Mentally ill patients have been stigmatized throughout history, because their actual social identity fails to meet their society’s normative expectations. They can either be discredited or discreditable based on their own choice. If a mentally ill patient maintains his/her identity he/she loses his/her social circle and becomes discredited, and his/her identity is spoiled upon concealing his/her status. Entrapment and Loneliness are the main themes in “A Sorrowful Guest,” by Sarah Orne Jewett, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edgar Allen Poe’s poems: “Alone,” “The Raven,” “A Dream” and “Annabel Lee.” These texts and poems demonstrate social stigma towards people with mental health problems during the nineteenth century. The crux of the study is to show how stigma is presented through language, characters, and themes. The study adopts Erving Goffman’s Stigma theory (1963) in analyzing these works. The thesis aims to argue that difference is not deviance, and that people with mental health problems are not all mad or disabled. While there are cases of psychological illnesses that are severe, most cases are treatable. Nevertheless, the media portrays them usually as unpredictable, violent, and dangerous; neglecting the fact that very few cases render violent behavior, while the majority doesn't. As a result, mentally ill patients have been victims of social stigma, prejudice and misconceptions. Stigma, discrimination and banishment are social injustices that deprive MIPs of their humanity and rob them of their rightful opportunities. Thus, they should not be stigmatized, rejected, or stamped with a mark of shame, but rather treated with a very compassionate matter and provided appropriate emotional as well as medical help. |
