Madwoman, hysteric, insane, crazy…the list goes on and on. The labels slapped on women showing intense emotion, including anger, confusion, disinterest, and fear. Hysteria became the diagnosis for women perceived as “mad”. Women who showed symptoms of serious mental illness, such as anxiety, depression, and aggression. A common trope found in literature featuring male/female relationships where the woman is not as “interested” to the point that they seem “crazy”, “mad” or “hysteric” is called “the madwoman in the attic” (literarygitane) famously coined by Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Bertha Mason was deemed “insane” after her mental health declined in adulthood. Her husband locks her away in an attic for ten years for him to “forget the marriage” and he eventually falls in love with Jane Eyre (Cregan-Reid). Her “madness” was used to exile her from society for many years, for her husband to keep his status and Bertha to be deemed “insane” no matter his actions. This kind of canon misogyny is often found in literature and can be attributed to the history of “hysteria” in women and how it was treated. Their femininity was perceived as absolute and the only explanation for signs of severe mental illness.
Insanity was a diagnosis almost exclusively given to women, descriptions of insanity and hysteria date back to 1600 BC in ancient Egypt. Women diagnosed with hysterical symptoms such as depression and “tonic-clonic seizures and the sense of suffocation and imminent death” (Tasca et al.) were often treated with herbal medicine such as” malodorous and acrid substances” placed near a woman’s mouth or vagina (Tasca et al.). It was believed that the cause of these symptoms was due to a displacement of a woman’s uterus. It is unclear if any of these “disorders” had any additional symptoms. In ancient Greece, these symptoms were attributed to “uterine melancholy”, due to a “lack or orgasms or normal sexual life” (Tasca et al.). It was believed that the use of routine sexual encounters could prevent a woman from “uterine melancholy”. In Rome, the opposite was endorsed; abstinence was encouraged for women suffering from hysteria. In Rome, it was ideal for a woman to maintain her virginity; and extreme care was given to women who were virgins and suffering from hysteria. In the thirteenth century, women with mental illness or hysteria were subjected to exorcism, their condition could only be explained by the “presence of the Devil”. Towards the seventeenth century, hysterical or “insane” women were treated as witches. They were imprisoned and hanged as punishment for their ailments. In the eighteenth century, insanity was beginning to be attributed to the brain rather than female reproductive organs, meaning hysteria was not solely being seen as a female disease. Hysteria was treated with Mesmerism or hypnosis. Patients of hysteria were beginning to see more kindness at the hands of their treaters. Freud wrote in 1897 that hysteria was caused by “the lack of conception and motherhood” he then reverses the explanation: a hysteric woman is not able to have normal relationships, and therefore cannot conceive or has minimal sexual desire (Tasca et al.). Women have thoroughly been evaluated as hysterical by nature. Throughout history, women who do not conform to the “normal” or “ideal” attributes of a woman tend to be mistreated to conform; often, those attempts are futile because of the mental illness symptoms those women show.
The portrayal of hysterical women in literature is not new, and throughout the texts of this course, the “mad woman in the attic” type attributes are not found sparingly. Beginning with Shakuntala, King Dushyanta is in search of a beautiful wife. When he meets Shakuntala, he believes she is to be his next wife and is in awe of her beauty. She does not return the favor, stating that she cannot express her thoughts about the king.
“Anusuya: Shakuntala dear, you have not told us what is going on in your mind. But I have heard old, romantic stories, and I can’t help thinking that you are in a state like that of a lady in love. Please tell us what hurts you. We have to understand the disease before we can even try to cure it.
King: Anusuya expresses my own thoughts.
Shakuntala: It hurts me terribly. I can’t tell you all at once.”
(Kalidasa 29)
After the King is cursed to forget Shakuntala, he is criticized by Sharngarava for abandoning the then pregnant Shakuntala and shunning her publicly and with intense anger and aggression. The King is embarrassed by his actions, and to “save face” he lets Shakuntala stay, even though he does not believe he married her.
“King: I ask you which is the heavier sin:/Not knowing whether I be mad/Or falsehood be in her/Shall I desert a faithful wife/Or turn adulterer?”
(Kalidasa 61)
Shakuntala begins to powerfully resent him, left alone with her son, she is angered to have been with someone who has not checked in on them in years. When they reunite the King believes she is a madwoman and dismisses her as such. When the curse is lifted, he blames his own madness due to the curse saying:
“Dear, graceful wife, forget;/Let the sin vanish;/Strangely did madness strive/Reason to banish./Thus blindness works in men,/Love’s joy to shake;/Spurning a garland, lest/ It prove a snake.”
(Kalidasa 89)
The King, fueled by misogyny and the desire to have an emperor son, takes Shakuntala back many years after his son is born. He blames madness for Shakuntala’s return and uses madness as an excuse for his own shortcomings to Shakuntala. Despite Shakuntala’s attempts to prove she is not mad after the King rejects her, she is disabled by the misogyny of the King, and he treats her as if she is hysterical to prove he is not.
Madness presents itself in different ways, in The Love Suicide at Amijima Koharu is not interested in dying with Jihei, but she needs an escape from a less favorable marriage with Tahei. She is not ready to die, especially with a man who is married with children. She is portrayed as mad for not wanting to die with Jihei, and he attempts to kill her due to her resistance to his plan. In the end, Koharu is stabbed by Jihei in their “double suicide.”
“She clung to him with sobs. The cold wind froze the tears that Jihei had shed among the locks upon her temples. Behind them the booming of the bell in the Daichoji Temple proclaimed the break of day. Time was their foe. Jihei arose. “Let us leave,” said he, “no trace of tears upon or dead faces.” “I shall not.” Each forced a smile. Jihei raised the sword, but, frost benumbed, his hand trembled and suddenly he grew dizzy. He could not do the deed. “I cannot. Why haste?” “Be quick. Stay not.” Courage struck out to him from her and the prayer breathed upon the wind from the temple strengthened him to say, “Namu Amida Buddha”. Steel sank in throat. He pressed her down. Leaning backward she writhed in terrible agonies. Jihei perceived the stroke had failed. It smote his sight. He braced himself and thrust till flesh met sword-guard. One moment, and she ceased to breathe-her soul flitting away like the ream at dawn that is suddenly broken.”
(Chikamatsu 38)
Koharu was a woman in a poor situation and driven “madly in love” to kill herself for Jihei. Throughout the piece, she is not looking to die and resents the plan that Jihei has made for them. The film shows multiple attempts of Koharu running away from Jihei’s attempts to murder her. “‘Madness’ makes women more susceptible to vulnerability” (Halaru 4) which Koharu demonstrates through her failed attempts to run from Jihei in the suicide scene. His love went far beyond her love for him, and no matter Koharu’s attempts to flee or find a new plan, Jihei’s power over her is more insane than she could have ever been.
Hysteria is found to be a feminine attribute, women are viewed “in closer proximity to irrationality and madness, more susceptible and vulnerable to insanity, melancholia, and hysteria” (Halaru 4). Halaru cites The Female Malady where women showed similar symptoms of mental illness as men, those symptoms in women were attributed to their femininity. In an excerpt from Breasts and Eggs we see the opposite of femininity in Midoriko’s Diary.
“Today I’m going to write about breasts. Why do we start off without them and then they get bigger, swell up like that? Why am I going to end up with two of those things even though I don’t want any? Why do they grow? Where do they come from, and why can’t I just stay like I am? There are some girls who can’t help showing off how big theirs are getting and flirting with the boys, but everyone has them in the end, so I don’t get why they’re so happy about it. Am I weird? I never want my breasts to swell up like that, it’s gross, makes me want to throw up.”
(Kawakami)
Midoriko expresses her resentment for Makiko’s interest in augmenting her breasts. Makiko does not seem to understand why Midoriko has no interest in the augmentation, given that she is a woman who has or will soon have breasts. It makes Makiko confused and portrays Midoriko as “mad” for lacking her femininity or desire to be even more feminine. Midoriko lack her femininity because she is not interested in Makiko’s breast augmentation, straying from the “norms” of femininity and being treated as though she is less of a woman for not wanting her body to change. Even female/female relationships can show portrayals of hysteria because of stereotypical feminine norms.
Whether it be disinterest for the male protagonist or a lack of “regular” femininity, women have been coined insane, crazy, mad, and hysteric for what seems like forever. Symptoms of serious mental illness have been overlooked as madness throughout history in women due to their presumed “emotional nature”. When males showed similar symptoms, they were often treated with more respect and legitimate diagnosis. Hysteria has been almost solely attributed to femininity in literature, whereas the same madness is used as an excuse for male/masculine characters. The resentment of men from women in literature makes female characters more vulnerable to criticism over their femininity. Their characters are disliked or viewed as weaker than their male counterparts, often with the only explanation being that they are “mad” or “hysteric”. Female characters are often confused as hysteric when they show signs of intense emotion, such as fear, anger, and sadness; these attributes are often weaponized to criticize female characters and their integrity in literature.
Works Cited
Chikamatsu. The Love Suicide at Amijima (Shinjū Ten No Amijima). Edited by Robert Nichols, Translated by Asataro Miyamori, Publications Japanese Series, 1953, http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/amijima_miyamori.pdf.
Cregan-Reid, Vybarr. “Jane Eyre | Summary, Characters, Analysis, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Jane-Eyre-novel-by-Bronte.
Haralu, Lindsay. Madwomen and Mad Women: An Analysis of the Use of Female Insanity and Anger in Narrative Fiction, from Vilification to Validation. University of Louisville, May 2021, ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1360&context=honors.
Kalidasa. Shakuntala. Translated by Arthur W Ryder, Publications Sanskrit Series, 1999, http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/shakuntala_ryder.pdf.
literarygitane. “The Mad Woman in the Attic.” Literary Gitane, 19 Oct. 2019, literarygitane.wordpress.com/2019/10/18/the-mad-woman-in-the-attic/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Tasca, Cecilia, et al. “Women and Hysteria in the History of Mental Health.” Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, vol. 8, no. 1, Oct. 2012, pp. 110–19, https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901208010110.
Kawakami, Meiko, et al. “From ‘Breasts and Eggs.’” Words without Borders, 1 Aug. 2012,
wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2012-08/august-2012-from-breasts-and-eggs-mieko-kawakami-louise-heal-kawai/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Sprockets and Springes 