So...what kind of mental disorder did the wife have?

Judging on this film I'd say the wife had some kind of depression. She was overdramatic and tearful all the time and I don't think it was just because of love. She was over obssessed (unhealthily) with her husband and had dillusions over things that weren't happening (she could have driven them to happening with her constant accusations, though). I really don't think the wife had a very balanced mind.

I did consider she may have suffered with something like post-natal depression, possibly even after the birth of her first child. Post-natal depression can last for YEARS, and in this particular era, it wasn't really diagnosed or treated by psychiatrists and doctors as it would be today. It seemed she had no interest in her children at all, and only wanted the Duc's attentions.

If you think about it it makes sense, after each child she loses his attention because it's all for the child, and she falls into a deeper despair for the lack of attention and grows distant from the children. In the end she becomes quite bitter, twisting everything to fit her misery. The Duchess I think did not want children at all, she only wanted the Duc.

Her other mental disorder was marrying that cowardly sh*t of a husband who treated her like dirt and let the woman he supposedly loved be falsely accused of the murder he committed. Amazing that some people think he was a romantic character! What a creep.

She was what would have been described in the nineteenth century as a neurasthenic...a general term for things deemed "unwomanly" which today seems most closely linked to postpartum depression. It was a condition which affected women primarily of the upper classes, setting on usually shortly after marriage or childbirth, and characterized by nervousness, hypochondria and sickly wasting away as wall as feelings of alienation from ones children and family, and sometimes paranoid delusions. Many women who were simply depressed or unsatisfied with their family lives in some way were falsely "diagnosed" with this condition, and the standard treatment usually included inactivity, isolation and confinement...serving only to aggravate depression and in some cases lead to insanity. The duchess is vigorous and full of energy, so one wouldn't describe her as "wasting away" but she is characterized by a tendency to lounge indifferently, confine herself to her rooms, and harp on minor ailments. Psychologically, she very closely matches the profile in her jealousy and resentment/failure to connect with her children, seeming to stem at least in part from the birth of her children (particularly the youngest).

The myth of neurasthenia was a real phenomenon that affected many women of the leisure classes in the mid nineteenth century. It affected upper class men, too, but didn't catch on as a cultural phenomenon in the same way as when linked to nineteenth century ideas of motherhood and femininity. The neurasthenic woman became a trope in nineteenth century literature, most famously in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" but also cropping up in sources as varied as the Bronte Sisters, Kate Chopin, Henrik Ibsen, Virginia Wolfe, and even Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Having been in therapy and nit knifing all the facts I agree with the poster, onegreendress that identified an extreme case of narcissism.

If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world

Movie girl: I think Barbara's character suffered from self-doubt and jealousy of other women. From the onset we see her constantly make overtures to her husband who is polite but definitely turned off on her. I gathered she once suspected an affair when there wasn't one. Hence her weepings and cajolings in endless letters where she begs him to forgive her for suspecting him. He maintains a polite but distant relationship with her and sleeps on the other side of the corridor.

When Henriette the new governess (beautifully played by Bette Davis) arrives for an interview to tutor their chilren, the Duc mentions that Reynald, the youngest who is 4 years old is undersized. He was born.... he trails off as he explains that his wife had been ill around the time of their son's birth. The Duchess tactlessly explains that she was made ill. She seems to vacillate between pride and her inner need to speak ill of her husband.

The Duchesss is soon violently jealous of Bette when she learns from the former governess (who is now her personal spy and companion) that the Duc and the children went to an opera while she was away in Corsica visiting her father. Violence and tragedy ensues.