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Women and Madness from the Silver Screen to Reality: Examining Female Mental Illness in Films and Actresses of Classic Hollywood

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First Reader Agustin Zarzosa Parcero
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 Semester Spring 2025
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Zarzosa Parcero, Agustin
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Spring 2025
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2025
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9790_Lauren_Wren.pdf
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/16682
Abstract
In post-WWII Hollywood, medical discourse cinema was on the rise, and the portrayal of female mental illness was developing and evolving. With the release of The Snake Pit (1948), new levels of realism within these depictions were achieved, and later strengthened with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). The reception of these films by critics and audiences reveals mid-century societal attitudes towards women. Parallel to these fictional narratives, the actresses Vivien Leigh and Gene Tierney experienced mental breakdowns during their careers in the 1950s, blurring the lines between cinematic portrayals and reality. This thesis reveals the treatment of these characters and actresses by examining film reviews, newspaper articles, and biographical materials, exposing the ambivalent reactions as realistic depictions and stories took the forefront. These films and the lives of Leigh and Tierney retain relevance today, as current historical movements push audiences to revisit and view these stories through a new perspective.
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