Virginia Woolf Madness Analysis

The word ‘Madness’ always has a negative connotation with it. Generally it means “the state of having a serious mental illness”. Unlike any other illness, it is considered something abnormal in the society and also often excluded from it. Why is it considered abnormal? First of all what does it mean by being ‘abnormal’. Any behavior far away from the set codes of behavior is abnormal. The actions and ideas which are in contrast opposition to the set standards of society and question its predominating ideology and living are considered abnormal. Some strange behaviors actually make the society to think on their long prevailing set standards and subsequently have the power to create a milieu of rebel. Such a changed behavior threatens the ‘normality’ of the society and is capable of influencing its long convincing inhabitants against its very law and system. Out of such a threatening quality, these truth-revealing ideas and actions have been labeled as abnormal by the State or the people in power with the fear of possible rebel and are eventually excluded from the society in a disguise of ‘abnormality’. Exclusion of

It has not only been discussed but also used as a symbol by the great artists as Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf to convey and expose deeper, metaphorical messages. In their works the state of insanity is used as a symbol of a superior cognition of the world or deeper sensitivities. The motif of madness as a symbol is also often exploited by many women writers of nineteenth century. As the perspective towards madness has been changed throughout the period from ancient Greece to modern, its usage as a certain symbol is also constantly changing. From the revelation of the darkest secrets of the world in ancient time it has now been used by nineteenth century writers as a symbol of