Insanity: a societal construct and a legal classification

Insanity. n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.
 According to Psychology Today, this is a shortened version of the legal definition of insanity. However, the DSM does not have a definition of insanity, therefore there is no psychological diagnosis of insanity. The definition states that it is a severe state of mental illness, but to determine what kind of illness someone has requires a lot of testing and displaying of symptoms specific to the illness. Waiting for Godot’s Vladimir and Estragon show estranged behaviors but not necessarily insanity. Every society sees mental illness differently as well as what categorizes mental illness therefore, they handle it differently. In the United States, they might be labeled insane, but in other societies they may not be. Context plays a big role in what categorizes insanity too. When first introduced to the setting, there is not much context included just the description of a country road with a single tree. No country, no town, no major landmarks, no clue as to where in the world this country road resides. Without such context, readers cannot infer whether or not the country that the setting takes place would categorize the two as insane.
 The definition states that “a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality” and in Waiting for Godot, it is difficult for the reader to get a grasp on what reality actually is. From the perspective of the audience, everything that happens in the play appears to be this world’s reality. What Vladimir and Estragon experience seems to be genuine and they do not stray out of character therefore, it poses the question: are they living in constant fantasy or is this their reality? The two are definitely forgetful, as they ask “What did we do yesterday?” so it seems that they are uncertain of what is going on and it shows a sort of disillusionment (7). They ask this repeatedly as well as a number of others that make them question their reality. The ambiguity of what is their actual reality makes the argument for whether or not they are insane blurry. However, if their reality is a fantasy world as the play sets it up to be, would that make them insane or are they stuck in a world where what we would see as insanity as normal? Not only are Vladimir and Estragon questioning what is happening in their world, but so do the other characters that show up.
 Pozzo and Lucky act differently than Vladimir and Estragon, but one could argue that Lucky is more insane than the rest of them for allowing Pozzo to control him the way that he does. He acts more animalistic than human, but it is clear that he is a human. He does not have intelligible conversation for the majority of the play and has two lines- granted one is a lengthy monologue- it is still only two prompted lines. He holds onto his suitcases and will not set them down (a compulsive behavior), he sleeps standing up and typically does so at random times (signs of narcolepsy). This is stranger behavior than anything Vladimir and Estragon says or does, so in comparison, Lucky would likely be more considered as insane than they would. Besides, he has diagnosable behaviors that Vladimir and Estragon do not possess, creating a stronger case for him to be considered insane over the two since he can be categorized to have mental illnesses that can alter his perception of reality. However, the comparison does not deem them insane or not, it just makes the likelihood to be less in relation to the others that exist in their world.
 On the other hand, the definition of insanity also states, “cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis” and it seems that Vladimir and Estragon have a hard time completing their task of meeting Godot. They wait for days upon days for him to arrive and rely on the messages of a third party that tells them that Godot will show the following day, though he never does. They are waiting for someone that never shows up and instead of giving in and realizing that he may never come, they persist and continue waiting. One symptom of Schizophrenia is hallucinations that tell the individual things that lead them to believe false information. Could Vladimir and Estragon be sufferers of Schizophrenia? Potentially, but there still is not enough information to make that claim. However, they are still unable to focus on other topics without returning their thoughts to the fact that they are waiting for Godot. This obsession with waiting for Godot inhibits them from being functional in any other way, so it is likely that they could be insane by the premise that they cannot “conduct their affairs due to [potential] psychosis.”
 Overall, it is possible that Vladimir and Estragon are insane, but there is not enough information on the setting nor symptoms of mental illness to be able to classify them as insane. In the setting they are placed and in comparison to other characters they might not be insane. Evidence points towards no since the setting they are placed in does not have guidelines as to what insanity can be classified as.