Introduction

This project examines the portrayal of mental health issues and the way in which women who live with them are treated by others in Jane Eyre and Ruth Hall, in conversation with criticism and contemporary writings on women’s health.  In both novels, women’s mental illness reinforces society’s perception of them as “other,” and their marginalization.  Much of this marginalization is a result of the ways in which the texts emphasize the fear and horror associated with mental illness, and how that fear and horror can also be tied to a uniquely male fear of women.