Based on a true story, Sybil is a 1976 made-for-television film, starring Sally Field and Joanne

Woodward. Written by Flora Schreiber, Schreiber goes on to tell the story of a young woman

who developed sixteen distinct, separate alter personalities due to severe childhood trauma. The

film takes us on the journey, of pseudonymous Sybil Dorsett road to recovery.

The film centralizes around a mental disorder known as dissociative identity disorder;

previously referred to as multiple personality disorder. It is believed to be a complex

psychological condition, likely caused by many factors. These include severe trauma during

early childhood; usually extreme repetitive physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Signs and

symptoms vary based on the type of dissociative disorders one may have. Some signs and

symptoms may include, memory loss (amnesia) of certain time periods, events, people and

personal information; a sense of detachment from oneself and emotions and a blurred sense of

identity. ()

The movie dramatizes the life of a shy young graduate student, Sybil Dorsett. She suffered from

dissociative identity disorder, as a result of the psychological trauma she suffered as a child.

Sybil thus had sixteen alter personalities. With the assistance of her therapist, Dr. Wilbur, Sybil

was able to gradually recall the extremities of her child abuse, which triggered the development

of her sixteen distinct alter personalities. After suffering a small breakdown in front of her

students, Sybil was given a neurological examination by Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, a psychiatrist. She

then admitted to having episodes of blackouts and feared that they were getting worse. Dr.

Wilbur theorized, that the episodes were a type of hysteria that Sybil experienced, linked to a

deeper illness that she may have. Dr. Wilbur thus asked Sybil, to return at a later date for much

more needed counselling; in which Sybil replied that she would need to seek her father’s

permission.
 Various themes were depicted throughout the film. These included, confidence, anger and rage,

fear, love, depression, confronting the past and recovery. Majority of the themes were portrayed

by specific characters of Sybil’s sixteen alter personalities; all of which made an appearance in

the film. The primary arrangement of Sybil’s characters were Vicky, Peggy, Marcia, and

Vanessa. Vicky, the dominant personality, was a very sophisticated and mature eighteen-year-old

girl. She knew everything about the other alter personalities; who they were and what they did.

However, Sybil was very much oblivious to the alter personalities that she embodied. Vicky

communicated in French, and claimed to have experienced childhood in Paris with many

brothers, sisters and adoring guardians. She was also the only personality who underwent

hypnosis. Peggy on the other hand, was a nine-year-old girl who believed, that she was still a

resident in the small town that Sybil was raised. Marcia, unlike the others, was very dark. She

was a young girl obsessed with the thoughts of death and suicide; which motivated her to commit

attempted suicide, which would have resulted in Sybil’s death. Hence on several occasions, she

was seen dressed in black. Lastly, Vanessa was a vivacious red-haired twelve-year-old girl,

outgoing and full of “joy”. She happened to fall in love with Richard, and assisted Sybil in

building a relationship with him. That is, until he moved away later on in the film. Overall, all

sixteen alter personalities had separate suggestions, backgrounds, and personal appearances.

Sybil had sought her father’s approval later that evening, and Dr. Wilbur received a late-night

call from someone who identified herself as Vicky. She told Dr. Wilbur that Sybil was about to

jump out of a hotel window. Dr. Wilbur then rescued Sybil, who when asked, said that she did

not know who Vicky was. At the next session, Vicky introduced herself to Dr. Wilbur; There,

she shared knowledge with Dr. Wilbur of a few of the other alter personalities, such as Marcia

and Vanessa. Vicky effectively portrayed the theme confidence, which may be defined as having
or showing assurance and self-reliance. Confidence can also be referred to as the feeling or belief

that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust. () Vicky was the most confident of all the

other alter personalities, representing Sybil’s poise and confidence. Her character, was seen to be

more in control than the others as well, when she made her appearances. Vicky could be deemed

as the most important alter personality. Reasons for this being, she was the only alter personality

conscious of Sybil's everyday life and with access to all of Sybil's memories. She was able to

communicate with all the other alter personalities, yet still, she was not a 'member' of Sybil's

family; rather, a visitor from Paris.

Additionally, Vicky brought cohesion to the story as she in fact, witnessed Sybil’s life from an

early age. She was born when Sybil was 16 years old and at the time, it was her duty to sustain

Sybil’s poise, self-confidence, and competence in navigation. Vicky saw life as complete, thus

making her the most well-rounded alter personality of them all. Her poise and confidence, caused

the therapist to ponder on the thought, that whether or not Vicky, was the one who embodied the

other alter personalities rather than Sybil.

Turning to the theme of anger and rage, this theme was effectively portrayed by Peggy. Anger is

defined as a human feeling or an emotion while rage is the violent, uncontrollable anger. ()

Peggy held onto the anger that Sybil experienced, during that period of her life, when she was

abused by her mother. Peggy expressed this anger and rage through temper tantrums and the

breaking of glass. Peggy was born when Sybil was around the age of 29. In an earlier part of the

film, Sybil’s father, Willard Dorsett, and her stepmother, Freida, were in New York on a visit.

Sybil met them at a cafeteria for lunch and disclosed to her father, that her childhood issues were

resurfacing, and that she needed to see a specialist, Dr. Wilbur. They however, made it quite
clear, that they opposed the idea of therapeutic and psychiatric treatment and went on to explain

just how malicious and controlling specialist are. This ignited an within Sybil, which in turn

caused her to dissociate into Peggy, who then broke a glass out of anger and resulted to storming

out of the cafeteria. From then on, throughout the film, we see Peggy breaking windows in Dr.

Wilbur’s office, whenever she remembered anything from her past. Also, it was in one of Sybil’s

first therapeutic sessions, when she introduced herself as a little girl named Peggy, that Dr.

Wilbur realized Sybil was suffering from dissociative identity disorder. Alongside Vicky, Peggy

Louisiana was one of Sybil’s very first alter personalities. She however, represented Sybil's pent

up anger and rage towards her mother. The name ‘Peggy Louisiana’ stemmed from Sybil’s

mother dislike for the name Sybil; She preferred ‘Peggy Louisiana’ and as a result, Peggy was

stuck in Omaha where she was created.

Fear is also seen portrayed throughout the film by Peggy, who suffered from phobias. Fear can

thus be defined as a vital response to physical and emotional danger. Peggy suffered from

chirophobia; the fear of hands, prasinophobia; the fear of the colour green, porphyrophobia; the

fear of the colour purple, and lastly, she suffered from a fear of dishtowel, buttonhooks and

disinfectant. In the film, the alter personalities made Dr. Wilbur a Christmas card, but Sybil

made everything in the colour purple, one of Peggy’s feared colours. Dr. Wilbur then hypnotized

Vicky and asked her about Peggy’s connection to the colour purple. Vicky revealed a memory of

Sybil's mother, who locked young Sybil in a wheat bin in the barn. In this memory, Sybil used a

purple crayon to scratch on the inside of the bin, so that someone would have known that she had

been in there. The truth behind the other phobias were uncovered as well; the button hooks were

used to hurt Sybil, the color of the room the enemas were performed in was green, and the towels
were used to bound Sybil’s hands and feet. Lastly, Sybil’s mother used the disinfectant on all the

instruments, she used to inflict pain upon Sybil.

Vanessa Gail Dorsett was an alter personality who was great buddies with Marcia. They shared

similar interests such as travelling, and going to the theatres. Vanessa was musically inclined and

played the piano. She was the alter personality who portrayed the theme of love, which is a

complex set of emotions, behaviors, and beliefs, associated with strong feelings of affection,

protectiveness, warmth, and respect for another person. Vanessa fell in love with Richard who

was Sybil’s neighbour, and assisted Sybil in building a relationship with him; she also invited

him to dinner and continued to assist Sybil until Richard moved away; she was crushed by his

departure.

Depression may be defined as a mood disorder that affects a person’s daily life. It may be

described as feelings of sadness, loss, or anger (). Marcia is desperate to be loved but she finds

herself still trapped in the past; depressed from the lack of motherly love from her childhood.

According to Vicky, Marcia shares what Sybil feels but more strongly. Marcia is dear

companions with Vanessa and they both shared Sybil’s encounter with Dr. Wilbur. Marcia can

be described as extremely emotional and appears to live in extremes. She craves the sweetest

need of all the alter personalities; the need for a caring mother; however, this contradicted with

the guilt she felt, having wished her mother dead. This guilt in turn led her down a dark path, and

gave rise to her depression and suicidal tendency. Before Richard moved, Vanessa invited

Richard and his son Matthew, to have Christmas dinner, after which led to Richard spending the

night in Sybil's apartment. Marcia’s suicidal tendency, could be seen in the scene where Sybil

had a nightmare, and was awakened as Marcia, who then tries to throw herself off the roof.
Although she was playful and light-hearted at times, she was essentially pessimistic, somber and

brooding.

In a latter part of the film, Dr. Wilbur took Sybil on a drive. It was during this drive; Peggy

revealed the horrific memories of the physical abuse she suffered at her mother's hands. After

Peggy exhausts herself, Sybil emerged, with recollection of the things Peggy just shared. At last,

Sybil was able to express her anger towards her mother. This expression, allowed her to

confront her past which ultimately led to her recovery. Sybil had to confront her past and she did

so through hypnosis, as recommended by her therapist. She was able to do so through her alter

personality Vicky.

It was only through Dr. Wilbur’s therapeutic treatment; Sybil was finally able to know of the

events that occurred during her blackout episodes. Through Sybil’s alter personality Vicky, Dr.

Wilbur was able to hypnotize her, and Sybil was introduced to the other alter personalities. Sybil,

who had always been terrified of Peggy, meets her for the first time and is surprised to discover

that Peggy is only a little girl. Sybil embraced a weeping Peggy and Sybil finally came to peace

with all her alter personalities. This hypnosis, was done in order to allow Sybil to confront her

past. This confrontation ultimately led to her recovery, as she was able to gain recollection of her

memories. Sybil then went on to live a happy fulfilled life as an academic