Madness and Society: A Comparative Study of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Sylvia Plath’s the Bell Jar
Author(s):
Oussama Houassi
This article examines the depiction of madness in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment (1866) and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (1963), analyzing how these writers use psychological chaos to critique social structures and explain the human condition. While Dostoevsky locates the origins of Raskolnikov's madness in the socio-economic and philosophical tensions of 19th-century Russia, Plath examines Esther Greenwood’s struggle against gender expectations in mid-20th-century America. This study focuses on three main aspects: the social and cultural construction of madness, the narrative techniques used to depict psychological instability, and the treatment of madness as a means of social critique. Through comparative analysis, this paper highlights the common dimensions of human suffering and the enduring impact of social norms on individual well-being. Combining the two works, she argues that madness functions as both a narrative device and a form of resistance, providing insight into mental health and social issues.
