MovieChat Forums > The Snake Pit (1948) Discussion > Pretty typical...

Pretty typical...

posted 9 years ago by vgarci2003
1 reply | jump to latest

In the 40's and 50's it was not uncommon for a woman to be institutionalized because she didn't conform in one way or another....usually at the request of her husband for not do what he considered her"wifely duty". Not necessarily just sex, but, for example, not drying the dishes, not ironing the shirts, not putting a "hard gloss" shine on those floors. Well, we've "progressed" from that, I guess. But some men still long for the "good ole days" when we knew our place.

[–] krakhouse 9 years ago

Well that is one way to look at it.

There were also husbands and wives that loved each other so very much and were looking for a real way to curb their spouse's suffering. Mental illness is not an illusion that is put on one party to the detriment of another. But you are right in the sense that it was often misunderstood, misdiagnosed and most certainly abused. Conformity to society was more important then and this could ostracize anyone with noticeable differences, putting them in an asylum.