Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Irrational thinking and behavior can become dangerous to others or to oneself, and is a controversial topic, aren't we all insane to some degree? Insanity can be used as defense in the courtroom as well, bringing an entirely different context to he word, and broadens the term to create a vagueness about it. So what really determines insanity and is it always bad? Losing contact with reality is certainly dangerous by society’s standards and is exactly what happened in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman.
The Yellow Wallpaper follows the thought process that the narrator has while cooped up in a room, by doctors orders, and is forbidden to see anyone. Instead of curing her initial illness, the narrator spirals out of mental stability and into the depths of insanity. The object she becomes fixed on while in the room is the wallpaper. She acknowledged it from the start but slowly continued to be fixated on the color and design of it- to the point where it was all she talked about. She started giving life to the wallpaper and seeing people within it, trapped, that it was her sole purpose to release. This was a clear example of a character losing touch with their surroundings.
For as long as there have been celebrities, there have been those that could not cope with the fame that came along with it, and often turn to drugs as methods of coping. This was exactly the case for Britney Spears who was idolized for her music by millions, when the prying turned to her personal life, it was clear she wanted out. She has reported drug abuse in this time and famously shaved her head because she was “tired of everyone everyone touching her.” Just like the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, she was forced into situations, and under a lot of scrutiny. The media also blew up the entire scenario for Britney and easily portrayed her as one who is insane, likely without knowing the whole story.
Personally, I believe that the justification for losing touch with reality can only be done in extreme cases, as the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper believed that the people she saw on the walls were real, and little was done by her family to relate to her condition of being alone inside for months at time. The definition for insanity seems to be a very vague line that anyone can cross, but put under certain pressures can lead to true madness.
