Esther's Illness

I see it as an existential metaphor.



"I was born last night, when you met me in that alley. That way i'm no past and all future, see."

Her death is, I think a metaphor. Pure reason, unsupported by warmth, eventually desiccates and withers. Her sister, on the contrary; sensuality, wanton and unguided by ennobled reason, ultimately meets calamity and self destruction.

(PRN) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id-bFpYQzXE

She called it "euphoria", which might be a name for mania or a form of bipolar disorder, which was named rather late, and has a lot of subdivisions...see Wikipedia.

The problem with that thesis is that her symptoms don't fit. She honestly looks more like she's got a bloody ulcer or cirrhosis or something. More likely, like the language and place, it is made up by Bergman to indicate that the pathology is not important, but only how it reflects her spiritual reality.

As for whether she was likely to die, it seemed unlikely to me - or moreso by the coming war. Naming her illness indicates that she has seen doctors in the past, and knows what it is. If she knew she was dying, it seems unlikely she would be traveling. There is also the fact that no doctors were called, though they talked about it, which is a little weird - I would figure the waiter would've called one when he saw her seizure-movements. No doctors would generally indicate that it wasn't that serious, but it clearly seemed serious enough to merit one, obfuscating the issue. Ultimately, it is left unclear, like so many other things in this film. Think of it like a photo: Bergman focuses the important parts, but leaves the background blurry to draw the eye to what is important. It's really a cool and unique effect in cinema, if you think about it.

I didn't really think it humiliated her; she didn't hide from the waiter, at least. If anything, her spiritual wasting in a world in which she doesn't fit seems more likely to humiliate her. Dunno.

Could have been her self-destructive drive - didn't she cough blood at the beginning, in the train? And in the pseudo death scene, she protested she didn't want to die by suffocation. And still, after coughing blood, she smoked, and a lot. This death impulse is humiliating to reason, because if Freud is right in his theory of the Thanatos (ancient greek god of death) impulse, then the force it describes is an unconscious force, one that cannot be controlled by, and therefore humbles reason.

even it is a metaphor, the disease looks like tuberculosis in terminal stage. it explains hemapthisia and coughing.

I read a bit on Wikipedia about euphoria (cause that's what Esther says she has) - "Euphoria may occur with diseases affecting the nervous system, such as syphilis and multiple sclerosis." I read further about syphilis and it seems that it can cause breathing problems (remember the scene at the beginning of the movie, on the train, Ester has breathing problems and seems to be using breathing pump?not sure though, maybe she was just coughing). Also I believe that later stages of multiple sclerosis involve breathing problems. If Esther has either of the two deseases she probably can't have sex. But to me it doesn't look like multiple sclerosis, she doesn't have any other sympthoms. So I'm not sure.. If she had syphilis I guess I could understand why it would be humiliating for her to have sister screwing around this unknown town with random people.. But it doesn't sound right to me.. Maybe the humiliating part comes from the fact that Esther is dying, and Anna is searching for lovers, completely ignoring her.