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.
This except from a medical book from the mid 19th century explores the idea of insanity as a uniquely feminine problem. Jarvis explores the idea that the female body is prone to insanity much more than their male counterparts. Rhetoric such as this medical book provided grounds for courts and doctors to see women as inherently insane without any evidence, leading to misdiagnoses and forced hospitalizations.
