Depictions of Serious Mental Illness in Literature
The representation of serious mental illnesses (SMI) in literature presents in a wide variety of genres, including short stories. The wide range of mental health conditions, including SMI, can be found in many short stories. Serious mental illnesses have a broad range of symptoms and will present in every person or character differently. Through literary interpretation, an informed reader can identify the symptoms that cause frequent stress and affect the abilities for characters in any genre to function. Interpretation of literature can be done by any reader who relies on their own knowledge and joining that to the subject, setting, and social circumstances the characters experience. …show more content…
Initially, Prospero appears self-centered, but as the story evolves, the reader becomes more aware of his serious mental illness. Prospero doesn't seem to care about his poor, dying subjects whom are effected by an epidemic sweeping the city (Poe, 1842). Rather, Prospero chooses to let the kingdom battle for itself, display his eccentric lifestyle, and throw an elaborate party with a thousand attendees. Furthermore, Prospero locks all arriving attendees in the castle to protect them from the death plaguing his kingdom. These two actions are common symptoms of serious mental illnesses, paranoia and isolation. Through his altered version of reality, Prospero seals the fate of all invited guests and himself when welding the door to the castle where they meet the Red Death.
Literary characters with serious mental illness symptoms make the reader take interest. The stories allow readers not affected by mental illness to peek into the thought processes and actions of those with an SMI. Through literary analysis, a reader with an awareness of the signs and symptoms of SMI, can interpret different types of SMI through the actions of the characters they read about (Griffith, 2014). Serious mental illness presents differently in every person, even with identical diagnosis of their …show more content…
The narrator detested the summer house her husband picked along with the horrid yellow wallpaper and barred window in the room she was held. The woman’s detest becomes apparent when stating, "The color is repellent, almost revolting: a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulfur tint in others" (Gilman, 1892). Solemnly, her excessive rest pushes her slight depression into a full psychosis, complete with delusions and hallucinations (Corlett,
The representation of serious mental illnesses (SMI) in literature presents in a wide variety of genres, including short stories. The wide range of mental health conditions, including SMI, can be found in many short stories. Serious mental illnesses have a broad range of symptoms and will present in every person or character differently. Through literary interpretation, an informed reader can identify the symptoms that cause frequent stress and affect the abilities for characters in any genre to function. Interpretation of literature can be done by any reader who relies on their own knowledge and joining that to the subject, setting, and social circumstances the characters experience. …show more content…
Initially, Prospero appears self-centered, but as the story evolves, the reader becomes more aware of his serious mental illness. Prospero doesn't seem to care about his poor, dying subjects whom are effected by an epidemic sweeping the city (Poe, 1842). Rather, Prospero chooses to let the kingdom battle for itself, display his eccentric lifestyle, and throw an elaborate party with a thousand attendees. Furthermore, Prospero locks all arriving attendees in the castle to protect them from the death plaguing his kingdom. These two actions are common symptoms of serious mental illnesses, paranoia and isolation. Through his altered version of reality, Prospero seals the fate of all invited guests and himself when welding the door to the castle where they meet the Red Death.
Literary characters with serious mental illness symptoms make the reader take interest. The stories allow readers not affected by mental illness to peek into the thought processes and actions of those with an SMI. Through literary analysis, a reader with an awareness of the signs and symptoms of SMI, can interpret different types of SMI through the actions of the characters they read about (Griffith, 2014). Serious mental illness presents differently in every person, even with identical diagnosis of their …show more content…
The narrator detested the summer house her husband picked along with the horrid yellow wallpaper and barred window in the room she was held. The woman’s detest becomes apparent when stating, "The color is repellent, almost revolting: a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulfur tint in others" (Gilman, 1892). Solemnly, her excessive rest pushes her slight depression into a full psychosis, complete with delusions and hallucinations (Corlett,