Mental Illness In Literature Essay
The prevalence of depictions of mental illness within literature in the 1900s paralleled the increase of medical and scientific evaluation of insanity.
It is arguable that the depiction of mental illness in literature is fairly perilous, seeing as an uninformed author can create an entirely contrasting scenario that is far from the harsh truth of the illness, adding to the endless stigma that is associated with the condition. Plath’s and Rossetti’s original, first-hand accounts on their experience with mental illness is a refreshing juxtaposition to the usual misconceptions and these two novels allow the readers to crawl deep inside the minds of the writers.
Sylvia Plath committed suicide on the 11th of February, 1963. Throughout her life,
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Mental illness is a concept that has been manipulated by religious, cultural, social and even scientific aspects and for centuries, the representation of women linked to the struggles and symptoms of mental illness has led to a proposition that women are weak and unstable.
As a result of the ‘women’s movement’ of the 1960s, feminist literary criticism is stronger now than ever before. This movement was a retaliation to the idea of a ‘perfect woman’; a woman lacking goals and aspirations who was primarily focused on housework and her husband, that was being promulgated across the globe by literature, thus confronting and annihilating this backwards concept.
It can be argued that Sylvia Plath was a feminist writer and this is prominent in ‘The Bell Jar’ as it is a novel that reflects the gender roles in the 1950’s and addresses the feminist issues of power, the search of identity and double standards. As the protagonist was growing up, remaining a virgin until after marriage was a rule that was constantly pushed into Esther’s mind, leaving her convinced that the same rule applied to men. To Esther’s shock, she later discovered that Billy Willard had lost his virginity before marriage, forcing her to question the authority and coherence of this sexist double standard.
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