Human beings have always required the need to communicate their personal ideas and values. The expression of these values and ideas in turn becomes expressions of personal identity. Those who represent strong personal identity because of the often radical stance their personal beliefs hold have on more than one occasion proven to be some of the most powerful and successful in human history, these men and women expose strong personal identity because these individual characteristics often go against societal norms thus creating a distinguishable and powerful identity for that person. To show these traits unique traits humans have relied on the use of language. Each person uses his or her language as the vehicle in which identity is portrayed. Communication allows each person to express his or her personal identity as well as a means to understand the identity of another human being.

Personal identity has only recently become a truly important aspect of our culture. In years past individual identity was not highly valued; it was more important that each person followed the implemented societal standards, a strong societal identity was valued much more in the past. The standards of previous periods of history required certain behaviors and ideologies to be practiced by men and women. After individuals began to express identities that did not follow these standards popular culture shifted and the importance of the individual became more common. With the advent of the importance of personal freedoms identity was allowed the importance it holds today. In our current culture each human being possesses the right to create ways to separates him or her from the rest, which in turn becomes their personal identity.

Because of the societal constructs implemented throughout history those who need to express identity have found secretive ways in order to do so. Code has been implemented in literature through the author’s clever use of language, as a means to express authorial identity. The best example of this practice is through various female authors of 19th century British literature. Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf each provide examples of the progression of identity throughout the 19th century. These women used their work to express personal identity issues. These identity issues: gender roles, societal roles and sexuality each come across in the author’s character because at the time these issues were taboo and could not be freely discussed with author’s contemporaries. In order to express these identity traits authors manipulate their own language to convey personal feelings, thoughts and emotions (aspects of identity) which could not be expressed freely. These women authors use their language and encode it with identity issues behind their words, by doing so female authors protected themselves from personal scrutiny and allowed the characters in their works to receive the societal examination. These women encrypted their personal identities in the thoughts and actions of their characters, because it was the only way in which the author’s own identity, a departure from the norm, could be safely expressed.

Today, writers expressing their identity are able to do so without the societal constraints that were once implemented in the past. Personal identity has come be an important and valued aspect of current popular culture. With the rise of this value in identity has come the advent of identity expression in almost every aspect of present day life. Today we are inundated with the ability to express our personal identity. Social networking sites, blogs and countless other avenues of expression have made identity expression almost an arbitrary practice. Men and women from every corner of the globe are now able to express their identity regardless of what that identity and all that things it consists of, might be.
By understanding the various stages of language communication, identity value and how writers throughout history have dealt with each of these issues; present day readers can gain an understanding of the value identity today. Many do not understand the slow progression that has taken place over the years to bring identity expression the liberties which we, the current population, are granted today. This paper seeks to provide examples of how expression, value and definition of identity has formed and changed throughout history. By understanding how identity has shifted through the years, a better understanding of what truly constitutes as personal identity today can be formed.

T he need to express identity has made language an irreplaceable aspect of the human condition. In order to articulate identity, language is used in various aspects of life to portray identity characteristics. Today authors and writers have the freedom to express what makes up their identity because our society and culture allows individuals to do so. In the past written language was the highest form of expression, thus giving writers an immense amount of respect in their time. Writing was valued much more in the past because this was the only form of expression available; today there are several methods in which an individual can express his or her own identity.
In the past only those with the ability to use language in the written from were given the soapbox necessary to express their personal identity. Written language held a much greater significance in the past than it does today. The ability to read and write only recently became a seemingly inherent human ability. To show the progression of language as a means of identity expression we can look to 19th century Britain, a pivotal period in the use of written language for identity expression.

During this period of British history the working class and higher classes were at odds with one another, extreme differences in the quality of life were readily apparent and many sought change. The most predominate difference between the classes was the lack of education within the working class. Without proper education the working classes did not have the opportunities available to express their identity in written form, without this documentation, gaining understanding of this group of people is difficult.
The texts of this period were written by an educated upper class and would not portray the characteristics which those of the working class might share. Charles Dickens’ novel, “Great Expectations” gives an example of the working class perspective through the character of Pip a poor young boy in this 19th century Britain. One of the main reasons the book is and was so successful is because the perspective Dickens provides is one that is unlikely. Austen, Bronte and Woolf also provide an unlikely perspective in several of their works in the 19th century. These female authors owe much of their success to the unlikelihood of their narrators. The protagonists who each of these women use in their works are also women. Presenting a lead perspective of a story through female eyes was an anomaly during this time. Today anyone’s perspective and identity is welcome and at times unnecessarily made known, today many live considering identity expression a basic human right.

In 19th century British literature identity expression was certainly not the right of every citizen. This is clearly represented through the literature of Austen, Bronte and Woolf. By reading other 19th century literary perceives an overall cultural perspective can only be gained by reading the texts made by a member of an upper class. This solitary perspective which makes up much of the 19th century British literature produced works which only align with the identity characteristics that could be found within a certain socioeconomic group. The higher classes were the only British people educated enough to express their identity in a written format, thus leaving a very one –sided perspective of 19th century British culture behind. The texts created by this ruling class produced a way in which the ideologies and values of this group would become societal values. Without other means to challenge the identity recorded by the high classes, the values and ideologies documented would become the only sources of 19th century British values. Thankfully the end of the 19th century gave way to an established standard of education throughout England. As this standard of education came to pass documenting identity became easier and more accessible for all members of English society.
Language is also very important in the realm of identity expression because language on its most simple basis provides medium of expression. Human beings have always needed a way to express themselves so the advent of language produced a way in which humans could express every feeling and thought otherwise left unuttered. History has shown that without language, more specifically written language, no person would be able to express what it is that he or she feels, thinks or considers their own personal identity. Language is used to communicate personal identity by creating a system of understanding that many people may utilize to form a common mode of communication this creates the ability to express identity characteristics. Because identity needs to be expressed through language, this component of human natures has become crucial in understand other’s identity as well as projecting our own identity. Without a common means of expression, humans had been prevented from expressing their identity to others. Language creates, through both written and oral forms of communication, the method needed to organize expression. This organization of expression becomes a shared language or a systematic means of communication through sounds or symbols which in turn creates the ability to share their identity.

Expression of identity through language has continually been an aspect of the human condition. Human beings are the only species that have created a way to portray their identity, through language; written or otherwise, language is driving force behind the human ability to record and understand personal identity in human beings. Written language since its beginning has become one of the most important aspects in sharing culture. The written language gives human beings a means to share information with one another through a common form of expression. Unfortunately many periods during human history have not allowed complete cultural perspectives to be acknowledged. In various periods of human history certain groups were not encouraged to express themselves leaving an incomplete perspective of an era. Though many of the texts of the 19th century England did not produce many examples of those in the working class, it did give way to a first glimpse of women authors using their works to express identity issues among women during the 19th century in England.

Some women were fortunate enough during this period to have gained an education; these fortunate women were always comprised of members of the upper class whose fathers had been kind enough to grant them a proper education. Jane Austen, was one of the these fortunate women and she used her upper class, female 19th century perspective to give present day readers an idea of some of the societal constraints that were placed on women during this part of history. Austen uses characters in her now beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice to express issues which she herself had been feeling. In the novel Elizabeth, the heroine expresses anxiety toward issues of gender roles, socioeconomics and roles within society. These questions which Austen implements through Elizabeth were clearly means to express Austin own distaste with the same issues in her own life. Author Margaret Kirkham acknowledges the identity expression Austen portrays in her characters in Kirkham’s book, Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction. Kirkham rightly suggests that, “they no longer (except incidentally) miscast themselves, their difficulties arise from a miscasting imposed upon them by the society in which they live” Here Kirkham reiterates the notion that Austen’s characters were vehicles in which Austen expressed her own distaste with 19th century British culture.

In order to express her distaste with culture Austen chose her words carefully. Some of the most beautifully captured scenes in literature can be found in the pages of Pride an Prejudice. Austen has the ability to capture a scene of action with words that captivate and produce clear images in the mind of her readers. Austen does this because through the written word and her choice of phrase writers throughout history have created a means for human beings to understand, question and convey personal identity.

While language has given human beings the ability to share aspects of identity not all aspects of a person’s identity needs or is desired to be shared with others. Periods of human history have shown that revealing an identity which is so different than those of their peers can bring about danger for those sharing these identity traits. Virginia Woolf uses her work as a means to express her hidden anxieties. In Woolf’s late 19th century work, Mrs. Dalloway readers are presented with a character lost in her own identity confusion. Mrs. Dalloway or Clarissa is a middle aged woman looking back at her life over a day trying to make sense of the decisions she has made throughout her life. Much of Clarissa’s focus is on her various trials in love through out her forty odd years. While Clarissa is what she describes as happily married she has repressed her sexual desire for women to lead a normal 19th century existence. Anyone who has read about Woolf knows that much of her work portrayed her own lesbianism which she too repressed during the 19th century. Woolf uses Clarissa as a means to express this taboo identity characteristic which would have been scorn during this period of history.

Woolf used her language through the medium of a novel to express certain identity insecurities she herself held. Though Woolf’s message is plain to readers today, her work for some would have been too abstract and new to understand. The complexity which Woolf uses in her work acts a method of hiding these possibly taboo subject matters in her work. Only those with the tools to decode the message in her words will be able to understand her message. Woolf’s coded messages regarded her own lesbianism reflects human beings’ need to maintain secrecy.

Human beings express themselves through shared languages, secrecy can be difficult to maintain. When people can only use and understand one system of expression anyone may become privy to information if they are exposed to it. This weakness in language created mankind’s need for code. Code is the human fix for the transparency which language can create. Transparency would allow anyone to become privy to any identity characteristic portrayed through written language, so identity attributes become encoded within the author’s words. Code and language seem to share a bond in identity expression because is used to relay information. Unlike language, code is meant to be shared with only a few. This exclusivity in code provides a protection for information. Code is used to hide information so that only those who understand the rules of a certain code will understand the hidden message. Secrecy could not easily be maintained with Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre. This novel is much regarded as the ultimate governess novel, a popular genre of 19th century England. Jane Eyre’s pages are filled with Jane’s the protagonist, distaste for many of the other normal aspects in the period. Jane does not like the social standing which she was brought up; an orphan raised by a cruel aunt.

As Jane grows up the only solace she receives is through the various aspects of her education she receives in her low income girls school. Though Jane’s time in school is far from pleasant it is among those four walls in which she learned her greatest skill: the ability to read and write. Jane (like Bronte) was given the rare opportunity to create a means to express her distaste with 19th century British life. As Jane laments through the pages of Bronte’s novel readers are given clues as to personal distastes Bronte also felt. While it is no question that Bronte intended to have these messages encoded with in her words, she probably did not intend to create the stir which her books produced when they were first published. Critics did not enjoy Bronte revolutionary perspective she brought about through Jane Eyre. The character portrayed an identity vastly different than those who comprised of the so-called normal class. Critics during the period did not appreciate Bronte’s work because of the differing perspective she presented through Jane Eyre.

Each of these 19th century authors tried to gently project their personal ideologies through their works. Each of these women have done so by encoding their meanings in the written language. This type of coding has been utilized to protect identity characteristics from being used to condemn the author who shares these traits in their work. Because the authors of the 19th century portrayed personal characteristics which differed than those of the normal group they possess a mysterious, alluring power because of the enticing opposition their inherently possess. History has shown that any some people that have this type of identity (one differing for the norm) can find him or herself in a position of power. The strong identity which the characters of female authors during 19th century British literature have provided create power for those female authors because they were able to gain authority due to their extreme personal identity presented in their texts.

In today’s world it would seem that protecting information would be a thing of the past due to our current culture’s need for accessibility of information. People like to know everything about everything. Human beings are inherently curious so when someone portrays a identity which is different this can become a case of fascination. Through the steady progression of human advancement in communication, information can now be shared easily and quickly. This however, does not mean that society has moved away from the need for secrecy. Like the 19th century modern times have also seen identity expression frowned upon. While we are much more open to any and all identities today, there will always been some sort of opposition. One example of modern day opposition due to identity is 14 year old blogger, Tavi Gavinson. Tavi, a fashion blogger has made a huge impression on the fashion world for her smart, witty and forward thinking fashion blurbs. Tavi who is from a small Midwestern down does not fit in with her high school peers. Tavi’s blogs reveal a girl ahead of her times and much more mature than her sophomoric friends. In order to express her identity: a pastel dyed, pixie cut hair styled, vintage clothes wearing, self deprecating 14 going 35 year old, Tavi turns to the internet. Tavi’s blog which has thousands of views daily grants this precocious 14 year old the ability to express an identity that her small town could not afford her. Like the authors of the 19th century before her Tavi uses the persona or character she creates in her blog to express her identity while maintaining a quieter existence back in her Midwestern high school. Tavi as well as Austen, Bronte and Woolf use their written word and the characters they create through it to express the identity which their peers may not accept or understand.

Code seems likes a means of communication that would be only reserved for those who had life changing information to be kept hidden. Human history has proven that this is not the case; throughout history code has and is still used in ways that for many go unnoticed. This everyday code is the varying use of human language. During periods of history when men and women sought to express their personal identity they used coded language in literature to convey their personal identity (their thoughts, beliefs etc) the values which these authors portray in their literature are coded messages found within the metaphors and deeper meanings of a text. Because human beings have constantly needed to find a mean of expression literature in every period reflects this notion. Human beings have used literature to convey personal identity attributes which may not have been in vogue (taboo or even illegal) during their time. Language like code is a particular set of guidelines which results in the ability to communicate thusly making the written language code.
Code has become a necessary component in the expression of the human identity. Language and code work together to create a means for human beings to convey their personal identity. Throughout history the importance of human expression of identity is reflected in countless aspects of life. History has shown that communication of identity through the written language makes human beings uniquely superior to all other species inhabiting this planet. Human beings have fought for the freedom to express their personal identity by going against the common value system of an era and forging a new path, usually lead by someone who showed strong personal identity and a had a means to express and share it with others. The human being will always need a way to express their personal identity; the written word will always be the code which evolves with human beings so that we may always express personal identity.

Language and code are important to the human process because it is these vehicles which human beings are granted the ability to express personal identity. Personal identity has proven throughout history to be an extremely important component to the human makeup. Human expression has certainly proven to be a necessity in the human condition; as mankind has progressed the ability to express personal identity has become easier.
Throughout human existence what is considered normal or appropriate as changed often. Each society has a specific set of rules that a person should live by in order to be a typical and functioning member of society. Unfortunately there have been several instances in human history where the normal state of being or thinking has been detrimental to a certain group of people. Women have been in the past the unfortunate receivers of many unfair rules set by society during the time. The 19th century in British history reveals a time when women were not quite able to bridge the gap with their male counterparts. The female authors previous discussed were personally not given the same rights which most women are granted today. In this period of history the literature written by these women felt which showed their personal identity expression was frowned upon by those who made up part of the normal thinking members of society.

Since women were not encouraged to express their personal identity women authors found it very difficult to include these issues in their works. The popular genre for women’s authors in the 19th century was the novel; Austen, Bronte and Woolf used the novel to express their identity because it aligned with the cultural perceptions of women writers during this period. While the concepts the women wrote about in their novels were revolutionary the means in which they did were not. Today the novel is the most popular book genre consumed by the public but in the 19th century it was not held to the reverence which it can be held with today.

A contemporary form of narration, the film, shares many of the same characteristics as the novel; both have been used in history as means to express identity issues. Films, which are essentially visual books give directors, writers, actors etc the ability to express personal or culture identity traits through a narrative in a film. Recently James Cameron released his 3D worldwide phenomenon Avatar. The movie was much more visually stunning than intellectually substantive but it did pose some interesting questions. Cameron’s film which he wrote and directed provides an Imperialistic narrative from a futuristic American perspective. While Cameron’s film is fiction it seems that the director is implementing some of his own personal ideologies through his film. Like the female authors of the 19th century it seems that Cameron has taken is own form of narrative and he too has used it as a means to express personal frustrations with modern society, projecting these issues helps create an identity for both Cameron’s work and himself.

Blogs, Emails, Texts there are so many ways in which the modern person is attacked by the written word. In the past reading was something sacred, today just about anyone can read so our culture has begun to take for granted this norm which took many years to make more accessible to all. In the past and sometimes today the written word is used to express identity. Today since we are so used to surrounding ourselves in written language it no longer carries the same brevity in once had. While written language has the ability to express identity it has become arbitrary, meaning it is hard to distinguish true portrayal of identity and just the fluff any person regurgitates through the various mediums available to the public today.
It seems like there is little value today for the written word, our world information is so accessible to anyone that each person now has the ability to easily reiterate something that have seen before. This creates the problem in modern day expression of identity. In the past like the women authors of 19th century England the ideas they portrayed in their novels were revolutionary and ground breaking. Today information and ideas are passed around haphazardly and absently mindedly. This has created a perversion of human expression encoded in written language. Now it is difficult to distinguish the genuine portrayals and the mindless reproductions.

As technology progressed the written word is no longer written, instead keyboards have replaced pens and men and women today express their identity hiding behind a screen. The internet has given birth to identity theft, a new threat in the security to identity and knowledge. Identity theft can cripples anyone who falls victim to it because identity has become so much more complex today than in the past. Still, human beings use the written word to express their identity but today it doesn’t hold the power it once had. After human beings traded their writing utensils for computer keys the recorded expression of identity did not hold as much clout.

Before the influx of technology in our life the written word was an important means of expression. Handwriting was taught in school because it helped provide an identity attached to your ability to record your personal identity. Now students are no longer as focused on the need to have good penmanship. Children today are much more likely to use typing as the method of recording personal identity. The simple move from a handwriting oriented society to a typing oriented society certainly provides an example of a large shift in the recording of human identity. Before blogging men and women maintained diaries and journals kept in their own hand writing detailing the pieces of their lives which created personal identity. Now as identity records are kept in blogs rather than diaries it is hard to ignore the sad laziness of it all. The ability to express ourselves identity at the drop of the hat has made the human race lazy and complacent. Blogs have given everyone a soapbox to stand on, not necessarily a venue to explore identity. Internet platforms like blogs have almost given today’s society an entitled feeling to expressing their identity. This expression is no longer a way to explore a better way to do things. Now it has become the normal occurrence and at times trivial occurrence.

The human existence today revolves around the need to maintain or provide a a constant and better way of expressing identity. Today the freedom of identity has become apparent in the fact that just about anyone can gain notoriety if they produce an identity odd enough to gain attention by their peers. In this day and age communication between people is easier than it has ever been. Every day new technology is created which makes human expression easier. People are free to be whomever they choose and the internet has become the vehicle in which they express their identity. Though technology has made expressing oneself easier it has also cheapened the sentiment. Celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton is a perfect example of how the freely expressed identities of today can back fire in the most annoying fashion.

Perez has built his career in pointing out the ridiculous aspects of celebrity culture which the American public consumes happily. While Perez began his career built on an identity which criticized the silly American public he has profited outrageously from his exploits and in turn only worsen America’s obsession with celebrity culture. Perez uses profanities and writes them across images he posts on his blog. The images coupled with Perez’s cyber handwriting are meant to express his feelings toward the celebrity cultural aspects of greed and frivolity which he claims to be against. Perez uses his written word as a way to garner a connection with the public. Readers of Perez’s blog feel a closer connection with the celebrity obsessed, cry baby because of his low brow comments he scrawls over pictures of celebrities which normal people have been conditioned to despise. Because identity is readily expressed today our culture has several perspectives in which anyone can fulfill. Most of us who inhabit the earth will not be apart of the celebrity culture which Perez documents so it is easy to feel a kinship with the blogger when he points out the discrepancies between today’s culturally dominate class (celebrities) and the rest of us.

Though Perez his trying to convey is distaste in celebrity culture his words are lost among the images and what the blog reader is left with is celebrity culture with some unintelligible words scrawled underneath. Today expressing identity and culture dissatisfaction through words is not as easy as it had once been. This is why even though characters like Perez Hilton who seem so revolutionary and against the practiced norm do not seem completely genuine in their attempts to express their offbeat identity. In a day and age reliant on images bloggers like Perez Hilton who claim to use their words to express their varying perspective on popular culture are lost against the images of thin heiress crashing their Bentleys.
While everyone is given equal opportunity to express their identity encoding these themes is no longer greatly needed. Like in the past those with the most power still reach the greatest audience today. These people are not necessarily the most radical or forward thinking but celebrities, politicians and regular people who have gained notoriety for their uses of electronic, public means of expression have done so because of their distinguishable identity characteristics. In the past when authors expressed their identity through the characters in their works these expressions were so revolutionary because they were drastically different than the commonly held views of the period. These expressions of identity through characters in fictitious works provide a present day reader insight into perspectives of those who were not always properly represented in literature.

Human beings will always require the need to communicate their personal ideas and values. These expressions we have seen throughout various examples in both the past and present become expressions of personal identity. The various authors and writers throughout history who have represented strong personal identity in both themselves and their characters have shown that strong identity can create some of the most powerful and successful people in human history.

WE have not always been granted the same liberties which men and women are given today. Expressing personal identity has come a long way- in the past only those with the skills and in a position of power were able to express their identity. This was shown in Because of the societal constructs implemented throughout history those who need to express identity have found secretive ways in order to do so. Code through language has been implemented in various parts of history and literature as a means to express identity. The best example of this practice is through various female authors of 19th century British literature. Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf each provide examples of the progression of identity throughout the 19th century. Thanks to the forward thinking narratives created by these British authors present day society is given the opportunity to understand a group of people whose identities were being repressed. Without the ability to express these particular traits of their identity these women would not have been able to produce use the works which have given us alternate 19th century British perspectives.

Those who possess and display characteristics which go against societal norms can create a distinguishable and powerful identity for that person. To make these unique personal attributes known humans have relied on the use of language, each person uses his or her language as the vehicle in which identity is portrayed. Communication allows each person to express his or her personal identity as well as means to understand the identity of another human being. Written language has become the means in which identity can most accurately and genuinely depicted this has been and continues to be true today. Current day bloggers also use written language as a means to express identity but unfortunately the sentiment is no longer as powerful as it once was. Until internet identity can parallel real life identity bloggers will not seem genuine in their identities portrayed over the internet.

Personal identity has only recently become a truly important aspect of our culture. In years past individual identity was not as highly valued; it was more important that each person followed the implemented societal standards. This is no longer the case, each person today is granted the liberty of expressing their identity in any particular fashion which they see fit. Our current society is so fortunate to have those who came before us to carve the path necessary for free identity expression.

Additonal Sources:

1. Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction: Kirkham Margaret, Metheuen Inc, 1986
2. Mrs. Dalloway; Woolf, Virginia. Harcourt Inc, 1925
3. Victoriana: Histories, Fictions, Criticims; Kaplan, Cora. Columbia University Press 2007