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Books/films/people who mistreat wives and label them insane

36 replies

Fishboneschokus · 02/10/2015 20:50

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a common theme?
I don't think that I have read enough books to give examples.
The only thing that I can up with was the recent docudrama about Lucan, who wanted to divorce his wife so tricked her into going to a 'health spa', which turned out to be a sanatorium.

I have looked up gas lighting but NOY 100 percent if I have it right.

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LeaLeander · 25/10/2015 18:00

Oh yes, I loved Midnight Lace as well! It's not perhaps the greatest filmmaking ever but quite entertaining for a couple of hours. "Mrs. Preston...." that eerie voice!

verona · 25/10/2015 17:53

Another film is Midnight Lace starring Doris Day and Rex Harrison. Certainly fits the criteria. I remember loving this film when I was younger but not sure it's a particularly great film

LeaLeander · 25/10/2015 17:23

Films that spring to mind:

Suspicion (Hitchcock)
What Lies Beneath (Harrison Ford was one of the actors)
Gaslight (of course)
Stepford Wives
Rosemary's Baby
Dial M for Murder (sort of)

Haven't seen it in a while but "Sorry, Wrong Number" a famous film and radio play I think is along these lines.

You're right, it's a popular plot device.

ladybird69 · 25/10/2015 17:19

sorry just gave huge chunk of the story away but the rest of film is very good with twists etc

ladybird69 · 25/10/2015 17:17

I watched a film recently with this kind of story, it was one of those American films that didn't make it to the big screen so can't remember the title.
In the end the young woman was having a baby and the Mil drugged her so that she could take the baby from her. anyone know it?

Hygge · 23/10/2015 11:05

The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford has a bit of this sort of thing going on.

The Nearest Thing to Crazy by Elizabeth Forbes also might be worth a look.

The Magpies by Mark Edwards is good and has similar tones and themes.

Who Is Sarah Lawson by KJ Rabane is another good one with similar themes going on. A woman goes home to find a strange family living in her house, insisting she is not who she claims to be.

Galaxymum · 11/10/2015 15:36

This novel Wildthorn by Jane Eagland is excellent aimed at YA audience and very detailed. It is based on a true story as explained on her website. Not well known but well worth reading.

janeeagland.com/books/wildthorn/

I studied this theme at university and it can greatly affect you. I studied The Yellow Wallpaper and The Shitter of Snow (Emily Holmes Coleman). This was related to PND and is screaming to be made into a film.

Do read The Madwoman in the Attic anyone interested in the theme - they give you such a detailed analysis of the Victorian novels and poems which introduce the themes later taken on by more modern authors.

slugseatlettuce · 11/10/2015 12:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnneEtAramis · 04/10/2015 10:42

Some great suggestions here.

I was going to suggest a film 'The Changeling'. I don't remember there being a husband but it was very disturbing.

DuchessofMalfi · 04/10/2015 08:54

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry deals with the mistreatment of a woman, who was then confined to a psychiatric hospital for having a baby.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes has domestic violence and emotional abuse at its heart.

MNHQ
DawnMumsnet · 03/10/2015 22:54

Hi there,

We're moving this thread over to our Adult Fiction topic for safekeeping. Smile

wickedwaterwitch · 03/10/2015 10:04

Stepford wives, not quite the brief but still

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stepford_Wives

Original poster
Fishboneschokus · 03/10/2015 09:45

Thank you
Plenty to read.
I've asked mn to move this to fiction.
:)

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MorrisZapp · 03/10/2015 08:42

Oh and much the same thing only with a troublingly intelligent daughter in A Proper Education For Girls. Hilarious book but with a very dark side. The doctor in that one is downright evil.

MorrisZapp · 03/10/2015 08:40

The Crimson Petal and the White. There's an outrageous prostitute, and a mousy wife. The mousy wife is driven insane by her husband and a colluding doctor.

The doctor was played by Richard E Grant in the telly version. I never thought I would find Richard E Grant scary but he gave me the full on heebie jeebies.

Poor, poor Agnes.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 03/10/2015 08:32

How to be a good wife by Emma Chapman.

BondGate · 03/10/2015 08:31

Oh, and John Haywood "The Asylum" has similar themes of a woman locked up and labelled as insane.

BondGate · 03/10/2015 08:28

This was passed on to me by a friend, and I haven't got round to reading this one yet, but from the blurb it looks like it fits the wayward daughters put away by their own family brief:

Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

HopeClearwater · 02/10/2015 23:54

Mrs Twit is just as much of a git as Mr Twit though.

clockbuscanada · 02/10/2015 23:24

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman Perkins

ALittleFaith · 02/10/2015 22:54

Not quite 'insane' but This Charming Man is themed around this subject.

Icrackedup · 02/10/2015 22:46

Oh and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Icrackedup · 02/10/2015 22:43

A couple of books to get on with: The Female Malady and The Madwoman in the Attic.

They were on my reading list for a Victorian Lit module at Uni.

Moln · 02/10/2015 22:37

Eh Joffery you're supposed to put the spoiler alert before the spoiler.

Ruined it now for everyone.

Original poster
Fishboneschokus · 02/10/2015 22:32

Thank you everyone.

I'd like to ask if this thread could be moved to adult fiction but I'm now also wondering about 'wayward' daughters who were 'put away' by their own families.
When I was at school, I volunteered in a private psychiatric hospital, serving teas to elderly women who had lived there all their lives. Around the same time it emerged that a Bowes-Lyon relative of the Queen Mum had had the same.

Does anyone know of any further reading on this subject?

And thanks especially for The Twits.

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