Bly investigated an asylum in the 19th century by feigning insanity. The included excepts display Bly's attempt and ultimate success in being declared insane by the courts. Most of the book explores what the asylum was like; however, this particular section enlightens what female insanity "looked like" in the 19th century, even to other women. Although Bly's work was inevitably a positive force for institutionalized women, she also plays into stereotypes of the "insane woman," which inadvertently legitimizes the harmful stereotypes that led to these systems of abuse.
Gilman's unpublished poem was written during the final months of her pregnancy with her only child. She cries out to God, asking for him to "help [her] to live" in a "noble and earnest and pure" way. Although this was written before she was subjected to the rest cure, Gilman's poem candidly explores her relationship to depression and mental illness.
