While Bly is being taken to Bellevue Hospital in order to be determined as sane or insane, she has already been marked as insane by virtue of being taken into the system. This sort of harsh treatment by the hospital staff would be seen as inappropriate for Bly as an upper-class woman, but her presumptive diagnosis of insanity strips her of this privilege. Bly’s “role” in this piece refers to her role as an insane woman, and by breaking her “role”, she resumes her spot as a proper woman of class. Considering the myriad reasons why a woman may be institutionalized in an asylum, including later when Bly is asked if she is a sex worker by a doctor, the presumption that she is exhibiting non-normative behavior causes the man to feel justified in handling her roughly. It could almost be compared to the treatment of a prisoner, as both are restricted in their movement and treated with little to no empathy.