A Durkheimian Reading of Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the multi-layers of suicide in Sarah Kane's play 4.48 Psychosis (2000) in the light of Emile Durkheim's identifications of suicide: egoistic suicide, altruistic suicide, anomic suicide, and fatalistic suicide. The play encompasses these kinds of suicide through the portrayal of a hospitalized patient battling with her psychotic disorders and suicidal thoughts. Egoistic suicide is demonstrated through the patient's social alienation from the mainstream of society and her submersion into a state of egoism. Altruistic suicide is depicted either through the patient's view of suicide as a window overlooking infinity where the ego should be situated beyond life itself or through her inability to cope with her mental illness. Anomic suicide takes place when the patient falls into the abyss of frustration, despair, vulnerability, and anomy because of society's indifference to her feelings, passions, and organic necessities. Fatalistic suicide is manifested through her suffocation by the overregulation of society represented by the oppressive, uncaring medical system. The disintegration of the human mind of the depressed patient is poignantly divulged through the employment of the stream of consciousness. Rarely do we find dialogical parts except the conversations between the patient and the therapist. Kane does not designate characters throughout the play as though she desires to grab the readers into the labyrinth associated with suicidal thoughts.