This completely blew my mind.....
Amanda Hoffer suggested that Blanche possibly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder...however, while Blanche might have suffered from this I also believe that she had bouts of schizophrenia as well....as she has evidence of paranoia and is delusional.
For example:
"She rushes past him into the bedroom. Lurid reflections appear on the walls in odd, sinuous shapes. The "Varsouviana" is filtered into a weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle. Blanche seizes the back of a chair to defend herself....The greeting is echoed and re-echoed by other mysterious voices behind the walls, as if reverberated through a canyon of rock. The echo sounds in threatening whispers." (p.139)
"Blanche turns wildly and scratches at the Matron. The heavy woman pinions her arms. Blanche cries out hoarsely and slips to her knees." "Jacket, Doctor?" the Matron then asks.... (p. 141)
The stage directions listed above depict Blanche's increasing break down as the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" reaches it's final climax. The Doctor and the Matron are coming to take Blanche away; take her away to what? This part of the play is left unclear...so, I felt the need to explore this on my own...as my curiosity was peaked by the sudden end of the story leaving the audience with the question, "What was going to happen to Blanche?"
I researched online the treatment of the insane in the 1940's and came to these findings. In the 1940's and 50's medication was discovered that helped the severely mentally ill. Great hope was placed in these drugs, but it was soon discovered they did not cure the illness, although they were quite successful at ameliorating some of the symptoms. These medicines, the anti psychotics, are still in use today. ECT (Electro-convulsive Therapy) and insulin therapy was also discovered, and went a long way to helping especially those in depression. ECT, in a refined and safer mode is also practiced today. (ever seen A Bird Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest? ECT is portrayed within that movie...A Beautiful Mind? Insulin shock therapy is used) During this time treatment sometimes went as far as lobotomies, which are the removal of the front part of a person's brain; this left patients as living vegetables. The most famous victim of a lobotomy is Frances Farmer(click here to read more about her fascinating story).
Now onto living conditions insane asylums such as the Eloise Asylum suffered from overcrowding living conditions as seen in the pictures of this hospital/asylum. The number of patients treated with mental illness jumped from ~2,500 in the early 1900's to ~75,000 in the mid forties early fifties. Now that's shocking.
When I discovered these facts I was completely disgusted as to the things that went on not too long ago....the fact that these methods were in use and they were thought to help the mentally ill is absolutely absurd and terrifying...
Feel free to check out my roomie's blog...Kiz was helping me find pictures for my blog to illustrate the different treatments...she found some really intriquing stuff about an insane asylum's demise...check it out for some fun reading (click here to check it out)...trust me, it's worth it!
My question for the class is: A) Do you have any comments on the treatment of the mentally ill? and B) What do you think about the conclusion of "A Streetcar Named Desire"? Where do you think Blanche went, what do you think happened to her?
Posted by MelissaWhiteman at March 17, 2004 09:11 PMExamining the way mental illness was treated in the 40s is an excellent way to shed light on the play. And Williams's sister Rose suffered from mental illness... any biography of Williams will include a section describing how Rose affected her brother's work.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at March 17, 2004 11:27 PMI'm glad Dr. Jerz brought this to my attention. I searched it and came up with some interesting stuff....Williams based the story "The Glass Menagerie" on his sister's illness as there are numerous similarities among Rose and Laura within that particular story itself.
I found this information and thought it could further prove the connection between Rose and Williams inclusion of mental illness in a lot of his work....
For example, in one untitled draft, Williams reflects on his beloved sister, Rose, who was lobotomized in 1943 and confined to mental hospitals and rest homes for the rest of her life (she died in 1996-can you imagine living a life that long in a vegetable state...it's awful):
It gently comes and gently goes,
the whisper of my sister Rose.
Any my voice with her voice drops low.
Our eyes remember, each to each,
A time of purity I've lost
but that she's kept at dreadful cost ...
^^^
(Tennessee Williams apparently loved to write poetry...this one above was written for his sister Rose- take what you want from it.)
:)
-Mel
P.S. Before I forget Dr. Jerz, YOU FINALLY COMMENTED ON MY BLOG!!! I never thought it would happen! It's about friggin' time! :)
Posted by: Mel at March 18, 2004 04:44 PMFantastic entry. I have my answers to your two questions on my blog. In order to give you the credit you deserve, you can bet there will be a link to "A League of Mel's Own."
Posted by: Anthony Gigliotti at March 18, 2004 05:25 PMEr, uh... sorry about that Mel! It certainly wasn't deliberate.
If its any consolation, I did link to your blog from my own back in January.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/weblog/permalink.jsp?id=2146
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at March 18, 2004 09:20 PMI remembered seeing that...HOWEVER, it's not the same!! I'm glad that I'm finally getting some recognition! Thanks Dr. Jerz!
Posted by: Mel at March 19, 2004 12:58 AMGreat topic Mel. I was quite interested in this topic. I apologize for not responding sooner, but hey better late than never. hehe. I thought it was creative and brought such great attention from the audience due to your topic. I agree that she had a mental illness. Definitely! I thought all your research totally backed up your points. Great job!
Posted by: Renee at April 1, 2004 08:00 PMWell, I have to say that I find your research really disturbing. Oh, not that you didn't do an excellent job, I'm saying that the things that they did during that time are really gross and inhumane. I would have to say that this is probably something like where Blanche went at the end of the novel, which is kind of sad. I'm glad that we have more humane ways of taking care of people nowadays and of treating them. I think there are different kind of therapies for everyone, and sometimes even just talking to someone can do wonders for a person. Sometimes, however its more complicated than that, and there are probably certain medications that can be given for those cases. However, I feel that what was done in the past is completely off base. What were they thinking?
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