The article examines, from a comparative perspective, the way in which the films L'Amour fou (Jacques Rivette, 1968) and A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974) portray their protagonists’ madness. In their own way, these films create a style that represents female psychic instability which opens the discussion ot the interconnection between their aesthetics and the revolt of the female body against the spatial restrictions experienced by women.