Self-will is a wonderful word. And it is wonderful because in the topic about its meanings and synonyms, one can discuss the deeper issues of human existence: about fate, freedom and lack of freedom, because without them it is difficult to interpret the term “self-will”.
Value
We have a wonderful occasion, but the word is not very good in content. It was not we who invented it, it was the dictionary that told us. The concept of "willfulness" has two meanings:
- A characteristic feature of a person to do as passions, desires dictate him, even if it is contrary to the customs, laws and opinions of others. Perhaps the latter should be put in first place. The image of the Old Woman from “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish” A.S. Pushkin.
- The behavior that is dictated by this very trait. For example, the boss at work makes everyone sing in chorus, even those who have no hearing and voice.
Self-will is a desire that is born out of the power of desires. It is probably not bad to want something passionately, but the problem with a person blinded by desire is that he does not realize that there is both an external and an internal reality. In other words, on the one hand, there is an objective social and physical reality, and on the other hand, a person’s natural or developed abilities. For example, if an old woman from a fairy tale understood that when she got a trough, she was already lucky, then the final collapse would not have happened, and so ... Needless to say, many of us are destroyed by greed and the belief that the source of goods will be is always. This is probably why the Old Woman from Pushkin's fairy tale is an archetype.
Before proceeding to synonyms, one can completely give an answer to the question of what willfulness is, the definition will be as follows. Self-will is a person’s tendency to obey his passions and desires, to go against public opinion and common sense, sometimes even with a risk to his life.
Synonyms
As long as there are no substitute words for “self-will”, the meaning is not very clear. Do not worry, language analogues will not keep you waiting. Here they are:
- tyranny;
- arbitrariness;
- autocracy;
- stubbornness;
The dictionary leaves no hope for our hero. If you look only at synonyms for the word "willfulness", there can be no doubt - this phenomenon is definitely bad. The verdict is not subject to appeal. Fortunately, reality is more complex than definitions. We turn to the interpretation of the term.
Purposefulness and self-will
In reality, it is extremely difficult to distinguish a sensible volitional act from an unreasonable one. Imagine that people climb a mountain. One because he argued with friends, and the other to break the world record for high-speed climb. Society will praise the second, people will say: “Well done! Purposeful!" The first will receive only the rude word "tyrant" as a reward. Note that the action is the same. So, self-will is a question, first of all, of motivation and the absence or presence of a certain public sanction, that is, for the sake of sporting achievements you can climb a mountain, but just like that, on a whim - you can’t. But a man looks pretty pretty on top of a mountain, don’t you believe? Look at the photo. Why not conquer the summit for aesthetics? Society is against such a meaningless risk by itself.
Underground man F.M. Dostoevsky and the dispute about freedom and self-will
There is a well-known point of view that freedom is something so kind, bright, suggesting a border and a framework of the rational. Self-will is, on the contrary, something dark, terrible, seething, hailing from chaos. We get an unconsciously almost Nietzschean opposition of the apolonistic and dionistic principles.
And then suddenly an underground person appears with his famous truth: above all, a person puts an independent desire. So, even if they show him the right path and, moreover, he himself understands that it would be more reasonable to heed the advice, nevertheless, a person will reject all morality and ethical reasons for the sake of sweet willfulness. Whether Fedor Mikhailovich wanted it or not, he gave a certain canon of freedom in Russian. Our man thirsts for freedom without any shackles, the need for restrictions on autocracy is recognized only by a European. The interpretation of the word “self-will” cannot be simple; too much is connected with it in the fate of Russia.
Love breaks the barriers. "Romeo and Juliet"
The irrationality of man terrifies many, and love is its first representative. When people think of something so non-utilitarian, the madness of passion as an example immediately pops up associatively. Naturally, the meaning of the word “self-will” cannot do without love. Why go off the beaten track, take Shakespeare, one of his most famous tragedies - Romeo and Juliet. Of course, both teenagers repaired self-will. Yes, the lovers acted stupidly, but is not the enmity of the families, which indirectly took the boy and girl life, is not the same recklessness in itself? And only after so many deaths did the older generation realize how far the enmity had gone. Therefore, arbitrariness as much as you like can be considered a bad word, but sometimes the phenomenon itself breaks down the barriers and boundaries that it was high time to go to the archive.
“Braveheart” and another example of productive self-will
A remarkable film by Mel Gibson, released back in 1995, is a symbol of freedom, and the battle for Scottish independence, according to the motion picture, began with an act of disobedience, self-will of William Wallace. The hero did not want to share his wife with an English aristocrat. Although everyone obeyed, Wallace decided to rebel. Then the uprising was transformed from personal to public and eventually led to the independence of Scotland.
What does the example say? That the dictionary is not always right, and life is complex and diverse. Alone with this deep thought, we leave the reader. We fulfilled our task: we examined the meaning, synonyms for the word “self-will” and selected illustrations for it.