In the last century the United States has made significant improvements and adaptations for the betterment of its citizens. One of which includes the rights women have as well as the overall notion of mental institutions. During the late nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century the United States witnessed conclusively that women were discriminated against in society, perhaps even more than African Americans at the time. Additionally, mental institutions were a place people dreaded being placed in because of the sense of being captured and mistreated. Examining this from a historical/cultural aspect through "The Women's Rights Movement" and "The History of Mental Illness: From Skull Drills to Happy Pills" will allow for a better interpretation of the culture in which “Ten Days in a Madhouse” was shaped.

Nelly Bly’s description of her experience in a mental institution in her story “Ten Days in a Madhouse” is mind boggling, knowing that not only was she there, but she turned herself in without any mental problems just to see what the fuss was about with these asylums. After diving into the beginning of her book she wrote about her experience with a rather self-explanatory title, it is evident that the level of insanity in the asylums may not have been from the patients but rather the people controlling them. Nelly speaks out about her witnessing of the treatment of Mrs. Louise Schanz; “But here was a women taken without her own consent from the free world to an asylum and there given no chance to prove her sanity. Confined most probably for life behind asylum bars, without even being told in her language the why and wherefore” (Bly). The disrespect towards women was displayed in this instance, but at the same time the brutal atmosphere of mental asylums was exposed. In “The Women’s Right Movement” Carol Brennan speaks out about the treatment of women in the 1800s. The historical time period was described, “Many women became very passionate about these movements, devoting a great deal of time and effort to them. To their disappointment, however, they found that their roles in reform organizations were quite restricted, just as in general society. Women were limited to behind-the-scenes activities, prevented from voting or public speaking at organizational meetings.” (Brennan). While the treatment of women in asylums during Nelly Bly’s ten-day stay was absurd, it is slightly justified due to the issues America was going through. While the United States had always had inequality between females and males until the early 1900s, it wasn’t as evident as it was in the late 1880s which was about the same time Nelly made her historic appearance in “The Madhouse.” The treatment of women in asylums wasn’t necessarily anything new or surprising during the time period, but mainly because it had always been that way. Once Bly took a stand the rest was history, and now that it has changed so much the treatment during that time is more indisputable. Brennan’s comments point to the connection between the treatment of women in general during the late nineteenth century and the treatment towards them seen in Nelly Bly’s visit to the asylum.

Knowing that there is a direct correlation between “Ten Days in a Madhouse” and society during the late 1800s, it is acceptable to argue that “The Women’s Right Movement” in fact shapes the text of Nelly Bly. Brennan talks about how in order to become the social reformers that women strived to be, they would have to rely on the acquisition of legal rights as women. Unfortunately, took years before women began gaining rights, and it wasn’t until 1920 that they were even allowed to vote which was created by the nineteenth amendment. To create a sense of how poorly women were valued in the United States, African Americans had had the right to vote fifty years prior to women being able to despite the segregation and discrimination taking place between Caucasians and African Americans. There remain questions as to why women were treated like they were and why asylums were such a dark place, but there is little skepticism that the cultural views on women and mentally disabled people had an impact on the experience Nelly encountered. Only having been to one, most people could assume that Nelly believed the same went for the rest of the mental asylums in that the patients, specifically women, were treated equally or worse than in “The Madhouse.”

Nelly Bly’s hunt to prevent discrimination against women was just as important to her as her goal of improving mental hospitals and the treatment given to patients physically and mentally. Nelly described a motto she found written on the wall; “As I passed a low pavilion, where a crowd of helpless lunatics were confined I read a motto on the wall, ‘While live I hope.’ The absurdity of it struck me forcibly. I would have liked to put above the gates that open to the asylum, ‘He who enters here leave hope behind.’” Nelly takes into account everything she has witnessed throughout her stay in the mental asylum and alters the motto she read to create a more realistic approach. She wants those who have to go through such a horrible phase in their life to get a realistic idea of their misery to come rather than forcing them to get their hopes up. Allison Foerschner covers analysis of the history of mental asylums in her writing, “The History of Mental Illness: From Skull Drills to Happy Pills” which provides reasons why Nelly Bly had such a distraught attitude towards asylums. She says, “The majority of asylums were staffed by gravely untrained, unqualified individuals who treated mentally ill patients like animals” (Foerschner). The history and culture behind mental asylums had a significant negative connotation that stood palpable directly in front of the eyes of Americans.

Allison Foerschner’s research shapes the text of “Ten Days in a Madhouse” through multiple facts and descriptions of mental asylums and their history in America. The fact that typical mental institutions were run by untrained and unqualified individuals may raise eyebrows and potentially be seen as the cause of such horrific treatment towards women and patients in general. That is until Foerschner’s next line where she mentions that these “individuals” treated the mentally ill patients “like animals.” Multiple scenarios during Bly’s stay took place in which she encountered activity so resembling of animal-like treatment that it’s scary. This could be why Nelly decided to rephrase the motto to something as awful as “He who enters here leave hope behind” before even finishing her stay that only lasted ten days. It is rare that something can be judged and fully interpreted with less than ten days of experience and knowledge, but “The Madhouse” was so brutal that anybody could say anything bad about it and place that in place of the motto and it would likely be correct. 

Foerschner only did research on the changes that took place over time in mental asylums, and without people like Nelly Bly making advocacy for change, there would be no history as asylums would be the same as they were from the beginning. Knowing this assists in incorporating "The History of Mental Illness: From Skull Drills to Happy Pills" and "The Women's Rights Movement" to give background information on how Nelly Bly and people like her made a positive impact on the improvement of mental asylums along with the reatment of women. This selfless act of love taken by United States citizens is what has made this country a better and happier place to live in over the past century.
