paint oneself into a corner

Meaning: (idiomatic)To create apredicamentorproblemfor oneself; to do something thatleavesone with nogoodalternativesorsolutions.2001, Carolyn R. Russell, “Introduction”, inThe Films of Joel and Ethan Coen, Jefferson, N.C.:McFarland & Company,→ISBN,pages3–4:The Coens [Coen brothers] write their screenplays in a manner as unorthodox as the films that result from them.[…]Theypaint themselves into a corner, plotwise, then perform whatever literary gymnastics are necessary in order to paint themselves out.2007, Risa B. Sodi, “Giuliana Tedeschi: Wife, Mother, Survivor”, inNarrative & Imperative: The First Fifty Years of Italian Holocaust Writing (1944–1994), New York, N.Y.:Peter Lang Publishing,→ISBN,page141:[Giuliana] Tedeschi thus rejects the mythicization of the Holocaust, in her book and in others'. By claiming a separate, privileged space for documentary writing and survivor nonfiction, she in effectpaints herself into a corner, forced thereafter to deny the presence—even the abundance—of literary tropes and writerly devices in her own work.2009, Vivian Liska, “Introduction: Uncommon Communities”, inWhen Kafka Says We: Uncommon Communities in German-Jewish Literature, Bloomington, Ind.:Indiana University Press,→ISBN:In his diary entry from 8 January 1914,Franz Kafkawrites: "What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe"[…][T]his corner could also, tragically, describe the place where Kafka feels he should position himself,painting himself into a corner, into a dead end, where nothing but bare life stripped of all existential substance and support can subsist.2011, Hillel Glazer, “The Man versus the Money”, inHigh Performance Operations: Leverage Compliance to Lower Costs, Increase Profits, and Gain Competitive Advantage, Upper Saddle River, N.J.:FT Press,→ISBN,pages57–58:Executives and businesses are oftenpainted into a corner. They unwittingly lock themselves and their companies into a rigid bureaucratic way of dealing with rules, regulations, and compliance matters.

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