Blog Post 3 Topic 3

Insanity is defined as the “unsoundness of mind, sufficient to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual, or other legal relationship, or sufficient to warrant commitment to a mental health facility; Incapacity to form the criminal intent necessary for legal responsibility, as when a mental disorder prevents a person from knowing the difference between right and wrong.” Although, this explanation seems to give a very descriptive definition of insanity, it doesn’t deal with the grey area of how another human can determine whether an “insane” person is unfitting to maintain the previously mentioned relationships. Why can a ‘sane’ person determine what is right and wrong. One example of this in contemporary cultural is the ongoing practice of the caste system in India. A Dalit is a term for members of the lowest caste who are essentially treated as “untouchables”, segregated from others in society. Dalit’s are discriminated for basic necessities such as food, healthcare, occupation and marriage too. Although this system has been shunned upon or even ‘abolished’, it is still influential in most parts of India. People who practice the caste-system think it is a tradition which enriches the culture of India but if you mention this practice to outsiders, they will think you’re insane for setting up another human’s fate even before they are born.  This example shows how insanity is a subjective term for people from different backgrounds.

In the play ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, we watch the gradual transformation of Blanche Dubois, a once cultured and intelligent school-teacher turning into a broken woman who eventually gets admitted into a mental institution. Blanche is a somewhat complex character to sympathize with due to the experiences she has been through. Blanche causing her young husband to commit suicide and the deaths of her relatives triggered a significant change to Blanche’s personality. The deaths combined with the loss of Belle Reve (having to move to an apartment in New Orleans) would have induced mental illness. “I don’t want realism, I want magic! … then let me be damned for it!” – This quote by Blanche seems to indicate her tipping point and shows her hated against the world.

Blanche, a heavily damaged woman who tries to fill her empty heart with sexual interactions, is even more burdened by the expectations of women to be feminine and her constant need to dress well and look presentable to others but it comes to a point where she is not able to face reality when her world comes crumbling down. Her lack of basic life skills and a lack of occupation already fulfills the ‘definition’ of insanity. Blanche’s insanity eventually becomes ‘complete’ after Stanley rapes her and she cannot distinguish her imagination from reality.

At first, we see Blanche attempt to escape from reality by refusing to accept that she has descended into poverty   and that she takes comforts from illusions of love and financial security. Even though it can be argued that insanity is subjective, a majority of Blanche’s symptoms give evidence that she can indeed be called insane.