Actually, OP, manic depression was far from an unknown condition in the 1970s.
Although I'm not entirely sure Sally fits the profile of a bipolar individual. I tend to agree with dramamama Do we ever see or hear of her being manic?
Don Quixote may have been bipolar; arguably he was manic although more likely simply delusional. Still, his violent behavior and the fact that he didn't exhibit any delusional symptoms until his 50s are also interesting features. His retiring qualities and his condition of gentlemanly repose in his non-manic stages perhaps suggest that he experienced depression, but that may well be a huge leap.
Then again, neither Cervantes nor Goldman wrote lifetime television movies. They were not intending to create characters who represented clear psychological syndromes. Instead they simply imagined people and gave them certain behaviors and qualities without regard to them fitting a profile.
Having said that, I find your question intriguing and not to be an invalid one. In fact, there would seem to be relatively few characters in literature one can readily identify who exhibited both mania and depression. Perhaps Goethe's Werther and some other characters who fall in love and can't cope with their not being lucky at it, but I doubt it. Usually their romantic longings are consistent with non-manic erotic awakenings rather than hysterical ones.
Then there is Madame Bovary. Quite possibly manic in her spendaholism and clearly capable of depression, though in her case the depression is arguably situational - though her life wasn't all that bad, she felt it was and not irrationally - rather than organic.
Updated On: 8/11/11 at 07:47 AM
Helps me understand a few of the characters :)
