During these times with Frank, he discovers the laws of the universe that govern his life. Donnie’s mental illness causes him to confuse real life with imaginary and he struggles to contain his perception of time while fighting schizophrenia threating to take control. Donnie Darko and the Psychological Aspects in the Film There is a nice slice of the world’s population are diagnosed with mental disorders. These people will swear the most outrageous scenarios are true, because in their mind they are. In one of the more serious cases of mental disorders, people claim to hear voices coming from inside their own heads and this can eventually cause them to believe they are two or more different people.
For example, nursing records showed pseudopatients writing as an aspect of pathological behavior. Hospitalization is counter-therapeutic and dehumanizing. The staff ignored patients’ requests. The absence of eye and verbal contact reflect avoidance and depersonalization. The sources of depersonalization emerge from attitudes of fear and distrust held by all of us toward the mentally ill and hierarchical structure of the psychiatric hospital.
168) Patients who spoke their mind and asserted their rights were declared as insane and silenced; this is exemplified by McMurphy’s lobotomy. From the readers point of view Nurse Ratched is seen to be more insane than many of the acute patients, sick with her power and her authority. The character of Ratched is a metaphor for society in general as she persecutes those who are simply different. This prompts the reader to question as to whether the patients are insane, or is society. The theme of power in the novel can also be related to society.
Beneath the humor in Così is a brutal depiction of society’s treatment of the mentally ill. Louis Nowra’s ‘Cosi’ is a play set in 1971 Melbourne that takes place within a mental asylum. It follows the efforts of young director Lewis Riley in directing the patients there in a performance of the Mozart opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’. Despite the classification of the play as a comedy, beneath ‘Cosi’ is a representation of the brutal treatment experienced by the mentally ill at the hands of society. Nowra employs humor as a means of connecting with audiences and as a vessel to discus difficult issues in a way that is comfortable and accessible. Comedy is also incorporated as a means of characterization and of personalizing mental illness.
I think Medea deserves pity in certain situations, such as in the beginning and the events leading up to the murders, when she is shown crying out in the beginning of the play, “The pain of misery! A world of trouble is falling on me! I want to die!” (lines 98-99). She is shown as an incredibly pitiable character in the beginning of the
The character’s collective existence in the institution is another layer of illusion their ‘madness’ gives them an escape for as long as they need it. The ‘beat’ is a significant part of the play which is intended as an emotional underlining of a key moment of perception or awareness. It indicates a quick change of gears in the reaction of the character to that particular moment. The final ‘beat’ in the last line of Lewis’ final speech illustrates that Lewis realises that his summary almost duplicates the same acceptance of the change of life found in the final words of the Mozart opera. It is also a realisation that he has completed the drama of his life-changing experience.
Cosi marked a turn by Louis Nowra to more personal, autobiographical material, and the turn from the social to the individual is evident in the play itself. Through the use of psychiatric patients in the play, Nowra presents a rebellion against social norms. In terms of the play, however, this entails a rebellion more against “politically correct” attitudes than against conservative notions. This is reinforced by their juxtaposition against Nick and Lucy, Marxists whose concerns with social change and justice are undermined as the play progresses, reinforcing Lewis’s preference for the more “universal”—read, bourgeois individualist—concerns of the opera being presented. The play functions to some extent as a validation of the conservative rejection of socialist ideals.
Many aspects of her life; however, make her madness more excusable. Blanche’s increasingly unstable state comes to an end in her being committed to an asylum. The cause and effect of Blanche’s madness are used to bring the play together as a whole and show how madness affects everyone in the play. In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche drinks, has sex and lies compulsively to help boost her own self esteem. Blanche’s husband commits suicide after Blanche finds him in bed with another man.
“Each patient in Cosi has their own way of escaping reality” Discuss. “I can’t stand real things. If I could put up with reality I wouldn’t be in here.” Reality is a key theme explored throughout Louis Nowra’s play “Cosi”, due to the play being set in an asylum, where each characters reality depends on both their past experiences and their illness. The theme of reality is captured in many different ways, particularly through looking at how each character has their own way of escaping reality. As Lewis directs the play “Cosi Fan Tutte”, it allows many characters, such as Roy and Julie to escape the reality of living in an asylum.
According to Thomas Moore, ‘it is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed’ Moore is depicting here the need for the human kind must reveal themselves in order to find their true identity, as well as that there is madness in everyone and people shouldn’t be so quick to judge. The play Cosi is set in a mental institution in 1971, in Melbourne. There are two scenes in this play that caught my eye when it came to madness and love, and there are two scenes that reinforce this immensely, they are Act 2, Scene 1, and Act 2, scene 2.. Themes that will be discussed are infidelity vs fidelity and madness. Fidelity vs infidelity is an issue depicted in the play because it is an ideal that can never be achieved.