"My madness saved me"

by Thomas Stephen Szasz

"The vast literature on Virginia Woolf's life, work and marriage falls into two groups. A large majority is certain that she was mentally ill, and a small minority is equally certain that she was not mentally ill but was misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. In this daring exploration of Woolf's life and work, Thomas Szasz examines the evidence and rejects both views. Instead, he looks at how Virginia Woolf, as well as her husband Leonard, used the concept of madness and the profession of psychiatry to manage and manipulate their own and each other's lives." "Szasz argues that Virginia Woolf was a victim neither of mental illness, nor psychiatry, nor her husband - three ways she is regularly portrayed. He finds her to be an intelligent and self-assertive person, a moral agent who used mental illness, psychiatry, and her husband to fashion for herself a life of her own choosing. Szasz interprets Virginia Woolf's life and work as expressions of her character, and her character as the "product"