The Madwoman:
An Analysis in Judgment
Part I
Madness and Addiction
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The Madwoman is at the heart of addiction (her energy) and the
womb centre of creativity
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Madness and addiction have been linked through the ages;
every addiction has in the means to lead to madness
The “addict” lives out of the craziness we fear, acting out of
bounds so we reject her/him
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In turn, addicts come to reject the society that rejects them
Unmasking the Modern Day Woman
Culture, Projection, and the Madwoman
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Cultural projections feed and breed the madwoman
Traditionally woman’s role is to be loved by a man - she is there to
serve as his pure, angelic, feminine soul image, the one who inspires
him to love beauty, and a better life
Or as the mother the woman is supposed to be the nurturer and
caretaker, but if she rejects these images
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She is scorn - usual scorns, not feminine, overweight, or worse
yet if she is an alcoholic or sex addict...
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She is given labels of primitive feminine darkness - whore,
tramp, bag lady, - she is truly a madwoman (something is
wrong)
Madwoman At the End of The Line
Misdiagnosis / Pathology
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The addict is often misunderstood as neurotic/insane, where
addiction is thought be overcome by ego strength, insight,
adaptation, moral fortitude
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Giving the addict the idea that they can do it on their own
Addictive symptoms are also objectified and diagnosed into
psychiatric classifications, such as:
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antisocial personality disorder; borderline personality
disorder
paranoid schizophrenia
manic depressive disorders
The Psychology of the Madwoman
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Some madwomen turn their anger against men, by being the coaddict who plays the martyred wife, devouring the partner through
control, guilt, judgements and putting the partner down as weak
willed
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They can also play the wily seductress, some madwoman reject the
other sex altogether, or the madwoman can function inside men in
the form misogyny
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Misogyny here - the male turning away from his own anima
(feminine nature) inside
T.S. Elliot Remarks
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In that open field
If you do not come too close, if you do not come to close,
On a summer midnight you can hear the music
Of the weak pipe and the little drum
And see them dancing around the bonfire
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The association of man and woman
In daunsinge, signifying matrimonieA dignified and commodious sacrament.
Two and two, necessarye conjuction
A Word about the Anima
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The anima is the feminine side of a man, or more graphically, inside
every man is a woman whom he must come to terms with.
It is one of the great works of a man’s life to try to relate to this
woman and for woman to relate to this man (animus)
Indeed, we could say that a man / woman can not have a
relationship with the another person, without this interior man /
woman becoming activated and wanting to have it say
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Man and women may be at odds with his own anima women (Dan in
fatal attraction); and her own animus
Anima / Animus are Archetypes
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Culturally conditioned
Both informed by individual consciousness and collective
consciousness
First imprinting comes from mother / father or caregivers
Their behavior was conditioned by stereotypes of that time
What initially attracts and repels you with respect to your choice of
lover / mate / etc.
Filmologie
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Exploring the Madwoman Archetype In Anima / Animus Light
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We are trying to recapture experience where images confronts
consciousness constituting a direction and world (Andrew, 1993)
Unlock dynamics through narratives, images, and identification with
self (Meunier, 1968)
Hermeneutics of Suspicion: listen in openness to symbol and to
narrative and thereby to allow creative events to occur "in front of"
the phenomenon, and to have their effect on us (Ricoeur, 1970)
Fatal Immersion
What are we Seeing?
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Theory and thoughts?
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Dan drawn to her open sexuality
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What role has Dan’s wife taken on - what role has he placed her in?
Family Life
Apparently Happy?
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Seemingly in love with wife
Adores son
But deep within?
Anima Dilemma
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An anima dilemma or?
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Madonna / Whore Split
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Anima dilemma - did his wife become solely the elevation
of mother?
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With this split man may find himself lamenting the loss of
his sexual desire and unconsciously rendering himself
incapable of maintaining a satisfying sexual relationship
because to have sex with mother is a taboo
Or his need for love and connection has been super
masculinized - women have always been lust objects - his
need for sensual connection is twisted between intimacy
and the sexual act and euphoria (which is fleeting)
A constant need to devour the image keeps the proper
persona intact
The Seduction
Thoughts? Shall We be the Judge?
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Are we going to judge?
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Leonard speaking about the judge says “it is the self-righteous
figure who seeks perfection and dominance”. The Judge has an
answer to everything; self-justification is his/her ploy control
and power are the goal.
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Cover Up Call
The Inner Judge
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The judge inside us will refuse to let us face our own
humanity
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We will see if Dan get here or not?
Will Dan do as the Lawyer Clamence did?
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“Elude judgement by forgetting” (p. 147)
Needs to maintain proper Persona, needs to remain innocent for the
sake of being immune to judgement (I can continue to control others)
Inviting Madness: The Cutting
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Thoughts and reactions?
What was going on for Alex?
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One could say her animus is activated (strongly)
Obviously hurt
Judging him - but lost herself in the chaos; thus forget to judge herself
Avoidance of deeper feelings - triggers past wound Anima Misunderstandings
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The failure of men to relate to the anima brings in its wake all sorts of
mischief.
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Men who become entangled with the madwoman are first
entranced, delusionally in love and then sometimes sickened by
her behavior and demeanour.
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Men imagine, for example, that the woman they fall in love
with is actually the way they imagine her to be failing to realize
that the woman within is constantly projecting herself outside
and mingling with the woman without in such a pervasive and
subtle way that it is difficult to separate the two.
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In more extreme cases men who cannot make contact with their
own deep inner feelings, with their own anima, run the risk of
hurting themselves and others.