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The Snake Pit
A dramatic best-seller, The Snake Pit vividly depicts one woman's plunge into the nightmare world of the mentally ill and her agonizing climb back to health and freedom. When it was first published, the book claimed attention as a moving study of mental illness based on personal knowledge. This fictionalized, brilliant, and uncompromising first-person account of madness and life in an insane asylum was subsequently made into a haunting movie.
278 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
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October 4, 2024
This is the 75th anniversary edition of The Snake Pit, originally published in 1946. The book is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's committal to New York's Rockland State Hospital in 1941.
Author Mary Jane Ward
This update also includes an Afterword that discusses the 1948 movie 'The Snake Pit', starring Olivia de Haviland.
FYI: The photos in the review are from The Snake Pit movie.
*****
Virginia Cunningham finds herself sitting in a park, confused and hearing voices.
Sitting beside her is an attractive girl in a hoover apron, which Virginia considers inappropriate attire for leaving the house.
Moreover, Virginia is dismayed by her own dress, thinking she shouldn't be wearing this old rag because "you cannot go out on New York streets looking any old way."
Virginia blames the warmth of the sun for the confused thoughts and memories that meander through her head. She does know she's a novelist, and feels she should befriend 'hoover girl' who seems down on her luck.
Then Virginia's reflections are interrupted by a shrill voice saying, "All right. ladies." Hoover girl - whose name is Grace - springs up, pulls Virginia along, and hurries her to a line of women heading into a building. Virginia asks where they're going but Grace admonishes Virginia not to speak, because talking isn't allowed.
Virginia speculates she's in a zoo, because of the smell and odd-looking residents. When Virginia doesn't see cages, she decides it's not a zoo but an institution she's researching for her next novel - either a training school for underprivileged and delinquent girls or a prison.
Afterwards, going to the community washroom with a group of inmates, Virginia knows. She knows the prison idea is nonsense. She had invented a fantasy setting. Because around her in the washroom are women who are shut up with her, women who are far more wretched than criminals. Women who are "crazy."
Virginia knows she's been institutionalized at Juniper Hill Hospital for some time. She's also aware she has a husband named Robert.....
.....and a psychiatrist called Dr. Kik.
Virginia is in Ward 3, which is less restrictive than higher number wards but more repressive than Ward 1, from which most patients go home.
Virginia doesn't relish mealtime because she can't remember where to sit and the other women take all the food, which she doesn't like anyway. Virginia also has problems with work therapy: on floor cleaning duty she confuses the wet mop and dry mop; on floor polishing detail, the polisher is too heavy to push; in the sewing room, she can't work the machine; when bed-making is required, she can't make a hospital corner; when folding and stacking laundry, Virginia confuses the sheets, pillowcases, and slips, etc.
Virginia thinks there's something wrong with her head. Virginia is even suspicious of visits from her beloved husband Robert. She's certain the hospital substitutes a realistic imposter, and frequently feels the need to test his authenticity.
In the institute, Virginia's 'progress' is often one step forward, two steps back. After a series of electroshock treatments.....
.....Virginia goes to 'Staff' (a group of doctors who assess a patient's readiness to go home) to be evaluated for release.
Virginia gets confused and upset, and bites a psychiatrist's finger. Instead of being released, Virginia is sent back for further treatment.
During Virginia's stay at Juniper Hill she's moved back and forth from one ward to another, and - in addition to shock therapy - Virginia is (at one time or another) heavily medicated; wrapped in cold wet packs that inhibit movement; placed in restrictive lukewarm tubs; put into straitjackets; force fed with a tube; and more.
None of this is meant to be abusive, and indeed some of it may aid Virginia's recovery. Nevertheless this therapy is reminiscent of horror movies about insane asylums. Also as in films, some nurses are kind and friendly while others are sharp and harsh.
Sanitary conditions in Juniper Hill are less than ideal. Showers are restricted to a couple of minutes twice a week; clothing is rarely washed; and toilet paper - dispensed by a nurse as needed - sometimes runs out. Grooming is also sparse: an inmate's hair is combed once a week by a nurse and 'nice clothes' are restricted to visiting day and going to Staff.
On the upside, the patients bond with each other, and share cigarettes, chocolates, and gifts from home. Virginia describes some of the women incarcerated with her, including a woman who dances all day; a woman who has conversations with her invisible brother; a woman who sings all the time; a woman who thinks she's an aristocrat; a woman who doesn't speak a word; a woman who does the Charleston and sings Sweet Georgia Brown; and more. Though the women's' illnesses are sad, there's a humorous vibe to this.
There are also aggressive and violent women, and Virginia learns to avoid them.
Through it all Virginia and her husband Robert rely on Dr. Kik to help Virginia get better. Dr. Kik and other doctors at the institute apparently succeed, because Virginia is released.
However Virginia's illness, supposedly caused by financial problems and stress, is never affirmatively diagnosed. (In real life, the author - Mary Jane Ward - was committed three more times during her life, in 1957, 1969 and 1976).
The narrative, mostly told in the first person, shows that Virginia is intelligent, articulate, and has a good sense of humor.
Virginia sometimes jokes with the doctors, and when one nurse tells another that Virginia "itesbay, ickskay, and is utsnay", Virginia thinks of things that prove she's not utsnay (nuts).
The original book published in 1946 ends with Virginia's release from Juniper Hill. This revised edition goes on to discuss he 1948 movie, The Snake Pit. I watched the film (which is available on YouTube) to compare book and movie. The movie is good but should be thought of as a separate entity from the book.
Some scenes in the movie closely follow the novel, and some parts are made up out of whole cloth. For example, the filmmakers felt compelled to explain Virginia's illness. Thus Dr. Kik psychoanalyzes Virginia and uncover the childhood traumas that led to her illness. This is straight out of a Freud handbook and there's nothing about it in the novel.
Also, movieland Virginia - during her stay at Juniper Hill - is usually clean and well-dressed with her hair nicely combed. She's not the disheveled mess we read about in the novel. I understand movie license but would have liked to see a more realistic depiction of the book.
The Snake Pit was a best seller in the 1940s, and led to changes in the mental health industry. It's still worth reading and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Netgalley, Mary Jane Ward, and Library of America for a copy of the book.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
September 6, 2022
The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward is a semi-autobiographical fiction book based on Ward’s experiences in the mental sanitariums of the Fifties following the first of a number of nervous breakdowns. Best known as the vehicle for a Hollywood movie of the same title starring Olivia de Haviland, The Snake Pit was groundbreaking on a number of levels.
First, it shined a light on the experiences in a sanitarium away from public eye, the abuses committed in secret, and the strange-sounding practices of electro-shock therapy and tubbing locked into continuously flowing tubs. Ward caught national attention as she revealed what went on to bring changes to the practices in these institutions, changes that award herself could see as she returned time and time again.
Just as significantly was Ward’s prose where she told in often comedic episodes what the experience was like from the point of view of someone losing their grip on reality. Much of the narrative is a sort of stream of consciousness where the reader follows along with the main character, Virginia Cunningham, as she finds herself first on a park bench in Manhattan and can’t remember how to get home or how she got there. The reader follows along as Virginia is herded into a dining hall where she first thinks she’s at a charity ball only to find the women she’s seated with are quite odd. It takes quite a while for her to finally realize where she is.
On the journey, the reader follows along with Virginia’s confusion, paranoia, and meandering mind. You get a real authentic sense of what the experience of losing your grip on sanity is like and how little the methods at use in the sanitarium had to do with actually curing her ailments. You really get a feel for the poor lost soils you see arguing with themselves on street corners throughout cities.
While the novel is loosely based on Ward’s experiences, for obvious reasons, the exact details are obscured from her memory. So it’s fictional based on real life. A truly powerful book fueled by top-notch writing.
First, it shined a light on the experiences in a sanitarium away from public eye, the abuses committed in secret, and the strange-sounding practices of electro-shock therapy and tubbing locked into continuously flowing tubs. Ward caught national attention as she revealed what went on to bring changes to the practices in these institutions, changes that award herself could see as she returned time and time again.
Just as significantly was Ward’s prose where she told in often comedic episodes what the experience was like from the point of view of someone losing their grip on reality. Much of the narrative is a sort of stream of consciousness where the reader follows along with the main character, Virginia Cunningham, as she finds herself first on a park bench in Manhattan and can’t remember how to get home or how she got there. The reader follows along as Virginia is herded into a dining hall where she first thinks she’s at a charity ball only to find the women she’s seated with are quite odd. It takes quite a while for her to finally realize where she is.
On the journey, the reader follows along with Virginia’s confusion, paranoia, and meandering mind. You get a real authentic sense of what the experience of losing your grip on sanity is like and how little the methods at use in the sanitarium had to do with actually curing her ailments. You really get a feel for the poor lost soils you see arguing with themselves on street corners throughout cities.
While the novel is loosely based on Ward’s experiences, for obvious reasons, the exact details are obscured from her memory. So it’s fictional based on real life. A truly powerful book fueled by top-notch writing.
July 25, 2010
The Snake Pit begins like so many social comedies, with a woman called Virginia newly arrived in New York from the Midwest wondering about all the crazy city people around her. We learn she is a journalist, that she is waiting for her husband who is unaccountably and irritatingly late, and that she is sharp and funny and accomplished though a little confused by her surroundings.
A few pages in we realize Virginia isn't sitting in a park in Manhattan. She's a patient in an insane asylum.
Ward makes craziness uncomfortably natural, as well as breathtakingly surreal/real. At several points in the book I convinced myself that Virginia was completely recovered, only for Ward to slap me with the realization that what I had taken for sanity was a deepening of her madness. Ward recognizes the inherent craziness of sanity - at one point Virginia knows she is getting better because she feels normally petty, selfish and secretive again. At the same time, she depicts the nightmare whirl of madness as vividly as Antonia White did in Beyond the Glass. Ward is also better than White on the humanity, good and bad, of the caregivers, and I loved the way that she left us with no pat solution to Virginia's collapse or to her recovery, but instead with clues, ideas, vague feelings and suspicions.
If that wasn't enough, this is also a very funny, witty and clever book. It could almost be read as the satirical social comedy I thought it was when I picked it up.
A few pages in we realize Virginia isn't sitting in a park in Manhattan. She's a patient in an insane asylum.
Ward makes craziness uncomfortably natural, as well as breathtakingly surreal/real. At several points in the book I convinced myself that Virginia was completely recovered, only for Ward to slap me with the realization that what I had taken for sanity was a deepening of her madness. Ward recognizes the inherent craziness of sanity - at one point Virginia knows she is getting better because she feels normally petty, selfish and secretive again. At the same time, she depicts the nightmare whirl of madness as vividly as Antonia White did in Beyond the Glass. Ward is also better than White on the humanity, good and bad, of the caregivers, and I loved the way that she left us with no pat solution to Virginia's collapse or to her recovery, but instead with clues, ideas, vague feelings and suspicions.
If that wasn't enough, this is also a very funny, witty and clever book. It could almost be read as the satirical social comedy I thought it was when I picked it up.
September 4, 2008
Don't let this author die. Read.
May 15, 2025
The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward
GR blurb -
A 75th anniversary edition of the landmark novel that forever changed the way we think about mental illness and its treatment
Suffering a breakdown in 1941, thirty-five-year-old novelist Mary Jane Ward was diagnosed, or perhaps misdiagnosed, with schizophrenia and committed to a psychiatric hospital in upstate New York. From that horrific experience came this gripping story.
Inspiration for the 1948 film starring Olivia de Havilland, The Snake Pit sparked important investigative journalism and state legislation to reform the care and treatment of people with mental illness. It belongs in the company of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—two books it influenced.
This authoritative Library of America edition includes an afterword by Ward’s cousin, Larry Lockridge, and a Reading Group Guide featuring additional material about Ward and the real-life roots of the novel.
My thoughts -
Excellent and highly recommended.
When I was 10 years old my father built a floor to ceiling, four-foot-wide bookcase in my room. The lower half was for my books and a young adult type encyclopedia set. The upper shelves were for my parent's book overflow (they were both readers). I remember seeing 'The Snake Pit' on their shelves and being captivated by the title and cover. I tried reading it but gave up as it was just too out of reach for my young mind. However, I never forgot about it and a few days ago I decided to try reading it again.
I'm so glad that I did and I'm so glad The Library of America republished it in their 75th anniversary edition which includes a terrific afterword by the author's cousin plus other interesting material. I don't often say that a book is a must read, but I'm saying it this time. Set nearly 30 years before the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970's, this is an eye-opening book about mental health hospitalizations in the 1940's.
From the afterword - (page 333) regarding the unusual presentation of the book in first, second, and third person. (that's right - all done interchangeably throughout and most effective as well)
"Knowing well what she is doing here, Mary Jane Ward creates a representation of mental instability on the level of basic linguistic construction. Virginia [the patient] isn't clear who or where she is, maybe even if she is."
GR blurb -
A 75th anniversary edition of the landmark novel that forever changed the way we think about mental illness and its treatment
Suffering a breakdown in 1941, thirty-five-year-old novelist Mary Jane Ward was diagnosed, or perhaps misdiagnosed, with schizophrenia and committed to a psychiatric hospital in upstate New York. From that horrific experience came this gripping story.
Inspiration for the 1948 film starring Olivia de Havilland, The Snake Pit sparked important investigative journalism and state legislation to reform the care and treatment of people with mental illness. It belongs in the company of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—two books it influenced.
This authoritative Library of America edition includes an afterword by Ward’s cousin, Larry Lockridge, and a Reading Group Guide featuring additional material about Ward and the real-life roots of the novel.
My thoughts -
Excellent and highly recommended.
When I was 10 years old my father built a floor to ceiling, four-foot-wide bookcase in my room. The lower half was for my books and a young adult type encyclopedia set. The upper shelves were for my parent's book overflow (they were both readers). I remember seeing 'The Snake Pit' on their shelves and being captivated by the title and cover. I tried reading it but gave up as it was just too out of reach for my young mind. However, I never forgot about it and a few days ago I decided to try reading it again.
I'm so glad that I did and I'm so glad The Library of America republished it in their 75th anniversary edition which includes a terrific afterword by the author's cousin plus other interesting material. I don't often say that a book is a must read, but I'm saying it this time. Set nearly 30 years before the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970's, this is an eye-opening book about mental health hospitalizations in the 1940's.
From the afterword - (page 333) regarding the unusual presentation of the book in first, second, and third person. (that's right - all done interchangeably throughout and most effective as well)
"Knowing well what she is doing here, Mary Jane Ward creates a representation of mental instability on the level of basic linguistic construction. Virginia [the patient] isn't clear who or where she is, maybe even if she is."
October 5, 2015
An important book, to be sure, but I'm not so sure about the pacing and overall structure. Maybe I'm missing something.
I love the film starring Olivia de Havilland (though it made me cry and doubt my sanity).
I love the film starring Olivia de Havilland (though it made me cry and doubt my sanity).
June 11, 2017
"I am just me, Virginia Stuart Cunningham. There is only one of me and it is having a hard enough time thinking for one, let alone splitting into two."
The Snake Pit was written in 1946 and details a journalists' nervous breakdown into multiple personalities. I've seen the film which is quite depressing though Olivia D'Havilland is fantastic, and I picked up the book at an antique store or somewhere.
Once I got through the first quarter of it the story picked up. It's a well written, albeit depressing novel. I like old books that make you think and realize what life used to be like, and this is certainly an example of what institutions were like in the past. Thank goodness such things don't happen - or to that extent - in mental health facilities today. Definitely thought provoking and recommended.
The Snake Pit was written in 1946 and details a journalists' nervous breakdown into multiple personalities. I've seen the film which is quite depressing though Olivia D'Havilland is fantastic, and I picked up the book at an antique store or somewhere.
Once I got through the first quarter of it the story picked up. It's a well written, albeit depressing novel. I like old books that make you think and realize what life used to be like, and this is certainly an example of what institutions were like in the past. Thank goodness such things don't happen - or to that extent - in mental health facilities today. Definitely thought provoking and recommended.
June 6, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had never heard of this book, written in 1946, or seen the movie. But I can see why it was so popular. I was very confused through the first part of the book but I think that actually added to the story of madness and of being in an insane asylum.
I wouldn't call this a well written book as it does seem to wander but again, that probably adds to the mental illness view. Overall, it was pretty interesting to read.
I had never heard of this book, written in 1946, or seen the movie. But I can see why it was so popular. I was very confused through the first part of the book but I think that actually added to the story of madness and of being in an insane asylum.
I wouldn't call this a well written book as it does seem to wander but again, that probably adds to the mental illness view. Overall, it was pretty interesting to read.
December 21, 2022
2.5 that I'm rounding up. This is because 1. I'm sick and think that it's hard to follow this storyline style when I'm not feeling 100% and 2. at times, it's a bit of 'stream of consciousness' type writing that I personally don't like reading.
But somehow, this one still worked, in places, for me. I was drawn to Virginia's story. The beginning was offsetting - as she's listening to some voice ask her if she hears voices. But soon I found the writing rhythm and didn't mind the jumps or odd perspective switches (from name to I to she). It's jarring but I think that was the point of the changes and the stream and I appreciated it for what it was showing.
I was surprised to find my copy had a huge informational section at the end that even responded and noted reviews of the story. I loved all the insight, especially as I hadn't seen the movie or heard of this book before I started it, and I appreciated the additional information (it probably helped me like it even more). All in all, I can see the importance of this story even if it wasn't 100% my cup of tea.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
But somehow, this one still worked, in places, for me. I was drawn to Virginia's story. The beginning was offsetting - as she's listening to some voice ask her if she hears voices. But soon I found the writing rhythm and didn't mind the jumps or odd perspective switches (from name to I to she). It's jarring but I think that was the point of the changes and the stream and I appreciated it for what it was showing.
I was surprised to find my copy had a huge informational section at the end that even responded and noted reviews of the story. I loved all the insight, especially as I hadn't seen the movie or heard of this book before I started it, and I appreciated the additional information (it probably helped me like it even more). All in all, I can see the importance of this story even if it wasn't 100% my cup of tea.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
November 16, 2021
Long out of print, and now reissued in a terrific Library of America 75th Anniversary edition, this prototypical autobiographical novel on the horrors of mental health institutions still packs quite a punch. The Reader's Guide includes an indispensable Afterword by the author's cousin, son of the renowned author of Raintree County (who suffered his own mental health issues and committed suicide soon after publication of his magnum opus). Quite different from the acclaimed 1948 film made from it, its reissue is a chance to revisit this fascinating and forgotten work.
March 26, 2013
I picked this up because I found out it was based on a hospital about 10 minutes away from where I live. It's an interesting look at how mental illness was treated less than a century ago and a good reminder that though we've come very far in many medical areas, mental illness is still not always well understood and remains a social stigma.
Also, let me just say that I'm glad we no longer go with the idea of "well, if this would make a sane person insane, then maybe it will make a insane person sane." Really, who decided you could shock someone back into sanity by throwing them in a pit of snakes???
Also, let me just say that I'm glad we no longer go with the idea of "well, if this would make a sane person insane, then maybe it will make a insane person sane." Really, who decided you could shock someone back into sanity by throwing them in a pit of snakes???
July 22, 2021
Excellent book, and one case where the book and movie are as good as one another.
If you were impressed with the Olivia de Havilland movie, you will like the book that it was based on.
Mental illness is discussed a lot now, but it was something people preferred not to talk about too openly back in 1946 when this book was published.
The story of a young lady losing her mind and being institutionalized stays in the mind long after reading.
I'm glad to have a first edition of the book, in good condition, jacket included.
It's also good to know that a 75th Anniversary edition will be available, too.
The book deserves to remain in print.
If you were impressed with the Olivia de Havilland movie, you will like the book that it was based on.
Mental illness is discussed a lot now, but it was something people preferred not to talk about too openly back in 1946 when this book was published.
The story of a young lady losing her mind and being institutionalized stays in the mind long after reading.
I'm glad to have a first edition of the book, in good condition, jacket included.
It's also good to know that a 75th Anniversary edition will be available, too.
The book deserves to remain in print.
June 21, 2017
4,5 stars. My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2017/06/21...
December 22, 2019
3.5. Very interesting, unique way of describing “insanity”. You could actually feel how it would be to experience this. Very sad.
April 13, 2020
I'll give Mary Jane Ward 4 out of 5 birds for her novel The Snake Pit! This is a tough book to find my friends. I bid for it on Ebay and waited patiently for it to come. My good friend Genie recommended to me because she knows I like the crazy in life. If I could be so bold to compare this book, it would be an earlier The Bell Jar. I felt like I was on the ward with Virgina Cunningham living with all the other "crazies." I couldn't believe that shock treatment was used so freely and some of the treatments were pretty out there. I'm so glad that helping those with mental illness has come as far as it has . We still have a ways to go. The only thing that was hard with this book was the jumping around. I often found myself flipping back pages to be like "Wait where are we now." It's a great and quick read. I'd recommend it to some of my Women's and Gender Studies professors and those preparing to deal with mental illness. Now good luck finding a copy! Also it brought me SO much JOY to hold an old book and read it. There's just something about vintage.
September 14, 2025
Amazing! Thought-provoking, funny, shocking. Works on many levels--as history, psychology, and literature. Autobiographical "adventure" through a mental hospital. Absurdist in many regards--definitely see the parallels with Alice in Wonderland. I saw the movie, but the book is definitely different--and better.
June 12, 2025
This book was UNREAL it was so good I couldn’t put it down
March 13, 2023
"They put a wedge on her back. It was most uncomfortable. It forced her back into an unnatural position. She looked at the dull glass eye that was set in the wall and she knew that soon it would glow and that she would not see the glow. They were going to electrocute her, not operate on her. Even now the woman was applying some sort of foul-smelling cold paste to your temples. What had you done? You couldn't have killed anyone and what other crime is there that exacts so severe a penalty? Could they electrocute you for voting for Norman Thomas?...Dare they kill me without a trial?"
I'm very familiar with the film adaptation of The Snake Pit, a mainstream movie that must have caused a bit of a shock with its vivid depiction of a woman in an insane asylum. I was curious about the book, which after reading, also seems to be the type of character portrayal that wasn't too common for the time it was released. I like the narrative, which is appropriately confusing into whether we are getting the main character Virginia's point of view or a third person narrator interpreting the events. It's worth a read for those interested in depictions of mental illness, which I confess to being a guilty party.
"I know where I am and I know I am sick-yes still foggy, still a woman who is not sane. Shock treatments. Why bother with insulin, metrazol or electricity? Long ago they lowered insane persons into snake pits; they thought that an experience that might drive an insane person out of his wits might send an insane person back into sanity....They had thrown her into a snake pit and she had been shocked into knowing that she would get well."
I'm very familiar with the film adaptation of The Snake Pit, a mainstream movie that must have caused a bit of a shock with its vivid depiction of a woman in an insane asylum. I was curious about the book, which after reading, also seems to be the type of character portrayal that wasn't too common for the time it was released. I like the narrative, which is appropriately confusing into whether we are getting the main character Virginia's point of view or a third person narrator interpreting the events. It's worth a read for those interested in depictions of mental illness, which I confess to being a guilty party.
"I know where I am and I know I am sick-yes still foggy, still a woman who is not sane. Shock treatments. Why bother with insulin, metrazol or electricity? Long ago they lowered insane persons into snake pits; they thought that an experience that might drive an insane person out of his wits might send an insane person back into sanity....They had thrown her into a snake pit and she had been shocked into knowing that she would get well."
Read
May 2, 2022well, i haven’t finished it. these page numbers don’t match 🥴 five stars so far tho
June 7, 2018
Rating: 4.5 / 5
The most impressive thing about this book in my opinion that I would like to point out is the writing style, and how original it is, and how well it matches with the subject matter of the story.
To briefly describe it, this is a first book in which I have encountered all three points of view being used, all in a jumble, and yet quite effectively and understandably: first person, as in a train of thought, second person, as though someone is describing your life to you, and third person, as a narrator telling the events of the story at hand. Now, I have heard of extreme novels like James Joyce's Ulysses as employing such tactics, almost to a maddening degree, but as I have not yet been acquainted with the gentleman's work, I cannot judge anything in comparison to it. Suffice to say, that for my first experience of a mixed-person narration, I was quite impressed and able to follow along with the story quite well.
Centering around Virginia, a patient at the mental hospital of Juniper Hill, the events are revealed through her perspective, or, at least, even the third-person narration is limited to her point of view. For the first forty pages or so, she doesn't even realize where she is--or, as she admits, she has been creating an alternate reality for herself to escape what she knows to be the truth of her situation. Virginia, like apparently most of the patients there, is not mentally ill with something like schizophrenia or dyslexia or anything like that; all of the patients have just had "nervous breakdowns", which they need "time" to help and cure. Virginia is the hospital's own Lady Innocent, not knowing why precisely she is there, but admitting that there is something wrong with her, though she attributes it to forgetfulness.
Indeed, as the reader goes through the story, sometimes at a slower pace than most readers have patience for, Virginia's forgetfulness becomes maddening for the reader as well as for Virginia, as it seems to hold up the story and take away from filling in blanks that we desperately want to be filled. We want Virginia to get well, as she does indeed have a charming personality, but when seeing things from Virginia's limited perspective, this becomes rather difficult in seeing the end goal.
Coming across a variety of characters, some "crazy" and others not, we experience Virginia's climb back to sanity at a slow pace, but understandably so. My praises for this book consist mainly in the way in which is it was written, but also for the story. The only reason that I've taken away from giving it the full five stars is that it is slow at parts, and while I understand and appreciate this as being part of the story, as a reader, I myself personally found that I set it down more than once after finishing every chapter. With patience and interest though, this proves to be a rare and highly underrated treat.
The most impressive thing about this book in my opinion that I would like to point out is the writing style, and how original it is, and how well it matches with the subject matter of the story.
To briefly describe it, this is a first book in which I have encountered all three points of view being used, all in a jumble, and yet quite effectively and understandably: first person, as in a train of thought, second person, as though someone is describing your life to you, and third person, as a narrator telling the events of the story at hand. Now, I have heard of extreme novels like James Joyce's Ulysses as employing such tactics, almost to a maddening degree, but as I have not yet been acquainted with the gentleman's work, I cannot judge anything in comparison to it. Suffice to say, that for my first experience of a mixed-person narration, I was quite impressed and able to follow along with the story quite well.
Centering around Virginia, a patient at the mental hospital of Juniper Hill, the events are revealed through her perspective, or, at least, even the third-person narration is limited to her point of view. For the first forty pages or so, she doesn't even realize where she is--or, as she admits, she has been creating an alternate reality for herself to escape what she knows to be the truth of her situation. Virginia, like apparently most of the patients there, is not mentally ill with something like schizophrenia or dyslexia or anything like that; all of the patients have just had "nervous breakdowns", which they need "time" to help and cure. Virginia is the hospital's own Lady Innocent, not knowing why precisely she is there, but admitting that there is something wrong with her, though she attributes it to forgetfulness.
Indeed, as the reader goes through the story, sometimes at a slower pace than most readers have patience for, Virginia's forgetfulness becomes maddening for the reader as well as for Virginia, as it seems to hold up the story and take away from filling in blanks that we desperately want to be filled. We want Virginia to get well, as she does indeed have a charming personality, but when seeing things from Virginia's limited perspective, this becomes rather difficult in seeing the end goal.
Coming across a variety of characters, some "crazy" and others not, we experience Virginia's climb back to sanity at a slow pace, but understandably so. My praises for this book consist mainly in the way in which is it was written, but also for the story. The only reason that I've taken away from giving it the full five stars is that it is slow at parts, and while I understand and appreciate this as being part of the story, as a reader, I myself personally found that I set it down more than once after finishing every chapter. With patience and interest though, this proves to be a rare and highly underrated treat.
October 16, 2021
Mary Jane Ward began a movement in America to examine mental health facilities’ far from adequate care. Her novel, The Snake Pit (The Library of America, 2021), did for those imprisoned in these facilities what Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, did for the meat-packing industry. Her work influenced generations of writers who came after, including two who wrote the most famous novels of mental illness, Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar, and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In its newest incarnation, the 75th anniversary edition published by The Library of America with an afterword by Larry Lockridge, readers once again have the chance to immerse themselves in the frightening world of this autobiographical novel complete with a Reader’s Guide and documents from the notable film version of the book in 1948 starring Olivia de Havilland.
Virginia is the central figure and narrator of the novel. Other characters are shadowy ghosts on the stage of multiple wards. Each is distinct in behavior and attributes, but they are not fully developed characters. They flit in the shadows. Their indistinctness is a hallmark of Virginia’s view, one clouded by shock therapy and drug-induced lethargy. Larry Lockridge writes in the afterword that “In someone for whom the center doesn’t hold, other people…are insubstantial and disappearing.” Even Robert, Virginia’s long-suffering husband is “shadowy.” In consultation with the doctors, he is Virginia’s advocate, but we get only fragments of his life outside of the institution. What is he up to? Is he her advocate, or is he colluding with the doctors?
The book shifts the narrative with Virginia sometimes speaking in first person, sometimes in second or third person, often within a single paragraph. Her mental state is constantly in flux, and her illness makes her an unreliable narrator. Occasionally, she confuses her thoughts with her vocalization—is she speaking aloud or just thinking in her head? The interior monologue might have been voiced or not; her shattering realizations about her condition may be limiting her speech or allowing her to speak all too candidly. She is locked in the confusion of mental suffering, merging back and forth from clear light and a shadowy netherworld. For the first fifty pages of the novel, she is unsure where she is: a hospital, a school? Only in a moment of clarity does she realize she is in a ward of “women who were insane and she was one of them.”
In this place, the patients wear the soiled rejected clothing of previous patients. Virginia’s coat has a stain that appears to be vomit. She asks for her things, her clothes, her glasses, but she is repeatedly denied. When she is given her glasses, it is a reward she is told she has earned. The patients have few rights, few privileges, no privacy, and little comfort. They are treated like animals by the staff; the good nurse is an exception, never the rule. Every evening, patients are forced to drink paraldehyde, a hypnotic with a strong odor that lingers in their pores and permeates the wards. Each patient is assigned a job. Virginia must mop the floor but continually confuses the wet, dirty mop with the clean, dry one. She is too addled by her illness and treatment to remember which is which. The patients must line up to use the toilet booths. These are wooden closets with no toilet seats, toilet paper that must be requested from a nurse, and no privacy. Virginia is literally afraid of falling in. Time becomes fragmented in this surreal environment, and she is no longer sure when she arrived at Juniper Hill. Often these gaps in memory are the result of electro-shock therapy.
Virginia empathizes with her fellow inmates in their shared plight, even as they take cigarettes and food from her. She progresses from one ward to another, eventually landing in Ward One. Is this the last stage before she is set free? She is moved yet again to another ward. Nothing is clear except that she is a prisoner.
One patient Virginia connects with is Gloria, a friend and companion. But in the shifting of patients between wards, she loses track of Gloria until towards the end of the novel when she encounters her on the hospital grounds. She is changed, a gruesome shadow of the person she was.
In treatments and daily existence, the patients hope the nightmare will soon be over. But the suffering feels endless, a prison of one’s worst fears. Virginia comes to believe that “You could say anything here so long as you did not say the truth.” The patients try to act and say what they think their custodians want to hear just to be set free. Their efforts fail.
What has caused Virginia’s breakdown that leads to her incarceration? The answers come in fragments of Virginia’s shattered psyche. A fiancé who died, Robert’s best friend: did her substitute marriage to Robert lead to her downfall? Was the death of Gordon Timberlake the cause of the psychic implosion? Her treatment fails to get to the bottom of the situation. Virginia must try to heal herself.
Ward has some beautiful writing in all of this darkness. One night finds Virginia gazing at the night sky. “And the stars had been shining for the first time since last February. You can go along for weeks maybe months without thinking about the stars,” she says. “They are there, on clear nights, and you can look at them and say there is the Big Dipper. You may, if you are not in a hurry, hunt for the Pleiades; but you do not think much about the stars. They are always there.”
Virginia was a published novelist before her hospitalization, but when she is finally allowed pen, paper, and a typewriter, she can only imitate others: Hemingway and O. Henry. She has lost her own words in a kind of internal aphasia. She ponders the edge of the abyss upon which she stands, asking, “was there a time when you saw, as if at the end of a dark hallway, the light of the outside, a time when you knew you hung at a balance and that such a little push, one way or another, would determine your life?”
Mary Jane Ward’s summation of the plight of the mentally ill is so precise, so spot on. They are excluded from a world “in which sanity was taken for granted. In the world outside, people longed desperately to be millionaires, movie actors, club presidents and even…novelists.” Virginia was somebody once, and she can only hope to return to that life again. For now, though, she is trapped in the snake pit. Ward includes the source for her title: “Long ago they lowered insane persons into snake pits; they thought that an experience that might drive a sane person out of his wits might send an insane person back into sanity.” Virginia has been thrown into such a pit of vipers, but the shock is her discovery that she could get well.
In such bleak darkness, hope.
Virginia is the central figure and narrator of the novel. Other characters are shadowy ghosts on the stage of multiple wards. Each is distinct in behavior and attributes, but they are not fully developed characters. They flit in the shadows. Their indistinctness is a hallmark of Virginia’s view, one clouded by shock therapy and drug-induced lethargy. Larry Lockridge writes in the afterword that “In someone for whom the center doesn’t hold, other people…are insubstantial and disappearing.” Even Robert, Virginia’s long-suffering husband is “shadowy.” In consultation with the doctors, he is Virginia’s advocate, but we get only fragments of his life outside of the institution. What is he up to? Is he her advocate, or is he colluding with the doctors?
The book shifts the narrative with Virginia sometimes speaking in first person, sometimes in second or third person, often within a single paragraph. Her mental state is constantly in flux, and her illness makes her an unreliable narrator. Occasionally, she confuses her thoughts with her vocalization—is she speaking aloud or just thinking in her head? The interior monologue might have been voiced or not; her shattering realizations about her condition may be limiting her speech or allowing her to speak all too candidly. She is locked in the confusion of mental suffering, merging back and forth from clear light and a shadowy netherworld. For the first fifty pages of the novel, she is unsure where she is: a hospital, a school? Only in a moment of clarity does she realize she is in a ward of “women who were insane and she was one of them.”
In this place, the patients wear the soiled rejected clothing of previous patients. Virginia’s coat has a stain that appears to be vomit. She asks for her things, her clothes, her glasses, but she is repeatedly denied. When she is given her glasses, it is a reward she is told she has earned. The patients have few rights, few privileges, no privacy, and little comfort. They are treated like animals by the staff; the good nurse is an exception, never the rule. Every evening, patients are forced to drink paraldehyde, a hypnotic with a strong odor that lingers in their pores and permeates the wards. Each patient is assigned a job. Virginia must mop the floor but continually confuses the wet, dirty mop with the clean, dry one. She is too addled by her illness and treatment to remember which is which. The patients must line up to use the toilet booths. These are wooden closets with no toilet seats, toilet paper that must be requested from a nurse, and no privacy. Virginia is literally afraid of falling in. Time becomes fragmented in this surreal environment, and she is no longer sure when she arrived at Juniper Hill. Often these gaps in memory are the result of electro-shock therapy.
Virginia empathizes with her fellow inmates in their shared plight, even as they take cigarettes and food from her. She progresses from one ward to another, eventually landing in Ward One. Is this the last stage before she is set free? She is moved yet again to another ward. Nothing is clear except that she is a prisoner.
One patient Virginia connects with is Gloria, a friend and companion. But in the shifting of patients between wards, she loses track of Gloria until towards the end of the novel when she encounters her on the hospital grounds. She is changed, a gruesome shadow of the person she was.
In treatments and daily existence, the patients hope the nightmare will soon be over. But the suffering feels endless, a prison of one’s worst fears. Virginia comes to believe that “You could say anything here so long as you did not say the truth.” The patients try to act and say what they think their custodians want to hear just to be set free. Their efforts fail.
What has caused Virginia’s breakdown that leads to her incarceration? The answers come in fragments of Virginia’s shattered psyche. A fiancé who died, Robert’s best friend: did her substitute marriage to Robert lead to her downfall? Was the death of Gordon Timberlake the cause of the psychic implosion? Her treatment fails to get to the bottom of the situation. Virginia must try to heal herself.
Ward has some beautiful writing in all of this darkness. One night finds Virginia gazing at the night sky. “And the stars had been shining for the first time since last February. You can go along for weeks maybe months without thinking about the stars,” she says. “They are there, on clear nights, and you can look at them and say there is the Big Dipper. You may, if you are not in a hurry, hunt for the Pleiades; but you do not think much about the stars. They are always there.”
Virginia was a published novelist before her hospitalization, but when she is finally allowed pen, paper, and a typewriter, she can only imitate others: Hemingway and O. Henry. She has lost her own words in a kind of internal aphasia. She ponders the edge of the abyss upon which she stands, asking, “was there a time when you saw, as if at the end of a dark hallway, the light of the outside, a time when you knew you hung at a balance and that such a little push, one way or another, would determine your life?”
Mary Jane Ward’s summation of the plight of the mentally ill is so precise, so spot on. They are excluded from a world “in which sanity was taken for granted. In the world outside, people longed desperately to be millionaires, movie actors, club presidents and even…novelists.” Virginia was somebody once, and she can only hope to return to that life again. For now, though, she is trapped in the snake pit. Ward includes the source for her title: “Long ago they lowered insane persons into snake pits; they thought that an experience that might drive a sane person out of his wits might send an insane person back into sanity.” Virginia has been thrown into such a pit of vipers, but the shock is her discovery that she could get well.
In such bleak darkness, hope.
June 7, 2023
In my recent foray into literature on female mental health and asylums, I was reminded of Mary Jane Ward's The Snake Pit, which I still hadn't gotten around to. As it was mentioned in the upcoming Girls and Their Monsters by Audrey Clare Farley, I decided it was finally time to get started on it. I was blown away from the very first chapter and have rarely had such an immersive and affecting reading experience. Thanks to Library of America and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. My sincere apologies for the delay.
The Snake Pit was a bestseller upon its publication 75 years ago and caused its author, Mary Jane Ward, to become something of an advocate for mental health reform. In an afterword, Larry Lockridge, Ward's cousin, describes how she would visit hundreds of asylums in the years after the novel's publication and how she engaged with countless of officials to promote the better treatment of patients. And yet the novel was one that has been out of print for a while and which is not listed amongst the classics it inspired, like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath or Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I wonder why that was. In a way, The Snake Pit feels like a fever dream, full of stunning imagery and the oddest scenes, rather than a harsh take down or overly pointed social criticism. And yet it is through this almost dreamlike quality that Ward is able to depict the way in which the asylum system within which she landed threatened to destroy her spirit. The novel is based on Ward's own experience of being in an asylum after various nervous breakdowns and the way she combines this dreamlike distance with hard reality is stunning. The novel is full of human beings, some of whom have utterly lost touch with reality and others whose strictness and dismissal of the patients' humanity makes them seem utterly cold. The ingenuity of the novel's approach and style makes this an utter masterpiece and Ward's work afterwards emphasises the real suffering which underlies the novel's plot.
Virginia Stuart Cunningham is talking to a man about voices she may or may not be hearing. Or perhaps she is in a park, talking to a young woman. Or is she in prison? Surely she hasn't done anything deserving of a prison sentence? But she doesn't know where she is, why she doesn't have her glasses, or why she is led to a room for an electric shock. She slowly comes to realise she is in an insane asylum and that something is wrong with her. From there begins her journey back to the outside world, marked by various cycles of improvement and regression, and journeys from one ward to another. The one thing that remains stable is her relationship with her husband, who faithfully visits her whenever he is allowed and has full faith in her soon-to-come recovery. But he has no idea of the reality inside the asylum and of the dread filling Victoria at both the prospect of never getting out and the prospect of having to face the "real world" again. The Snake Pit has, when you put it very bluntly, a rather limited plot, in the sense that not a whole lot seems to happen. And yet, under the surface of the action, mostly Virginia moving from ward to ward, there is a whole world of characterisation, observation, and development. I was utterly gripped by the way Ward allows the reader entry into Virginia's mind and of Ward's description of the various women she meets. It is such a complex portrayal of personhood and sanity and womanhood. I am so glad that Library of America has decided to reprint this novel, especially with the added material such as Larry Lockridge's Afterword, a letter by Ward herself, and discussion prompts. It is a truly comprehensive edition that way, which allows readers to enjoy the fiction but also get to know the facts behind it.
Mary Jane Ward had written several novels before she sat down to write The Snake Pit. While originally it was marketed as pure fiction, Ward quickly convinced her publisher that they should not stigmatise or hide her own experience with mental illness. The compromise saw them explain that while many elements of The Snake Pit were fictionalised, it rested upon real experience. Personally I have no desire to puzzle out which elements may or may not be entirely real. Rather, I took the entirety of the novel as the experience it was, the chance to visit a mind which was at once fractures and also fighting its way back towards independence. The most stunning thing Ward does is how she writes from Virginia's perspective. She consistently switches between first, second, and third person narration, often within a paragraph and definitely within a page. While this initially takes some getting used to, I quickly found it to be a genius way of letting the reader experience how Virginia's sense of self has been fractured, both by her breakdown but also by the "treatments" she experiences, such as shock therapy, baths, and wet wraps. From the very first chapter, which an editor once dared suggest she cut, the reader becomes aware that something isn't entirely right. And yet the novel is so funny! The way Virginia thinks, the almost snarky comments she makes to herself, and some of the characters she meets are incredibly funny and were meant to be. Ward complained about the lack of humour in the film adaptation of the book, managing to squeeze a few of the jokes back into the script. For her, it was important that readers get to laugh with the patients, rather than at the patients and I believe she strikes this balance incredibly well. I very much look forward to reading more by Mary Jane Ward and will be doing my own personal best to re-establish this book as a clasic.
The Snake Pit truly blew me away. It is an utterly captivating story, told with such pathos and literary ingenuity that I couldn't tear myself away. I'm very grateful to Library of America for bringing this novel back into circulation.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
The Snake Pit was a bestseller upon its publication 75 years ago and caused its author, Mary Jane Ward, to become something of an advocate for mental health reform. In an afterword, Larry Lockridge, Ward's cousin, describes how she would visit hundreds of asylums in the years after the novel's publication and how she engaged with countless of officials to promote the better treatment of patients. And yet the novel was one that has been out of print for a while and which is not listed amongst the classics it inspired, like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath or Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I wonder why that was. In a way, The Snake Pit feels like a fever dream, full of stunning imagery and the oddest scenes, rather than a harsh take down or overly pointed social criticism. And yet it is through this almost dreamlike quality that Ward is able to depict the way in which the asylum system within which she landed threatened to destroy her spirit. The novel is based on Ward's own experience of being in an asylum after various nervous breakdowns and the way she combines this dreamlike distance with hard reality is stunning. The novel is full of human beings, some of whom have utterly lost touch with reality and others whose strictness and dismissal of the patients' humanity makes them seem utterly cold. The ingenuity of the novel's approach and style makes this an utter masterpiece and Ward's work afterwards emphasises the real suffering which underlies the novel's plot.
Virginia Stuart Cunningham is talking to a man about voices she may or may not be hearing. Or perhaps she is in a park, talking to a young woman. Or is she in prison? Surely she hasn't done anything deserving of a prison sentence? But she doesn't know where she is, why she doesn't have her glasses, or why she is led to a room for an electric shock. She slowly comes to realise she is in an insane asylum and that something is wrong with her. From there begins her journey back to the outside world, marked by various cycles of improvement and regression, and journeys from one ward to another. The one thing that remains stable is her relationship with her husband, who faithfully visits her whenever he is allowed and has full faith in her soon-to-come recovery. But he has no idea of the reality inside the asylum and of the dread filling Victoria at both the prospect of never getting out and the prospect of having to face the "real world" again. The Snake Pit has, when you put it very bluntly, a rather limited plot, in the sense that not a whole lot seems to happen. And yet, under the surface of the action, mostly Virginia moving from ward to ward, there is a whole world of characterisation, observation, and development. I was utterly gripped by the way Ward allows the reader entry into Virginia's mind and of Ward's description of the various women she meets. It is such a complex portrayal of personhood and sanity and womanhood. I am so glad that Library of America has decided to reprint this novel, especially with the added material such as Larry Lockridge's Afterword, a letter by Ward herself, and discussion prompts. It is a truly comprehensive edition that way, which allows readers to enjoy the fiction but also get to know the facts behind it.
Mary Jane Ward had written several novels before she sat down to write The Snake Pit. While originally it was marketed as pure fiction, Ward quickly convinced her publisher that they should not stigmatise or hide her own experience with mental illness. The compromise saw them explain that while many elements of The Snake Pit were fictionalised, it rested upon real experience. Personally I have no desire to puzzle out which elements may or may not be entirely real. Rather, I took the entirety of the novel as the experience it was, the chance to visit a mind which was at once fractures and also fighting its way back towards independence. The most stunning thing Ward does is how she writes from Virginia's perspective. She consistently switches between first, second, and third person narration, often within a paragraph and definitely within a page. While this initially takes some getting used to, I quickly found it to be a genius way of letting the reader experience how Virginia's sense of self has been fractured, both by her breakdown but also by the "treatments" she experiences, such as shock therapy, baths, and wet wraps. From the very first chapter, which an editor once dared suggest she cut, the reader becomes aware that something isn't entirely right. And yet the novel is so funny! The way Virginia thinks, the almost snarky comments she makes to herself, and some of the characters she meets are incredibly funny and were meant to be. Ward complained about the lack of humour in the film adaptation of the book, managing to squeeze a few of the jokes back into the script. For her, it was important that readers get to laugh with the patients, rather than at the patients and I believe she strikes this balance incredibly well. I very much look forward to reading more by Mary Jane Ward and will be doing my own personal best to re-establish this book as a clasic.
The Snake Pit truly blew me away. It is an utterly captivating story, told with such pathos and literary ingenuity that I couldn't tear myself away. I'm very grateful to Library of America for bringing this novel back into circulation.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
June 23, 2014
I read this book after I read an article stating that Sylvia Plath had read it and used it as inspiration for The Bell Jar. I could see the similarities in the two books. Overall I really enjoyed the book. I had to search to find it as it appears that it is not published any more. What a shame. The first chapter was difficult to read, but once you get into the book you understand the first chapter. It was interesting to read about some of the therapies used such as the tubs and how crude ECT was at the time. But one wonders whether treatment has improved much since them as we tend to use chemical lobotomies now. I also found it interesting how overall her doctor(s) would not listen to her or see that she was struggling. I think this book should be considered on the same level as The Bell Jar as for me Mary Jane Ward was able to capture the pain she was feeling, even if it was emotional pain. For me, The Bell Jar lacked some of that aspect.
February 3, 2017
What made me give this book 5 stars? Honestly, I have a hard time describing why I give a books 4 instead of a 5. Usually my 4s are books I really really enjoyed, with well drawn characters and a writing style I like.
5s tend to be the ones which really stick with me, in addition to the aforementioned book traits.
This is a book which I have a hard time outlining, but also one which I remember putting down various times and thinking very hard about what was just written. I'll definitely read it again.
It's unfortunate it seems to be difficult to get copies...I needed to get mine from a seller.
5s tend to be the ones which really stick with me, in addition to the aforementioned book traits.
This is a book which I have a hard time outlining, but also one which I remember putting down various times and thinking very hard about what was just written. I'll definitely read it again.
It's unfortunate it seems to be difficult to get copies...I needed to get mine from a seller.
September 5, 2015
Before 1946 they lowered insane persons into snake pits. The theory was that such an experience might drive a sane person out of his wits so it might send an insane person back to sanity.
Finally putting Virginia in with the worst patients showed her that she was not as bad as she thought she was. Working in the cafeteria she gained confidence, doing her job better than everyone else.
Unbelievable that 60 years ago mentally ill people were treated this way. Not even allowed to read.
Finally putting Virginia in with the worst patients showed her that she was not as bad as she thought she was. Working in the cafeteria she gained confidence, doing her job better than everyone else.
Unbelievable that 60 years ago mentally ill people were treated this way. Not even allowed to read.
September 29, 2016
I read this book as a young teenager..it haunted me for a long time..later down the road in my thirties I re read it...once again it haunted me...now in my sixties if something brings it to the forefront I think about for a few days...needless to say this book made a real impression on me....not for good nor for bad. Probably as a young teen I couldn't understand most of what I read but it left me scarred inside ...
August 26, 2015
This is a good read if you enjoy learning about mental illness and mental hospitals. I learned a lot, especially about the treatment of patients. As if the illness isn't bad enough, the treatment and the setting is unbelievable. Read the book first and then watch the movie.
July 25, 2024
Truly any one of us could one day struggle to tell the difference between a dry wet mop and a wet dry mop
December 29, 2023
Mary Jane Ward's "The Snake Pit" is a haunting exploration of mental illness that emerged from the author's own harrowing experiences in a psychiatric hospital during the 1940s. This 1946 novel, later adapted into a film in 1948 starring Olivia de Havilland, stands as a powerful testament to the challenges faced by individuals navigating the labyrinth of mental health institutions.
The narrative unfolds through the lens of a thirty-five-year-old novelist who, in 1941, suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The protagonist's journey through a psychiatric hospital in upstate New York is gripping and raw, offering readers an intimate glimpse into the complexities of mental illness during an era where understanding and treatment were evolving.
Ward's writing is both poignant and evocative, delving into the psyche of the protagonist as she grapples with her own sanity. The portrayal of the hospital environment is vivid, and Ward's storytelling effectively conveys the disorienting and dehumanizing aspects of institutionalization. As a reader, you are immersed in the protagonist's struggle, feeling the weight of the challenges she faces in her battle for mental well-being.
"The Snake Pit" not only serves as a personal narrative but also sparked important societal changes. The 1948 film adaptation played a pivotal role in initiating investigative journalism and inspiring legislative reforms in the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness. Ward's contribution to this critical dialogue is commendable and cements the novel's place in the canon of mental health literature.
Comparable to Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" and Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Snake Pit" influenced these later works and remains a seminal piece in its own right. It navigates the intersection of personal struggle and societal response, leaving an indelible mark on the literary landscape.
This authoritative edition from the Library of America includes a thought-provoking afterword by Ward's cousin, Larry Lockridge. The Reading Group Guide enhances the reading experience by providing additional context about Ward and the real-life inspiration behind the novel, fostering deeper reflections on the themes explored.
In conclusion, "The Snake Pit" is a profound and impactful work that sheds light on the historical treatment of mental illness. While the subject matter is heavy and at times emotionally intense, Ward's narrative prowess makes it a compelling and essential read for those interested in the intersection of literature and mental health advocacy.
The narrative unfolds through the lens of a thirty-five-year-old novelist who, in 1941, suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The protagonist's journey through a psychiatric hospital in upstate New York is gripping and raw, offering readers an intimate glimpse into the complexities of mental illness during an era where understanding and treatment were evolving.
Ward's writing is both poignant and evocative, delving into the psyche of the protagonist as she grapples with her own sanity. The portrayal of the hospital environment is vivid, and Ward's storytelling effectively conveys the disorienting and dehumanizing aspects of institutionalization. As a reader, you are immersed in the protagonist's struggle, feeling the weight of the challenges she faces in her battle for mental well-being.
"The Snake Pit" not only serves as a personal narrative but also sparked important societal changes. The 1948 film adaptation played a pivotal role in initiating investigative journalism and inspiring legislative reforms in the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness. Ward's contribution to this critical dialogue is commendable and cements the novel's place in the canon of mental health literature.
Comparable to Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" and Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Snake Pit" influenced these later works and remains a seminal piece in its own right. It navigates the intersection of personal struggle and societal response, leaving an indelible mark on the literary landscape.
This authoritative edition from the Library of America includes a thought-provoking afterword by Ward's cousin, Larry Lockridge. The Reading Group Guide enhances the reading experience by providing additional context about Ward and the real-life inspiration behind the novel, fostering deeper reflections on the themes explored.
In conclusion, "The Snake Pit" is a profound and impactful work that sheds light on the historical treatment of mental illness. While the subject matter is heavy and at times emotionally intense, Ward's narrative prowess makes it a compelling and essential read for those interested in the intersection of literature and mental health advocacy.
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