We chose the texts Jane Eyre and Ruth Hall because we were shocked by the mental health treatment we saw. Bertha is locked away and assumed insane because Rochester does not want to deal with her. Ruth Hall visits an asylum where women are separated from their children because their husbands also do not want to be around them. None of the protagonists in either novel demonstrate any kindness or empathy for any of the mentally ill women. Instead, they treat them just as cruelly, letting their misconceptions and fear about mental illnesses warp their views of these individuals. Across our research, we discovered that these fears were not unique to Jane Eyre and Ruth Hall, but adhered to misconceptions about women. Women were also deemed insane if they did not adhere to the strict societal norms and expectations forced upon them. These fears and misconceptions prevented women from receiving the necessary medical attention and treatments as a result, and highlighted society’s internalized misogyny.