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Pastimes : The Literary Sauna (or Tomes in Towels) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (420)	8/28/2001 7:01:13 PM
From: E	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 466

<<her control is her madness, But wait a second. To me, control implies intentionality and choice.>> Well, we had a scenario in which this woman was in a prison, in effect. And was treated as a child, and had internalized that definition of herself. She desperately wanted to have a life, to write, to see people. This was denied to her (for her own good!) by her husband, the symbol of a broader patriarchy. (In clinical terms, we'd now just say she had severe post-partum depression, untreated except perversely, and then became psychotic.) <<Did you think she chose to become mad to exert total control over her husband? I didn't see that.>> There isn't any reason to believe it was intentional, except of course on the part of the author; or that it was to "exert total control over her husband." The latter concept never entered the picture as far as I noticed. It was suggested that she'd like to choose what room to sleep in, to write, to see a couple of friends. So no, I don't think she chose it. But I think that the author chose to portray the crazy-making patriarchal trap she was caught in, and to suggest that going crazy in a crazy-making patriarchal trap is inevitable, for a woman who insists, in spite of the perks, on wanting to be an adult. And maybe to suggest that once you've deciphered the figure in the carpet, I mean wallpaper (even if it takes madness to do it), you (or the projected 'you') may be able to break out of it. (We're talking metaphors here.)