Manifestation of a person’s selflessness: how it manifests itself, definition, examples
Sometimes there are situations when you need to sacrifice your interests for the sake of other people. If a person is able to do this, he is called selfless. In general, this is a positive character trait that makes it possible for a group to exist in crisis situations. This term is often confused with courage, but this is wrong. A brave person is simply able to resist the feeling of fear.
Selfless is ready to lend a helping hand
A brave person would not want negative consequences. Selfless – willing to face inconvenience for the sake of another person and does so with joy.
What is dedication
The definition is as follows: selflessness is the ability to step on the throat of one’s desires for the benefit of other people.
A typical example of this quality is when a warrior blows himself up near an enemy tank so that all other soldiers survive.
In everyday life, this quality is manifested when an older brother shares candy with a younger one, or someone sacrifices their own rest to fulfill someone else's request.
Photo of a selfless person in ancient times
A selfless person is one who was able to overcome his own selfishness. This is a manifestation of personal maturity, but only on condition that this quality does not go beyond reasonable limits.
Important! How to become selfless? It is necessary to do good to people every day. After some time, there will be a situation when a person will sacrifice his interests for the sake of someone of his own free will. Goodness does not have to be large-scale; even small actions performed regularly can significantly improve relationships.
The meaning of the word "dedication"
If we take the term literally, it means a person who rejects himself. Of course, this is an extreme. Selflessness can be situationally beneficial, but harming yourself is also unwise.
Becoming selfless is necessary because its main opposite, selfishness, harms relationships. Psychologically mature people help each other, even if in the short term these actions are not very pleasant for the person providing the service.
What does selflessness look like?
The strangest phobias people have
What does “selflessness” mean? This quality is manifested in such traits as personal responsibility for the results of one's group, feelings of friendship and camaraderie. At the macro level, selflessness is manifested in heroism and patriotism in things that are significant for the country. An important condition for the formation of selflessness is the conviction that the goals are worthy of such sacrifices.
Note! Selflessness is one of the important psychological qualities for military personnel, firefighters, doctors, and police officers. They have to overcome fear and uncertainty. They are able to mobilize themselves even in the most difficult situations, even to the point of deciding to sacrifice their own lives in order to achieve a goal or save the lives of people.
Negative interpretation of the concept
Delusions of grandeur - what does it mean in people?
Selflessness can be a bad quality when it is excessive or when it is a manifestation of infantilism. This destructive form first appears in adolescence and can remain habitual until the end of life. A person is not ready to take responsibility and can endure any hardship just to avoid what he is afraid of.
Animals Can Show Selflessness
For example, when a woman is regularly beaten by her husband, and she does not want to get a divorce, this does not indicate her great love for him. She is simply afraid of being left alone or of depriving herself of the resources that the rapist provides her with. He considers himself right in any situation only on the basis that he feeds his family. There is no selflessness here, this is a manifestation of selfishness, albeit such a perverted one.
Also, selflessness can be imaginary, when a person thinks in this way: “today I will do this for you, and tomorrow you will do that for me.” Often this logic is not realized. If the other party refuses to help, the person becomes offended.
Overprotection of mothers is often considered selflessness. A woman sacrifices her health, youth, dreams and desires for the sake of children, who often do not even respond with gratitude.
She can give them money, pull them out of life’s difficulties, constantly cover them in difficult situations, considering this her responsibility.
In extreme cases, mothers help their children get drugs, causing harm to both themselves and them.
Women are very often selfless
The motives of such women may differ. This is the famous “glass of water” that a woman dreams of receiving in her old age as gratitude, and the desire to feel needed by someone, and the fear of losing children, and the fear of meeting herself. There is little real dedication here. If it is true, a person sacrifices himself simply because it pleases him to do good to someone.
The selflessness of radicals has a negative connotation. A typical example is suicide bombers. They believe that their death is necessary to achieve goals that they consider good. The same goes for nationalists.
Important! The main reason for infantile selflessness is codependency. This is a negative state in which one personality is completely absorbed by another. Most often this term is used when talking about relatives of alcoholics and drug addicts. But there are much more codependent people.
The emotions of such a person are completely dependent on the actions of the object of addiction. Therefore, for the well-being of others, the codependent is ready to sacrifice his own. In addition to dedication, this phenomenon is characterized by the following signs:
- Low self-esteem.
- Guilt. Even normally, if a person feels guilty, he tries to smooth out the experience by sacrificing himself. But when this state constantly accompanies a codependent person, she will show amazing selflessness, the root of which is neurotic.
- Anger that is not realized by the person himself. Internally, such a selfless person is angry that he has to sacrifice himself. Therefore, such self-sacrifice cannot be considered true. This is not an act of good will; a person feels obligated to do so. He doesn't feel joy in helping someone.
- Depressive moods.
- The predictor effect. Codependent people believe that they know what they need better than others. As a result, they do what others do not want, sacrificing themselves in the process.
Selflessness is cultivated gradually
Important! Codependency does not represent true selflessness. An example from life that confirms this thesis is a mother who deprives herself of something good so that her child can party all night long. Such actions will only be harmful. A reasonable parent would sacrifice their money for the sake of their child’s education at a foreign university.
In general, true selflessness does not exist at all. All people pursue their own interests, even unconscious ones.
Examples of selfless behavior of people
Fear of people and society - what is this phobia called and what is it
Examples of professions and activities that require dedication:
- Volunteer work. A person helps others absolutely free of charge because he wants to benefit society. Volunteer activities often begin to be paid for. Many world-class specialists started out as volunteers. Therefore, this activity is not always an example of selfless behavior. People can go help others for free to practice their skills.
- Rescuers. Every person can find himself in a life-threatening situation (for example, begins to drown). The rescuer helps him, risking his own life.
- Firefighters. They help pull people and animals out of the fire, also at risk.
- Military. They sacrifice their lives to protect the country. Moreover, they do not always receive due gratitude, which greatly depends on the political situation.
- Social workers are people who professionally help others overcome difficult life circumstances. Abroad, this is a well-paid profession, but in the CIS countries people go there only by vocation.
- Doctors and teachers. Also, in post-Soviet countries, people go into these industries not because the salary is good, but because they want to help people or raise children. This is selfless work.
People behave selflessly, actively expressing their opinions in order to direct people's consciousness in a positive direction. Moreover, they tell the truth, even if the majority does not like it. For example, if in a totalitarian society a person decides to publicly criticize the authorities with the real goal of making the country better, and is ready to go to prison or even die for this, then he is behaving selflessly.
Mothers also show devotion and selflessness. They are able to sacrifice anything for the good of their child. To distinguish such behavior from false readiness to sacrifice oneself, it is necessary to determine the purpose of such behavior. A mother may pay a lot of attention to her child because she is afraid to face her fears and desires. In this case, this is a private manifestation of selfishness.
When people are ready to go to the ends of the earth for their loved one, this may be an example of codependency, not selflessness. An example is Juliet, who decided to die when she saw Romeo. This is an example of a non-selfless person whose action only harmed both. She literally couldn't live without him. This is a symptom of addiction.
So what does “selfless” mean? This is a person who is able to sacrifice himself for the benefit of others, but to a reasonable extent and when there is really a need for it. If you had to write a school essay, you could express the composition of this term in one short word: altruism.
Source: https://srazu.pro/teoriya/samootverzhennost-lyudej.html
Selflessness – what is it? Meaning, synonyms and interpretation
Selflessness is a quality that delights and fascinates those who do not possess it. Today we’ll talk about the meaning of the word, its synonyms and examples.
Meaning
In principle, even without knowing the meaning, you can guess it. What is selflessness? This is the phenomenon when a person denies, if we assume a permissible tautology here, he denies himself. In other words, a selfless person is one who despises, sacrifices his own interests, his life for the sake of others, for the sake of the common good. The same definition is recorded in the explanatory dictionary.
Why does this selflessness admire people so much? Everything is very simple: few people are capable of giving their shirt to their neighbor, marrying someone for a shift, throwing themselves under a puck or ball, or dying for a great goal. The latter, which is naturally the least common.
Feats in sports can be attributed to passion, involvement in the game, and when it comes to life and death, that’s when true dedication comes onto the scene.
Filmmakers are well aware of the viewer's attitude towards courage, so if possible, the film should have a corresponding scene.
People also treat with great reverence reports about the courageous death of military personnel or police officers on duty, who sacrificed themselves for the sake of others: someone covered himself with a grenade for the sake of children, someone died in a battle with bandits, but did not allow casualties among the civilian population. Yes, and this is dedication, and it is not at all cinematic, but real, without embellishment. People put everything on the line and often lose. Admiration arises from one simple thought: “I couldn’t do that!”
Synonyms
However, let’s disperse the sadness with substitute words. We are already accustomed to the fact that if a word is unambiguous, then there are not many synonyms that would selflessly take its place. Anyway, here's the list:
- altruism;
- selflessness;
- valor;
- sacrifice;
- courage;
- chivalry;
- self-forgetfulness;
- dedication;
- courage.
Of course, we can say that we are not entirely honest, yet courage, valor and bravery are qualities that allow selflessness to emerge. The last statement is both true and false.
Because valor does not arise, as a rule, on the basis of selfish interests; we remember it only when a person has accomplished almost a feat.
Therefore, feel free to use the entire list when the need arises.
Is it possible to develop courage?
Interesting question. Of course, history knows such people as kamikazes, they managed to overcome the fear of death and ram enemy planes. True, as practice shows, not only the Japanese, but also Soviet pilots used the plane as their last cartridge.
And this historical fact proves: selflessness is a quality inherent in every person, provided that he was raised correctly by his parents, told and shown the correct moral values and guidelines. And besides, there are situations when life costs very little, and the hero himself can do something else.
But regardless of the motive, courageous behavior is admirable, because not everyone can even die a hero.
Tristan Ludlow as an example of true selflessness
As stated just above, directors and screenwriters love spectacular scenes. Here our interests coincide with them: to clearly remember new information, we need emotional involvement.
When choosing a film to illustrate, we chose “Legends of the Fall” (1994), where the main character, Tristan Ludlow, is an example of selflessness (there is no need to explain what such a personality quality means).
Tristan was always brave when he fought with a bear as a boy, when he watched and failed to save his younger brother from the claws of the First World War, and when he shielded his father from a bandit’s bullet.
Let the reader not be angry with us, we did not say a word about the plot, and those details that are mentioned here will only say something to those who have already seen the film.
Valor really cannot be developed artificially by setting oneself the goal of being brave, but it can be cultivated by focusing on correct, noble ideals.
Yes, parents have a decisive role in upbringing, but the films and books that a person absorbs throughout his life also play an important role in the development of personality.
The reader can finally wish only one thing - courage. Moreover, he is already aware of the meaning of the word “dedication” and its synonyms, which means the first step has been taken.
Source: https://FB.ru/article/334546/samootverjennost—eto-chto-takoe-znachenie-sinonimyi-i-tolkovanie
Dedication
Selflessness is a learned and consciously controlled behavior or instinctive personality quality that manifests itself at an effective level and involves a highly developed internal personal ability to control, ignore and sacrifice one's own needs with the sincere goal of ensuring the good of others. The extreme degree of manifestation of this feature is observed in militarized events, reaching the ability of a person to sacrifice life, violating the evolutionary laws of self-preservation, in order to save others or perform a task related to security. Accordingly, the need for dedication on a widespread scale arises in wartime, under exceptional, dangerous, extraordinary, extraordinary circumstances that require exceeding the duties assigned to a person by position.
When considering selflessness, examples from life usually rely on feats of sacrificing life for the most colorful description, but there are not so bright, although more common in everyday life, not so exaggerated manifestations.
In addition to behavior controlled by logical calculation, this quality is also found in less highly developed forms of the animal world, being an instinct laid down at the physiological level to preserve the integrity of the species.
Instinctive manifestations of self-sacrifice are inherent in bees in protecting their own hive (stinging, dying, but scaring away danger from others), in most animals in protecting their offspring (engage in a fight with a predator, giving away the last meal) - nature laid down this quality not to save an individual, but to preservation of genetic material and further reproduction of the species.
The meaning of the word dedication
The word selflessness implies the sacrifice of one's own interests, the rejection of one's desires and needs, and includes the presence of any high idea, ideals or strong feelings that serve as motivation for such an act.
It is generally accepted that this is a positive quality; when discussing selflessness, examples from literature present heroes who exhibit this trait as people of the highest degree of spiritual development, professing true moral values.
However, there is also a negative context for this quality, when one’s own personality is devalued and humiliated, or with the help of such behavior a person tries to rise above others, knowing a biased positive attitude towards self-sacrifice.
Sacrifice can be justified and senseless, dignified and manipulative.
Often people sacrifice their lives for the sake of others because they do not want to be responsible for their manifestations, losses and failures; such selflessness has nothing to do with the positive characteristics of the quality, but indicates the weakness and infantilism of the individual.
In addition to renunciation of building one’s own activity, sacrifice for the interests of others may be completely unappreciated by these people, and sometimes can be a suffocating concern (for example, a mother who cares intensely about her forty-year-old son and gets involved in all his affairs, does not allow him to live, nor her doesn't care about life).
The expected gratitude, admiration and other expected positive aspects remain unavailable, since the act itself was not sincere and appropriate, but was only a course of manipulation. In such relationships, selflessness ultimately takes on the character of sacrifice, resentful elevation over those who did not appreciate and a constant feeling of dissatisfaction.
We can talk about the positive manifestation of this quality, calling it selflessness, and not sacrifice, pleasing, spinelessness, in the context of sincere motives, the desire to do better for others without seeking one’s own benefit and expecting grateful reactions.
A focus of attention that focuses exclusively on others, without noticing one's own difficulties or needs, can lead to such an act.
It is important to understand that the actions performed are always beyond the scope of necessary execution, be they actions considered feats or those that no one will ever know about.
It is impossible for selflessness and selfishness to come into contact; a strong will and striving for high ideals are also necessary, constant overcoming oneself, and sometimes deep-rooted programs of the instinct of self-preservation for the sake of goals supported by conscience and high morality.
Most of all, this word is mentioned in the characteristics of the Soviet era and exploits in military battles; it was considered one of the main features contributing to the political and social development of a person.
The younger generation was raised on this concept and similar dedication was demanded from adults, but this concerned exclusively political, state and military topics.
If a person chose to sacrifice his own career or the interests of the state in order to preserve the life of his family, this was suppressed depending on the severity of the act, up to and including the death penalty. Such methods maintained the integrity and survival of socialist society, just as the survival of a species is maintained in nature.
Acts of selflessness are not always clear in their definition and depend on the party conducting the analysis. Also, they do not always bring a certain result.
Selflessness is regulated by the internal morality of the individual and cannot be influenced from the outside; it cannot be included in rules and norms, since it is beyond them.
And if compliance with any behavioral manifestations may be required by the charter or unspoken rules, then manifestations of selflessness cannot be demanded by any authority other than the conscience of a person and his inner spiritual core. This trait can be considered as an active manifestation of such intangible and theoretical concepts as humanism, morality, and courage.
Sometimes this property is impulsive and instantaneous, sometimes a person needs to make volitional efforts and show character, but the desire will be indicated by the lack of desire to achieve personal gain and the priority of the good of others.
Examples of dedication
Selflessness is based on feelings of sincere love, friendship, patriotism, and it is for the sake of such concepts that one’s own desires are relegated to the background.
When studying selflessness, the most varied and surprising examples from life can be cited, but it is worth considering that we can encounter its manifestations every day, observing it in maternal love, since neither our own pleasures, nor health, nor life will become a priority for the mother when her child is at risk. A woman’s selfless behavior is largely determined by instincts, survival programs and changes in hormonal balance, but in such manifestations there will be no falsehood or pretense, no desire to gain benefit or praise. In the first stages of life, all renunciations are truly pure and filled with a deep meaning of the baby’s happiness; we can talk about the mechanisms of avoidance and manipulation when the mother continues to sacrifice herself when the child has grown up or is not in any danger.
There are people who have chosen professions that require constant dedication: the first who come to mind are rescuers and firefighters, who, in the line of duty, risk their own lives and health to help those in trouble.
People with a low level of dedication, who believe that everyone who finds themselves in a difficult situation is to blame and must get out of it themselves, will not choose such specialties, which, by and large, should be classified not as professions, but as vocations.
Volunteers working in shelters and on the front lines, wasting their energy, time and exposing their psyche to various traumas, as well as putting their lives at risk, are examples of dedication.
Although motivation can also be different, because, despite the lack of direct monetary benefits, when volunteering, it is possible to increase the sense of self-importance, receive various benefits, avoid solving problems of personal life, or strive for fame by performing seemingly selfless help. Secondary benefits are everywhere, but whether a person notices them or acts on the basis of intrapersonal morality is an indicator of dedication.
Among the more striking examples conveyed in historical chronicles are heroic deeds during military operations, when people wrapped themselves in explosives, threw themselves under enemy tanks or blocked the possibility of shelling with their bodies, when they did not give up information in captivity and died under torture, or bit into an ampoule of poison. . Examples that end in sad death for one and the possibility of survival for many.
This quality in its crystalline manifestation is admired and widely used in art. When revealing selflessness, examples from literature most often use love themes, playing on the degree of renunciation.
This is usually perceived as proof of strong and unconditional love when the hero is able to leave his city, job or previous habits for the sake of his beloved.
In more dramatic films and books, it is possible to sacrifice one's own life to save another or devote one's life to religious or humanitarian causes after the death of a loved one, as a sign of memory, fidelity and love for him.
When you sacrifice sleep to feed someone, when you leave the most delicious morsel for your loved one, when you refuse a financial contract in order to be at a child’s party - these are all also examples of selflessness, not so heroic as in war and not as romantic as in books, but daily and underappreciated.
Author : Practical psychologist Vedmesh N.A.
Speaker of the Medical-Psychological
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Source: https://psihomed.com/samootverzhennost/
Definition of the concept
Self-sacrifice is the complete willingness to sacrifice one’s personal interests and feelings for the benefit of other people, without expecting anything in return . Only a strong person, who in this case is called a victim, can voluntarily give up his own pleasures and personal goals. There are a huge number of examples of self-sacrifice in literature. This is what makes the task of writing the final essay much easier. Self-sacrifice can be conscious or unconscious.
Heroism and sacrifice can be attributed to many areas of human activity and behavior. But you should clearly understand what true self-sacrifice is. After all, it can hardly be called heroism just because a soldier went to fight for his Motherland. Firstly, he is a soldier, and his duty is to defend his Fatherland. Secondly, he will not necessarily be the hero of this war. He may turn out to be a weak person and not distinguish himself in any way in combat.
For example, a girl who marries an elderly rich man cannot be called self-sacrifice. Essentially, it's just a deal. She exchanges her beautiful young body for material well-being. Another example: a young man who constantly crams his homework, exchanging difficult studies for the delights of carefree days. He also does not engage in self-sacrifice, but plans in advance his brilliant future in a promising profession. None of the synonyms for self-sacrifice can be included in these examples.
Synonyms for the word self-sacrifice include:
- heroism;
- sacrifice;
- courage;
- self-forgetfulness;
- self-denial.
Self-sacrifice can be noble, heroic, voluntary, great, similar.
Dedication. Who is a selfless person?
The personal quality of selflessness is manifested in the voluntary sacrifice of one’s own interests for the sake of the interests of other people, the achievement of ideals and common goals.
The desire to sacrifice oneself is an impulse of the nobility of the soul. It is based on kindness, love, empathy. Self-sacrifice is true love. Friendship is also selflessness. A friend who is ready to give up his interests is rare, for this reason there is little true love and friendship now. This trait is found along with honesty and openness.
What is dedication
To answer the question of what selflessness is, let us turn to the definition of the Internet encyclopedia. So, it is called a positive social and moral personal quality, which is manifested in the ability to subordinate one’s own interests and sacrifice them for the sake of others.
This human trait is based on the individual’s awareness of his own responsibilities, on feelings of friendship and love, patriotism, and faith in just goals. Self-interests are sacrificed in the name of this.
This property is the primary psychological and moral trait for the military. During war, selflessness is expressed in the military’s ability to overcome fear, in perseverance and faith in the correctness of his actions, and the willingness to consciously lay down his life to fulfill a common goal or save others.
Selflessness represents selfishness overcome. To sacrifice one's own interests, one must stand steadfastly on the side of conscience, selflessness and moral and ethical standards. Along with this, there are also types of this quality condemned by morality.
They are based on systematic coercion of oneself and violence against personal nature.
Fanatics, terrorists, sects - all this provokes gullible individuals to show immoral and destructive selflessness, which becomes the cause of harshness and violence.
The selflessness of fanatical individuals is an argument used to justify evil acts towards others. Such self-sacrifice is not based on love for humanity, but on the proud desire to become the savior of the world or a missionary.
But if voluntary compliance with morality and unselfishness are typical of any morally sound position, then self-sacrifice is required in special cases and in emergency circumstances, when the individual is required to exceed his own obligations that are imposed on a person in everyday life. In such a case, selflessness is closer in moral assessment to heroism. For this reason, it is not an indispensable rule of morality, which requires the individual to completely renounce personal interests for the sake of others.
In this regard, selflessness, although necessary to increase the moral value of actions, cannot be imposed on the individual and does not act as an absolute requirement and rule. This also comes from the fact that morality is a method of independently regulating behavior on the basis of a personal desire to act in emergency situations to the limit of one’s own capabilities.
In essence, selflessness is the other side of the consciousness of morality and duty, which requires, for the sake of dignity, actions that will not lead to gain.
They, on the contrary, are associated with overcoming threats and difficulties, with demonstrating courage and willpower for the sake of high values - the preservation of goodness and peace.
Because of this connection of selflessness and reluctance to achieve personal gain, its focus on humanistic goals, minimal demonstration of the desire to sacrifice oneself is enough to evaluate actions from a position of high morality.
Self denial
But let's ask a strange question: is sacrificing oneself considered a positive trait? What does this concept mean?
At first glance, it may seem that self-sacrifice is a demonstration of the highest humanistic qualities, a desire to sacrifice one’s own interests for the sake of others. Similar in meaning to this concept are “altruism” and “sacrifice”.
But at the same time, the meaning of this concept is the phrase “self-denial.” If we consider life to be an incredible gift, then how can we throw it away so easily? If a person does not value himself, is there a chance to give his love to others? And isn’t this trait considered one of the manifestations of masochistic egoism, the desire to put oneself above others?
It often happens that a person puts himself on the line in the name of the interests of others, even if no one asked him to do so.
Often such a sacrifice turns into a burden, but the one who has decided to give his own life to others stubbornly goes towards devaluing it.
If you think about it, such a rejection of one’s own destiny is nothing more than deprivation of the value of one’s own personality. But at the subconscious level, a person is sure that he is superior to others. He feels the joy of conscious devaluation.
In such a situation, self-sacrifice is not justified from a biological position and from a moral and ethical perspective. This is self-destruction. His encouragement will end in mental breakdown. Only respect for yourself and others will help improve the world.
Self-sacrifice for love
A person can do crazy and inexplicable things for the sake of love. Sacrifice of one's feelings for the sake of an ideal is a complex and controversial topic. Sometimes love can lead not only to despair, but even to death. There are many examples that can be given on this topic.
Actions for love:
- A. N. Ostrovsky, “Thunderstorm”. Before marriage, Katerina is happy; respect and love reign in her family. She believes that this should be the case in every family. But after getting married, she does not find those relationships. On the contrary, lies and cruelty are the motto in the new family. A woman's dreams are shattered. Not finding understanding and love from her husband, Katerina cheats on him. Thus, she sacrifices family ties for love relationships. But deception also haunts her. Conscience torments a woman. Another final act of self-sacrifice by Katerina is suicide.
- A. N. Ostrovsky, “Dowry”. Young beautiful Larisa is homeless. Her mother gives her last savings for her maintenance in the hope of finding her a worthy rich groom. Larisa herself loves the landowner Paratov, but she doesn’t even have one chance to walk down the aisle with him. The vain and poor Karandyshev proposes to her. After the end of the evening at Larisa’s house, Paratov invites the woman to escape with him on a boat. She agrees, although she knows that this act will be regarded as frivolity. On the ship she learns that Paratov is engaged and is marrying for money. An enraged Karandyshev kills Larisa after spending the night with Paratov.
- I. A. Goncharov, “Oblomov”. Over the course of many years, the main character has been building his personal life ideology. But, falling in love, he is forced to sacrifice her. Before the appearance of bright feelings, his usual daily lifestyle was no different. Day after day he lies on the couch and does nothing. His usual clothing is a robe, his favorite pastime is spending time in bed. But with the arrival of love, he changes into a suit and begins to go out into the world. And he likes it. Over time, his chosen one Olga realizes that she is unable to change Oblomov and leaves him. He, in turn, returns to his previous way of life. Oblomov’s argument is useful for writing: even such a person is capable of self-sacrifice, albeit for a short time.
In foreign literary art there are also excellent examples of sacrifice in the name of love. For example, Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. The girl sacrificed herself when she became the hands and eyes of her lover after he went blind.