Why Is Mary Lincoln Insane
Many know Mary Todd Lincoln as Abraham Lincoln s wife who is considered to be crazy, or insane.
However, many who know and study Mary Lincoln s background, are more sympathetic to her mental
state, and try to find the truth behind her present, or not present mental illness. It is a debate still
argued over today with many historians whether or not she was insane enough to be sent to an asylum
like she was forced to do. Since there is no possible way to study her mental state presently, historians
rely on letters, stories, texts, and present day medical knowledge in order to form their most accurate
conclusion of Mary Lincoln s mental state. Their conclusions widely differ; however, most historians
do agree that Mary Todd Lincoln s childhood, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, historians do disagree on the level of mental instability this would have caused her to
endure. The historians that argue that Mary Lincoln was not insane, but was suffering emotional
trauma, consider Mary Lincoln to be narcissistic, or just emotionally unstable instead of mentally.
Historian Jean Baker is one who argues this point of view. She stresses the deaths throughout Mary s
life, and the psychological importance they have in her emotional behavior. After the death of her
mother, Mary would always view death as an abandonment of a loved one. Mary felt she was unloved
and abandoned by her family when they passed away. She diagnoses Mary Lincoln with narcissism.
Baker goes on to argue that during the Victorian era, marriage and childbearing were signs of a
complete woman, but if a woman failed at this, or had a child die, then society has reason to look
down on the woman as not fulfilling her duty. Therefore, Mary also had the world to view and judge
her behavior, adding to the pressure she was already under. When her son, Robert, brought her to trial
for lunacy, Baker points out that even the lawyer Robert chose to represent Mary tried to back out
because he had his own doubts about her accused insanity. Baker feels that a broken heart is not a
broken mind. Historians Justin and Linda Turner also argue this approach. They look back to Mary s
childhood, and rely on Dr. W.A. Evan s analysis of how the death of Mary s mother, at such a young
age, was a traumatic experience for her. He says she was most likely over indulged after this event,
and then later on she was denied proper training in areas such as patience, because of the overcrowded
home she was living in. The Turners use Mary s own letters to, in a sense, let her speak for herself.
They find her problems to be
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