In Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat" and Nellie Bly's "Ten Days in a Mad-House," the true meaning of madness is explored. Poe's work recounts a story from the narrator's point of view on how he ended up in prison on death row. Scheduled to be hung in the gallows the next day, the narrator recounts in his journal what sent him to this fate. Throughout his story he still fervently denies that he is insane, even though it is clearly obvious through his actions. In Bly's short story she narrates in the first person her ten-day stay in the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. In her very detailed story, she elaborates on the truly insane women she encounters and the gross neglect they receive. Throughout the two stories, one major theme can be seen, the perception of insanity. By using first person narration, personal and external opinions, Bly and Poe are able to capture the true essence of insanity, perception. 

Both Poe's "The Black Cat" and Bly's "Ten Days in a Madhouse" are told in the first person. This is extremely important and helpful to the reader and makes both stories more personable and tangible. By using first person narration, Bly is able to give the reader details like street signs announcing, "visitors are not allowed on this road" (Bly 190). Bly is also able to give perceptible and humane details through sensory writing. She recounts her experience in the bath saying her "teeth chattered and [her] limbs were goose-fleshed and blue with cold" (Bly 196). These first person details allow for the readers to truly understand what she is experiencing and help them to see her perception of the situation. Poe employs the same tactic of first person narration in his short story. The narrator describes his predicament and setting with extremely dark and, at times, gruesome details. While examining the rubble from the charred remains of his home, the narrator, very confused, dictates how "[all] the walls, with one exception, had fallen in" (Poe 2). Following this puzzling line, Poe, through the narrator, states that there is an impression of "a rope about the [cats] neck" (Poe 2). Both Bly and Poe use first person narration in their pieces. By doing this, they are able to accurately show their own perception of their environment and people in said environment. The real question is how truthful is that perception. The perception of malice and insanity are easily seen through the dark setting and actions of the characters. 

By using the first person, Bly and Poe are able to make clear the characters own personal perceptions of themselves. In Poe's work, the narrator states within the first few lines that "mad [he is] not -- and very surely does [he] not dream" (Poe). This is meant to show that, regardless of how the story progresses, the narrator is not mad and that he is not living in a fantasy. The definition of dissociation, a very aggressive psychological disorder, is "a perceived detachment of the mind from the emotional state or even from the body" (MedicineNet). The narrator displays textbook symptoms of this. In the act of maiming his cat, the narrator remarks that his "soul seemed, at once, to take flight from [his] body" then he believes his "soul remained untouched" (Poe). This proves that the narrator does not perceive himself as insane, he believes he is sane and that something insane took over his body. This is, however, a common symptom of psychological insanity. 

In Bly's account of her time at the insane asylum, it is clear she is not insane. She visited the asylum and pretended to be insane to gain entry and understand what it truly meant to be committed. What is interesting, however, is the way she perceives herself in relation to Poe's narrator. Both fervently deny that they are insane. When talking to the doctors, Bly must pretend to be insane. To avoid suspicion, she states she lives "in Cuba" and turned "nineteen last May" (Bly 192-193). Both of these are false, she made them up and that is apparent. Bly also has moments where the idea of insanity makes her laugh. In the bathroom scene, she is "unable to control herself at the absurd picture ... [and] [she] bursts into roars of laughter" (Bly 196). Only someone who is comfortable in their perception of their own sanity would be able to analyze the situation and see the humor in it. Most of the patients there are too passive and permanently committed to care. Personal perception is critical to mental stability. Bly knows she is not insane and her perception matches her psychological state. Adversely, the narrator of "The Black Cat" believes he is not insane but it is evident through his actions and text that he is. His perception of himself does not match his psychological state. When this disconnect happens, insanity often manifests itself. 

In both Bly's and Poe's works, the perception of others, overt and covert, helps increase the idea of insanity and -- to some degree -- makes the stories seem more relatable. Through the story, Bly is very vocal about how she perceives the patients. She refers to the patients, on numerous occasions, as "poor crazy captives", "poor creatures", and many other things of that nature (Bly 194-195). This shows that, regardless of her good intentions, Bly still perceives these women as mentally insane and even subhuman because of their affliction. When on the promenade, Bly describes the "most violent" inmates on the island (Bly 201). She observes women with "vacant eyes and meaningless faces", women who were yelling and cursing and praying, and women who were "fearfully dirty" (Bly 201). This, again, expresses to the reader what her perception of insanity is. Whenever the common person thinks of insanity, the first thing that pops into his or her mind is most likely this worse case scenario patient, not the more docile patients that are more prevalent in Bly's work. Interestingly, there is a line showing how another character judges Bly. A nurse claims insanity "cannot be seen in [Bly's] face", proving that even the mental asylum nurses have a strong archetype of what insanity looks like (Bly 191). 

Poe's work is not as overt in showing how the main character perceives others; however, if one reads deeper into the story, it is evident how the narrator sees others. When confronted by the authorities, the narrator slyly adds "I delight to have allayed your suspicions" and then goes over to the wall -- where his wife's dead body is encased -- and taps on the wall (Poe 5). While tapping he tells the authorities how well the house is made. This behavior is blatantly suspicious and the narrator, clouded by his own insanity, believes the authorities to be dim-witted. His self-assurance and foolish idea that he is more intelligent than the authorities leads to the narrator being captured. The way we perceive others can correctly or, just as easily, incorrectly dictate how we feel towards them or how we treat them. 

When reading both of these works, I see how my own perception of insanity acts and changes my feelings towards the characters. When reading Bly's work, I would not believe that many of the women she talks to are insane. These women do not fit my own personal belief of what a mentally insane individual looks like. My idea of a mentally insane individual is what Bly describes as the most violent patients. My perception is flawed, it is clear that the other women -- regardless of their less noticeable illness -- are not mentally stable. Likewise, when reading Poe's work, I instantly, from the first few lines, deem the narrator insane. I associate senseless violence and dissociative personalities with insanity. In relation to modern times, the perception of insanity is what will get an individual help. People are not considered to be mentally ill unless the exhibit overt signs. Most people who have mental illnesses, however, are very quiet about it -- I speak from experience from family and friends. Unless they ask for help, none is given because the signs are not seen. Bly shows that even seemingly calm and rational individuals can have mental illnesses, she also supports the idea that mental illness perception harms millions by adding the part about the overtly violent patients. She also feeds the fear of those who are afraid to come forward and ask for help through her constant dehumanization of the patients. This was an issue then, and is still an issue now. The mentally ill are often thought less of than those who are mentally sane. Poe's work, likewise, adds to the stereotype that the mentally ill are all violent and irrational. The perception that the only way one can be mentally ill is through recognizable violence and blatant mental instability has had a long rooted effect on millions of individuals now and throughout history. 

In Nellie Bly's "Ten Days in a Mad-House" and Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" mental illness, and what it means, is at the forefront. By using the first person narration, both the authors are able to create a story that really relates to the reader and feeds our own discernments of what it means to be mentally ill. By digging deeper into the characters acuities of themselves, it is evident that mental illness stems from a break in ones personal perception and their mental state. Taking the works a step further, the role of perception of others and mental illness shows that what constitutes insanity is often very different than how most individuals behave. Finally, my own personal perception cannot be left out of the works. I, like most people, have the flawed knowledge of what I believe mental illness to be. Not all mentally ill are babbling mental-cases and inherently violent. In conclusion, it is perception, not the psychological illness, that is the true essence of insanity. This flawed view creates a toxic environment for the mentally ill that are not obviously insane, leading to them hiding their true maladies. Only through a shift of focus on perception to one of the disease itself can we, as a society, break the stigmatism and misconceptions about mental illness. 

