The Mask of Sanity

this includes speculations of mental state. In Reading in the Dark, Seamus Deane challenges the stereotypes of sanity and mental wellbeing accompanying social status, he portrays this message through the use of character actions. In this paper I will be focusing primarily on the characters of Crazy Joe and the narrator’s mother, and how their actions cause the reader to question their sanity. The character Crazy Joe is referred to as being mentally deranged in multiple passages throughout the…

His greeting and parting exclamations are vastly exaggerated, probably as the face of his mask of madness. His early retorts to Gertrude’s harsh words, are also exaggerated in the meaning, yet chiding in tone – a warning of the anger that is to come, as well as a demonstration of the hidden existence of his sanity. Nonetheless, his erratic behaviour and mood swings seem to indicate a mental disorder. His rant towards Gertrude is marked by conspicuous…

the Holocaust. His father Vladek, is frugal, “waste not, want not” as during the Holocaust food was scare, so Artie had to eat everything on his plate during his childhood. On the back flap of the novel, it depicts Artie as a human wearing a mouse mask while inside the novel, all the characters are portrayed as…

Even though delusions can be used as a defence mechanism during hard times, in the end, it is inevitable that reality will triumph. Blanche’s own perception of herself falls apart slowly throughout the play, and eventually her overwhelming reality leads to her complete withdrawal from the real world. We begin to see Blanche unravel once her self perception is questioned by those around her; most obviously by Stanley. Stanley is very much the opposite of Blanche; he is grounded, practical, and…

With an aristocratic face and a “cultivated voice,” he wears a mask of sanity that conceals his heinous intentions from Rainsford. However, his true form is nothing like the disguise Zaroff wears; he is barbaric and uncivilized. He has placed “a collection of [human] heads” in his library, and is very proud of them, offering…

The most renowned authors of literature, famous figures such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, are widely known for, among many other qualities, their ability to condense powerful meaning into concise, easily overlooked phrases. Of course, well-known classical authors also have a penchant for penning intricate and multifaceted novels, and Herman Melville is no exception. Melville’s Moby-Dick is, at first glance, a work of extreme complexity, full of musings concerning language, nature, and the…

Appearances vs. Reality in Macbeth What is the truth hiding behind the masks? To the naked eye it may seem normal, but it could all be a lie. On the outside a normal, kind human being, but the inside a monster waits. It will only be a matter of time till everything catches up to the person who hides their real identity. Appearances vs. reality in Macbeth have three main focus points: how sinister Lady Macbeth is in reality, how the guilt is in Macbeth on the outside vs. on the inside, and how…

Claudius’ fear for his life to increasing as time goes by, to mask his fear, Claudius decides to send Hamlet away to England causing much more needed action in the play. Hamlet’s madness, whether it’d be perceived as real or feigned, did not magically emerge through the desire to seek revenge or the murder of his father, Hamlet's madness has been there since the beginning many characters and Denmark itself contributed to Hamlet’s sanity. Throughout the play, it is evident that Hamlet is…

universe where freedom is just an illusion. Freethinking is banned and the government controls people's lives. Most lives in dystopian society's are controlled by a director in power, who controls people's minds in order to brainwash them from their own sanity. "1984" is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell. The protagonist in this novel is Winston Smith, a thirty-nine year old man living in a corrupted society controlled by Big Brother, who is a dictator, who manipulates people's minds…

coffin. Claudius took upon himself the crown, and Gertrude hastily wedded the fresh king. Prince Hamlet is concerned over the morality of his mother’s swift marriage to his uncle. However, unbeknownst to Hamlet, Claudius now wears both the crown and a mask of innocence. The truth is revealed to Hamlet one night after a few friends drag him along on nightly guard duty to witness an apparition that has appeared. Hamlet stays with them and eventually a ghost materializes. Amazed by this spectacle,…