This essay examines the portrayal of present-day loneliness in the novels Eileen (2015) and My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) by contemporary author Ottessa Moshfegh. The main point of departure for this examination has been through a literary sociological standpoint which claims the inevitable effects of the current time and place through which a work is being produced in, therefore, enabling an examination of modern-day loneliness even though the stories take place in an imagined past. Through a thematic close reading of the two books I have analyzed the way in which loneliness is being portrayed.  

Furthermore, this essay employs current studies of loneliness by professor Noreena Hertz which she explores in her book The Lonely Century (2020). In her studies, Hertz presents a nuanced inspection to the cause and effects of loneliness in current time. This examination mainly focuses on three categories presented by Hertz: political alterations, ongoing urbanization and technological advancement – all which, according to Hertz, are significant factors to the cause of modern-day loneliness. 

Together, the books form a chronological timeline and with each other display developments of loneliness and its alterations. Through the literary sociological standpoint this examination demonstrates the way in which society provokes loneliness and how this is being portrayed in fiction.