Writing Practice on Schadenfreude for IELTS Writing Practice on Schadenfreude for IELTS Topic What is Schadenfreude? It seems to me that Schadenfreude is a horrible feeling that can ruin peoples' lives. What would be wrong if we set a goal for ourselves and tried hard to achieve our objective and enjoyed the journey without comparing ourselves with anybody else? I surmise that comparing yourself with others unwisely could culminate with envy which has connections with ...
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Writing Practice on Schadenfreude for IELTS
Updated: by Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl
Time to Read: 5 minutes | 209 Views | 4 Comments on Writing Practice on Schadenfreude for IELTS
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Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl
Dr. Mohammad Hossein Hariri Asl is an English and Persian instructor, educator, researcher, inventor, published author, blogger, SEO expert, website developer, entrepreneur, and the creator of LELB Society. He's got a PhD in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).
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I understand that schadenfreude is a negative feeling and it’s something that we must consciously avoid and prevent. But what about when we watch a movie and we feel schadenfreude toward the antagonist and we feel satisfied by their crucial ending? Is this also considered immoral? Or another example is when we in our lives come across a person who is mean and unjust to many people, and we wish that they will get what they deserve someday. Is this also what we must prevent?
Well, as far as I know, you might develop schadenfreude toward the protagonist in a film or book, and not toward the antagonist. This is simply because schadenfreude is a negative and self-destructive feeling of envy and jealousy toward someone who is successful, positive, decent.
And about the second part of your question, I don’t equate it with schadenfreude, either. That feeling is a type of aversion or antithesis.
This was an interesting topic with a thorough discussion. I wanted to add a point that I do not totally agree Schadenfreude is more common in children than adults. I think it is more seen in children because they are sincere about expressing their feelings. Whereas, many adults hide such feelings to come to the surface in their words and they control it. But if we zoom in their actions, we see similar feelings have played out as deep roots of some behaviors. Therefore, I think it is more difficult to dig this out in adults. Just imagine that as adults, we are more exposed to rivalory actions even if we have more abilities to conquer. Our social environment is more stressful and many of people fight and win their games through unacceptable mentalities like Schadenfreude.
Thank you Asi for your elaborate response on schadenfreude. I agree with you on schadenfreude being more noticeable in children as they are more artless compared to adults when it comes to showing their real emotions. However, it doesn’t mean that schadenfreude does not exist among adults.