Crazy Jennie

I think it was Quentin's philandering that drove poor Jennie over the edge. When she saw Quentin with Beth she just lost it. I think any married woman would go crazy  if they saw their husband with another woman.

I don't think Quentin's philandering was the sole cause.  Jenny had cut herself off from her roots, and there has to have been some trauma there - either the trauma that caused her to deny her family, or the guilt from having denied them, or else both.  Maybe Quentin's unfaithfulness was the immediate cause, but it had lots to work with.    I don't know whether anybody has suggested this before, but perhaps something inside of Jenny told her that Quentin's unfaithfulness to her was her just reward for having been unfaithful to her people.

Add to that the fact that she was also rejected by the Collins family after marrying into it, on top of losing her connection with her old family, along with her husband (the reason why she gave up her old family only to find herself in a new hostile one, all in the name of love for a man she though would be faithful) philandering around (and it's doubtful if his going off with you-know-who was his first dilly-dallying); well, mix it altogether with other things going on and it's no wonder she wigged out.

Gerard

I always felt sorry for Jenny. Maybe she shouldn't have rejected her gypsy roots, but she didn't deserve the way Quentin so callously tossed her aside. Or the way Edward and Judith treated her when they were first married.

I don't think being locked up at Collinwood helped her mental state any, either. She might have been helped had her in-laws been more concerned about her stability rather than protecting the precious family name. But that was NOT in Judith or Edward's nature.

I think any married woman would go crazy  if they saw their husband with another woman.

I certainly hope that every victim of adultery would not suddenly turn into a homicidal maniac (who tried to kill plenty of other people, not just Q). She must have, at the very least, been more predisposed to mental instability than a normal person.

What you say about Jenny could be true...you're right, not every woman goes insane and starts trying to kill their cheating husbands (but make no mistake they are out there!).

However, the fact that Jenny wanted to kill Quentin doesn't excuse him of cheating on her or treating her the way he did. But, to be fair to Quentin, [spoiler] later on, when Jenny's ghost returns to make baby Lenore well again, Quentin tells Jenny he's sorry for what he did to her and wishes that, if he could do it over again, he would do things differently. And I believed him when he said it....at that point I think he was truly remorseful over what happened between them.

I know Jenny tried to kill Judith with a knife and tried to burn Edward to death, but I can't say I have very much sympathy for either of them. As I said, locking her up in the tower room did more damage than good, and I think it drove her to the point of becoming more and more dangerous as time went by.

I like Beth but I can see why Jenny went after her....Beth had been her servant, her friend, and then she sees her in her husband's arms and kiss him...it was a betrayal on Beth's part and in Jenny's unstable mind, she had to avenge it. [/spoiler]

Didn't Jenny and Quentin have two kids? And didn't the little boy die? I don't remember when he bit the dust, but that certainly would've sent her over the edge, or worsened her condition.

Didn't Jenny and Quentin have two kids? And didn't the little boy die?

The boy died after she did.

I don't think being locked up at Collinwood helped her mental state any, either.

I don't think that could possibly help anyone.    When we don't know what to do with someone, we put him/her in a box.

Never underestimate the damaging power of having absolutely nowhere to turn.

I felt bad for Jenny. Edward and Judith mistreated her ever since she married Quentin. After Quentin
left Collinwood with Laura, they locked up Jenny and took her two children away from her. It seemed
like both Edward and Judith were taking their hate and anger out on Jenny, because of Quentin.

Is this a spoiler?

Another great discussion and coming in late is a way of life.

One thing to keep in mind with Jenny is that it DID take more than JUST Quentin's philandering to completely unhinge her. Part of this that I used as background for fanfic was that they both went in with totally opposite expectations. Quentin was raised with upper class male expectations of his time that he would have mistresses on the side, and she went in with expectation that he would be faithful once married. Add to that  Quentin's EVER so welcoming family, Laura undermining her as a way to get Quentin to turn to HER. Add in some pre existing instability (I've seen those versed in psychology speculate on schizophrenia or manic depression), then cap it off with whatever NORMAL marital problems happened in the marriage.

Then again, is it ever specified WHEN after Quentin was thrown out that Jenny went round the twist? Secret delivery of twins long before the days of anaesthesia (much less epidurals) might have just been the final straw on top of everything else.

And as to keeping her in the house -- compared to mental institutions of the time, that WAS probably the kindest thing to do.  If anyone wants a quick rundown of the history of mental instiutions, google the Imperial War Museum in London. The building it's located in is the old Bethlehem asylum , or BEDLAM, and the IMW site has a history of Bethlehem hospital with a quick synopsis of the history of psychiatric treatment.

Then again, you don't have to even go that far back to be grossed out by what was once considered advanced and humane psychiatric treatment, as anyone who's seen the Selby episode of Cold Case can tell you.

Jeannie

Quentin should be glad Jenny didn't go all Lorena Bobbit on his ass.  A bit off topic but I absolutely adore Marie in this role.  It is her best (IMO)  as I cannot stand [spoiler]Eve and Megan bored me to death.[/spoiler]