anxiety. In this [...]

Stress is an unavoidable part of life that can have significant effects on physical and mental health. When faced with a stressor, the body initiates a physiological response aimed at helping us confront or avoid the threat. [...]

In the realm of education, academic stress has emerged as a pervasive concern, casting a shadow on the lives of students worldwide. This essay delves into the multifaceted aspects of academic stress, shedding light on its [...]

Child rearing is incredibly stressful. Adding school to a mother’s busy life increases stress levels immensely. So, why add school to an already stressful life? Moms want what is best for their children, thus maybe they return [...]

At some point in our lives, most of us have found ourselves in situations where we feel like we are under too much pressure mentally. This kind of stress may come from literally any aspect of life, but it is mostly attributed to [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

  • Instructions Followed To The Letter
  • Deadlines Met At Every Stage
  • Unique And Plagiarism Free

essay about the modern life

IMAGES

  1. The Role of Communication in the Modern Life (500 Words)

    essay about the modern life

  2. Fascinating Philosophy In Life Sample Essay ~ Thatsnotus

    essay about the modern life

  3. Modern Essays Paperback (English): Buy Modern Essays Paperback (English

    essay about the modern life

  4. Modern Technology Makes Life More Convenient Free Essay Example

    essay about the modern life

  5. Scholarship essay: Short essay about life

    essay about the modern life

  6. Modern Education Essay Writinghtml

    essay about the modern life

VIDEO

  1. Essay Writing on Tribal Empowerment

  2. how you define life.????

  3. My life is an example of this

  4. One Of The Hardest Part Of Life Is.... #shorts #psychologyfacts

  5. Very satisfying and relaxing ASMR slicing game #gameon #asmr #gaminglife #gaming #viral

  6. Essay on visit to a modern Village // A visit to a modern Village #village #modernvillage

COMMENTS

  1. Modern Lifestyle Essay

    The modern lifestyle has a number of advantages which includes easing peoples life, saving hundreds of peoples lives by the new development of medicine and vaccines. On the other hand different modern life style patterns have negative effects on health physically, psychologically, and socially.

  2. Modern Life Changes the Brain. Here's How to Change It Back

    The PFC is the only part of the brain that actually like a muscle with overuse. As with muscles, rest is essential. 2. Disconnect. We need to engage with the world in ways other than just our PFCs ...

  3. Modern Life Essay Examples

    31 samples on this topic Our essay writing service presents to you an open-access directory of free Modern Life essay samples. We'd like to emphasize that the showcased papers were crafted by proficient writers with proper academic backgrounds and cover most various Modern Life essay topics.

  4. Life Is Better Today than in the Past

    Although people were comfortable with their lifestyles fifty years ago, possibly it is because they had no knowhow any of the modern developments could have made their work better. This argumentative essay, "Life Is Better Today than in the Past Essay" is published exclusively on IvyPanda's free essay examples database.

  5. 50 Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

    "In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's ...

  6. Modern Life Essays: Examples, Topics, & Outlines

    Modern Life Essays Modern Life Essays (Examples) 1000+ documents containing "modern life" . Sort By: Most Relevant Keyword (s) Reset Filters Painter of Modern Life Charles Baudelaire Argues PAGES 2 WORDS 662

  7. How modern life affects our physical and mental health

    Modern life may increase the risk of some physical and mental health problems, but striking a balance between online and real-world social relationships, going forward, may help to keep our mental ...

  8. The Writer of Modern Life

    ISBN 9780674022874 Publication date: 11/15/2006 Request exam copy Walter Benjamin's essays on the great French lyric poet Charles Baudelaire revolutionized not just the way we think about Baudelaire, but our understanding of modernity and modernism as well.

  9. Old Life Style and Modern Life Style Differences Essay

    Old Life Style and Modern Life Style Differences Essay Exclusively available on IvyPanda Updated: Oct 30th, 2023 Despite the numerous differences between the old lifestyle and the modern lifestyle, there are certain similarities as well. But those similarities haven't had any effect on our lives.

  10. Challenges Of Modern Life

    Modern life poses several challenges that were not present in the past. One of the most significant challenges is the fast pace of life, which can lead to stress and burnout. Technology and social media have made it easier to stay connected, but have also created a need for constant attention and information overload.

  11. Essay on Life for Students and Children

    500+ Words Essay on Life. First of all, Life refers to an aspect of existence. This aspect processes acts, evaluates, and evolves through growth. Life is what distinguishes humans from inorganic matter. Some individuals certainly enjoy free will in Life.

  12. 5 reasons why modern life causes us stress (and what to do about it)

    5 reasons why modern life causes us stress (and what to do about it) By Joyce Chong (updated July 2023) Ever feel like your head is swimming with everything that you're juggling? Let's take a snapshot of a typical day in your life from the moment you wake to the time close your eyes at night.

  13. The Painter of Modern Life

    "The Painter of Modern Life" ( French: "Le Peintre de la vie moderne") is an essay written by French poet, essayist, and art critic Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867).

  14. Baudelaire and "The Painter of Modern Life"

    "Modern Life," for Baudelaire, appeared to be located among la bohème, which, in itself, was a creation of the modern world. First, there is the dandy. The dandy is one of Baudelaire's heroes and makes many appearances in the urban scenes captured by Guys.

  15. The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays (Arts & Letters

    In THE PAINTER OF MODERN LIFE, Charles Baudelaire sets out his theories on current aesthetics in essay format, some dozen of them, ranging from considerations of beauty and fashion to modernity to cosmetics. Baudelaire focuses on one painter in particular, a little-known painter/draftsman, named Constantin Guys.

  16. Essay On Modern Life

    Essay On Modern Life - 1375 Words | Internet Public Library Essay On Modern Life Essay On Modern Life 1375 Words6 Pages All those people who have knowledge about the ancient history will definitely agree that the life of the earlier people was no doubt more lively and serene.

  17. Money and Modern Life

    Updated: Nov 25th, 2023 Table of Contents Introduction Money is a scarce resource valued and accepted by members of society as a means of payment for goods and services. Money is characterized by its functions such as unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of values, medium of exchange and standard of deferred.

  18. English Essay on "Modern Lifestyle" English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for

    Today, in modern times, life is fast paced (mechanical), comfortable, ready made, stressful and unhealthy. Modern lifestyle slowly crept in with changing times-joint families have given way to nuclear families with migration to different cities in search of jobs and better life.

  19. PDF Charles Baudelaire, "The Painter of Modern Life" (1863) III. An Artist

    Charles Baudelaire, "The Painter of Modern Life" (1863) III. An Artist, Man Of The World, Man Of Crowds, And Child Today I want to talk to my readers about a singular man, whose originality is so powerful and clear-cut that it is self-sufficing, and does not bother to look for approval.

  20. The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire

    Amazon.com: The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire: 9780674022874: Benjamin, Walter, Jennings, Michael W., Eiland, Howard, Jephcott, Edmund, Livingstone, Rodney, Zohn, Harry: Books Books › Literature & Fiction › History & Criticism Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime

  21. Modern Life

    : Modern Life is fanatic filled with fun and frolic Our lifestyle has changed and we live in a modern world Modern life makes us weaker in many ways Science and Technology has advanced a lot But, Modern Life does not lead to a healthy life Modern Life - Makes Us Healthy or Weak? : (Short Essay) What is modern life?

  22. Technology in Modern Life Persuasive Essay

    Category:, , Last Updated: Pages: Download Technology has played an important role in the modern workplace. Gone are the days of using paper and pencil to keep track of revenue, cash received, and other vital business statistics.

  23. Stress and Its Role in Our Life: [Essay Example], 2555 words

    The essay "Stress and Its Role in Our Life" is a useful introduction to the topic, but it could benefit from some improvements. The writer tends to repeat information in different ways, which can make the essay feel less concise than it could be. For example, in the introduction, the writer states that "Stress is a natural reaction of the body ...