
Mary Jane Ward's 'The Snake Pit' is a harrowing tale of a mental hospital, narrated from the point of view of Virginia, a young woman who had a breakdown. The novel delves into the problems faced by inmates, the dynamics between patients and staff, and the daily struggles of life in the institution. Through Virginia's narrative, the readers are taken on a journey of confusion, fear, and hope as she navigates her way through the surreal environment of the mental health facility. Ward's writing style shifts between first, second, and third person, reflecting Virginia's constantly fluctuating mental state and making her an unreliable narrator, adding depth to the story.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for The Snake Pit include depictions of mental illness, trauma, institutional abuse, electroshock therapy, neglect, and graphic descriptions of life in a psychiatric hospital.
From The Publisher:
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.
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About the Author:
Mary Jane Ward (1905-1981) was the author of nine novels, including her three autobiographical novels that concern mental illness and its treatment-The Snake Pit (1946), Counterclockwise (1969), and The Other Caroline (1970). Her papers are held at Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
Larry Lockridge is Professor Emeritus of English at New York University, and has held Danforth, Woodrow Wilson, and Guggenheim fellowships. He is the author of several books, including a biography of his father, Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr., Author of Raintree County.
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