In her autobiographical novel Girl, Interrupted Susanna Kaysen deals with the probably most difficult and influential period in her life. At the end of the 1960s, when she was eighteen, she was committed to a mental institution after a half-hearted suicide attempt and diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She spent two years at McLean, where also famous persons like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell and Ray Charles have been in treatment.
This paper will be trying to point out the difficulties with which people, especially women, were confronted in the 1960s, when they were different in some way and how this could result in being caught in a kind of parallel universe or, even worse, being stuck in between two worlds and not knowing were they belong.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 A Borderline Topography
3 Parallel Universes
3.1 World Inside vs. World Outside
3.1.1 Susanna
3.1.2 Lisa
3.1.3 Daisy
3.2 Refuge vs. Prison
3.3 Adolescence vs. Madness
3.3.1 Suicide Attempt vs. Cry for Help
3.4 World of the Insane vs. World of the Sane
3.5 Conformity vs. Rebellion
4 What’s Normal?
4.1 The Role of Women in the 1960s: Establishment and Parental Expectations
4.2 Finding One’s Way
5 Conclusion
6 Works Cited
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines Susanna Kaysen’s autobiographical novel "Girl, Interrupted" to analyze the intersection of mental illness, adolescent development, and the restrictive societal expectations placed upon women during the 1960s.
- The concept of the "parallel universe" as a metaphor for the experience of psychiatric institutionalization.
- The blurred boundaries between symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder and the natural turbulence of adolescence.
- The role of mental institutions as both a refuge from societal pressure and a prison for "different" individuals.
- Societal conformity and the marginalization of women who deviated from traditional gender roles in the 1960s.
Excerpt from the Book
3 Parallel Universes
In the parallel universe the laws of physics are suspended. What goes up does not necessarily come down; a body at rest does not tend to stay at rest; and not every action can be counted on to provoke an equal and opposite reaction. Time, too, is different. It may run in circles, flow backward, skip about from now to then. The very arrangement of molecules is fluid: Tables can be clocks; faces, flowers. (Kaysen 6)
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the author, the context of her stay at McLean Hospital in the late 1960s, and the central research question regarding the difficulties faced by women who did not conform to societal norms.
2 A Borderline Topography: This chapter provides a clinical overview of Borderline Personality Disorder according to the DSM-IV and discusses the complexities of therapy and the difficulty of defining the boundary between normality and abnormality.
3 Parallel Universes: This chapter explores the metaphor of the "parallel universe" within the mental institution, analyzing the experiences of different patients and the psychological distinction between the internal world of the hospital and the external world.
4 What’s Normal?: This chapter investigates the societal pressures of the 1960s, particularly the expectations for women to conform to educational and domestic norms, and how this influenced the author's path to independence.
5 Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between a genuine desire to end one's life and a cry for help, while advocating for therapy over mere hospitalization.
6 Works Cited: This section lists the academic and literary sources utilized throughout the analysis.
Keywords
Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen, Borderline Personality Disorder, Parallel Universe, McLean Hospital, Mental Illness, 1960s, Adolescent, Gender Roles, Conformity, Rebellion, Societal Expectations, Autobiography, Institutionalization, Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this paper fundamentally about?
The paper explores the intersection of mental health and social conformity in the 1960s through an analysis of Susanna Kaysen’s memoir "Girl, Interrupted."
What are the central thematic fields covered in this work?
The core themes include the definition of "normality," the challenges of adolescent development, the experience of living in a psychiatric institution, and the gendered expectations of the 1960s.
What is the primary objective of this paper?
The primary goal is to examine how Susanna Kaysen’s struggle with mental health was shaped by her inability to fit into the restrictive societal roles expected of women during her youth.
Which scientific or theoretical methods are used?
The author uses literary analysis of the memoir combined with psychological frameworks, specifically citing the DSM-IV and scholarly work on personality disorders and gender studies.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body discusses the symptoms and diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, the hospital as both a refuge and a prison, the comparisons between adolescence and madness, and the role of women in the 1960s.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
The most relevant keywords include "Girl, Interrupted," "Borderline Personality Disorder," "Parallel Universe," "1960s," "Conformity," and "Mental Institution."
How does the author define the "Parallel Universe" in the context of the book?
The "parallel universe" serves as a metaphor for the hospital environment, a place with its own internal logic where time and physical laws seem to operate differently than in the outside world.
What distinction does the author make between a suicide attempt and a cry for help?
The author argues that while some actions are motivated by a real desire to die, many, like the author's own overdose, are "metaphorical" acts or cries for help that highlight a need for support rather than just medication.
Why was the social context of the 1960s crucial for Susanna's hospitalization?
The paper suggests that the 1960s society was highly critical of those who deviated from "ordinary" life paths; therefore, unconventional behavior in young women was often pathologized and institutionalized.
- Quote paper
- Theresa Rass (Author), 2008, Walking the Line - Girl, Interrupted on Her Way from Adolescence to Womanhood at a Borderline to a Parallel Universe, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/141322
