Livia Soprano

As the matriarch of the family, Livia Soprano looms large over virtually everything that happens on the show. Although she refers to herself as a “shut in” and a powerless old lady, her machinations in both the past as well as the present have a tremendous impact on a number of the other major character’s psychological well-being.

We meet Livia in the first episode of the show, where she immediately begins shaming Tony for not phoning her enough and rejects the gift of a CD player that he brought over for her. She tells Tony, “Stop telling me how to live my life, just shut up,” and otherwise speaks to him in an angry and condescending tone. She and Tony discuss the possibility of her entering a “retirement community” called Green Grove, which is an idea she strongly rejects. Tony seems genuinely interested in his mother’s affection in this first interaction, while Livia seems angry the entire time. She dismisses him with “sure, run off” when Tony has to return to work.

Tony actually takes Livia on the tour of Green Grove but she reacts with horror and berates everyone when she finds out there is a nursing unit on the other side of the doors. Tony relates her history to Dr. Melfi and reveals, “Now that my father's dead, he's a saint. When he was alive, nothing. My dad was tough. He ran his own crew. A guy like that, and my mother wore him down to a little nub. He was a squeaking little gerbil when he died.” To which Dr. Melfi replies, “Quite a formidable maternal presence.” This interaction foreshadows a great deal of what the show eventually comes to be about. 

Later, Tony asks his mother to intercede with Uncle Junior, but she denies she has any influence with him and informs Tony he knows what he’s doing. But we find out she does in fact have a tremendous amount of influence with him, and Junior later introduces the idea that he may have to have Tony killed. Livia’s silent response to the potential murder of her son does, however, speak volumes.

In the next episode, we see that Livia has in fact become a danger to herself, as she sets a fire in her own kitchen due in part to her memory decline. Carmella introduces the idea of getting her some help in her home, but she rejects this idea much like she did the idea of relocating to Green Grove. Carmella offers to let her stay with them, but Livia rejects this as well. Livia eventually agrees to some live-in help, but her racist and paranoid accusations result in this woman quickly resigning from the position.

Meanwhile, Tony and Dr. Melfi again discuss Livia in their next session. Dr. Melfi informs Tony that “not everyone is an ideal candidate for motherhood” which Tony rejects, saying his mother is “an old sweetie pie.” Dr. Melfi presses the conversation and challenges Tony to identify some loving warm moments, which he is unable to do. Tony gets defensive and guilty about this conversation and quickly retreats to his old familiar patterns of defending his mother.

Livia’s negativity is evident in these episodes, and she rejects virtually everything that her son says. She eventually runs over a friend of hers with her car, which is the final straw leading Tony to place her at Green Grove. Livia’s anger escalates from there.

Later, we see Junior visiting Green Grove to consult with Livia, and we see how she has a way of subtly delivering advice that is highly effective in getting Junior to take action. Livia guides Junior towards killing Brendan and seriously punishing Christopher, and Junior tells her that in another life she would have been the boss of a family. Livia dismisses this compliment by telling him she is “a babbling idiot,” but the message is clear.  Livia is furious at Tony and will use the power she has in any way possible.

Livia continues her manipulation of Junior by suggesting he should “tax” Herman “Hesch” Rabkin, who is one of Tony’s closest current associates. Tony undoes much of the problem Livia has caused with his own manipulation of Junior, but it’s now clear Livia is orchestrating a number of the moves Junior makes from behind the scenes.

In the episode “Down Neck,” the family finds out Anthony Jr. may suffer from Attention-Deficit Disorder, and Tony reflects back on his own childhood. Livia scoffs at the idea of AJ going to a psychologist, but then becomes furious when he reveals to her that Tony himself visits a psychiatrist. She angrily says, “That's what he's doing. He talks about me, he complains. She didn't do this. She did that. Yeah. I gave my life to my children on a silver platter. And this is how he repays me?”

In the flashback scenes, we see how emotionally violent Livia was with her children. At one point, she waves a fork in Tony’s face and tells him she could stab him with it. Later when his father Johnny talks about moving with the children to Reno, Livia tells him she would rather “smother the children with a pillow” then allow them to leave New Jersey. Back in the present, she taunts Tony about seeing a psychiatrist, and this issue is clearly weighing heavily on her mind.

In the next episode, she reveals this fact to Junior, which she must know will have major consequences, as this is a serious violation of Mafia rules. Although she tells Junior not to act on this information, she later riles him further by telling him that three of his captains now have their mothers staying at Green Grove. Junior’s anger and paranoia now reach a fever pitch, and he decides to order the assassination of Tony, which is perhaps what Livia wanted all along.

In the next episode, Tony conjures up a hallucination named Isabella, who is a beautiful and nurturing Italian woman that he befriends. Dr. Melfi informs him that this hallucination is an idealized mother figure and a byproduct of his subconscious alerting him to his issues with his own mother. This conversation escalates further when Dr. Melfi actually tells Tony Livia may have arranged his murder, which infuriates Tony to the point of physically threatening her. She further informs him she lacks empathy and likely suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder.

Tony eventually realizes the truth about Livia and goes to the home to smother her with a pillow. As she is being wheeled into an emergency room with a presumed stroke, Tony confronts her about her activities, and she manages a triumphant smile through her oxygen mask. Tony now becomes completely unhinged and has to be restrained by the hospital staff to stop him from hurting her.

In the second season, Livia remains in the hospital, and Tony tells anyone who will listen that she is “dead to me.” As the season progresses, her eldest daughter Janice returns from the west coast and we get a further glimpse of this toxic mother-daughter relationship. Livia tells Janice, “You could never stand yourself” when she sees her, and immediately begins chipping away at her self-esteem, despite the fact they haven’t seen each other in many years. Livia tells her, “You don’t know what goes through this head of mine,” and we see Livia vacillate between cruelty and self-pity in these interactions.

Livia and Janice briefly find some positivity when Janice brings her some music from her past that Livia enjoys, although this good will is short-lived. When Livia finds out her children have been discussing a “DNR” (Do not resuscitate) order, she begins taunting Janice about giving away her inheritance and otherwise insulting her. Livia also takes pleasure in relating stories of Janice’s past failures to her nurse during these interactions. Livia calls Carmella and tells her Janice is “A real snake in the grass,” and how she is leaving all of her money to them. Carmella is unmoved by this declaration and hangs up on her.

Livia and Janice eventually move back into Livia’s old home, and soon Janice’s old boyfriend Richie Aprile joins them as well. Livia is mostly relegated to the upstairs part of the house, and Janice gives her extra doses of medication at times so she will stay asleep. Things between Janice and Riche are also escalating, and when Janice shoots Richie in a rage, a drugged Livia only has a vague recollection of people coming in and out of the house all night.

At the end of this ordeal, we see Livia, Tony, and Janice together for the first and last time, and a powerful exchange takes place when Livia tells Janice, “He probably jilted her, it’s the story of her life.” Although Tony often has intense anger towards Janice, he takes this opportunity to defend her, telling Livia, “What kind of a fucking chance did she have, with you as her mother? You were always nagging her about her weight. She goes on a date, she comes home, you call her a fucking tramp.”

And Livia’s response was equally as interesting. She tells Tony, “I never said anything of the kind. You make things up. You tell me, you tell me when I ever did anything to any of you. I wasn't always perfect, but I always tried to do the best I could. And I know you didn't, any of you, didn't like it when I tried to tell you what to do. Babies are like animals. They're no different than dogs.”

It is a watershed moment in the show, as Tony understands that both he and his sister are forever psychologically damaged through their experiences with a mother like Livia. In the final part of this conversation, she asks Tony, “I suppose you aren’t even going to kiss me now?” He looks back up at her with perhaps a little hope, but is then immediately reminded of how toxic she is when Livia laughs when he trips and falls going down the stairs.

Tony eventually makes arrangements for Livia to relocate and gives her stolen airline tickets to accomplish this task. Livia is arrested at the airport, and she and Tony are forced to meet to discuss the logistics of her arrest. Livia is now being cared for by Svetlana, (Tony’s future mistress), and they dig through some “Granny remembers” books which Livia has never touched. A furious Tony yells at her one last time, and it will be the last time they ever speak, as Livia passes away later in the episode.

At Livia’s wake, we see her toxicity lives beyond the grave. It is revealed that she ruined a number of holidays for in-laws, peripheral family members, as well as those close to her, and Carmella finally tells the truth in front of everyone about the kind of person she was.

Analysis:

Livia Soprano and her parenting decisions were at the root of a number of the issues that led to the violent and emotionally volatile behavior of both Tony as well as Janice. Livia wasn’t just a “bad” parent, but a toxic one, and the psychological implications of her behavior was an undercurrent that rippled strongly throughout the entire show.

At one point, Dr. Melfi tells Tony, “I’d say what your mother has, at the very least, is what we call Borderline Personality Disorder. Let me read to you from the DSM-IV, okay? Definitions of the condition? A pattern of unstable relationships. Affective instability. It means intense anxiety, a joylessness. These people's internal phobias are the only things that exist to them. The real world, real people are peripheral. These people have no love or compassion. Borderline personalities are very good at splitting behavior, creating bitterness and conflict between others in their circle.”

And yet later, when Tony is putting Janice on a bus back to Seattle, he talks about how Dr. Melfi said Livia had a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He explains that Dr. Melfi, “Says that our mother is a narcissistic personality. Why she turned out that way who the fuck knows? Grandpa Vito was no prize as a father. That's not all the shrink says. She says that ma is a person who was incapable of experiencing joy.”

So in considering a diagnosis for Livia, which of these versions of the story do we believe? Although narcissism is one of the hallmarks of borderline personality, the opposite is not true, and a person with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder would present somewhat differently than someone with BPD.

The criteria for Narcissistic personality disorder are as follows,

In order for a person to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) they must meet five or more of the following symptoms:

• Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
• Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
• Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
•  Requires excessive admiration
•  Has a very strong sense of entitlement, e.g., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
• Is exploitative of others, e.g., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
• Lacks empathy, e.g., is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
• Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
• Regularly shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

In examining this list with regard to Livia, she certainly seems to meet criteria for the final five items, which would indicate the presence of this disorder. A primary difference between Narcissistic and Borderline personality is that in BPD people will often idealize others and then quickly devalue them when they are disappointed. Self-harm and suicidal behavior are also consistent with BPD, but not as much in Narcissistic Personality Disorder, where this behavior would not be near as common. 

In considering these differences, Livia’s personality appears to be more consistent with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as she shows few signs of idealizing others (except referring to her deceased husband as a “saint”) or any evidence of self-harm. Livia does not appear to have empathy for people, and often simply manipulates others for her own self-gain.

Perhaps a better question might concern the presence of sociopathy in Livia, as much of her behavior goes beyond manipulative and seems to be genuinely evil. In many cases, she seems to actually delight in the misfortunes of others, and mocks and laughs at her children when they fail on multiple occasions. She actively encourages the murder of Tony, mostly in response to his seeing a psychiatrist. This is the level of “payback” she seeks from people who have wronged her, which seems to cross the threshold of a personality disorder into actual psychopathy.

Therefore, it seems fair to say Livia is in fact an evil person. In Martha Stout’s seminal book “The Sociopath Next Door,” she talks about how sociopaths are often not people lurking in the shadows, but in fact, people who are our neighbors and associates that we may not even notice. But they also may react with extreme malice under stress or when they feel threatened, and this is certainly true of Livia. Stout talks about how sociopaths often leave a trail of broken and troubled lives in their wake, and this was certainly the case with Livia Soprano.

Vito Spatafore

“Sometimes you tell a lie so long, you don’t know when to stop.” These are perhaps the most revealing lines ever uttered by Vito Spatafore, the rotund construction tycoon whose homosexuality rocked two separate mafia families.

Vito wasn’t even in fact “Vito” when we first see him on the screen. The actor playing him is first introduced as “Gino,” a man who comes into a bakery to buy some bread. But never mind that. Continuity was never a strong suit in the production of The Sopranos, so when Gino reappears as “Vito” in the second season, we agree to play along. 

We find out Vito is a member of Richie Aprile’s crew, and he is assigned to put in wheelchair accessible “terlets” in the home of Beansie Gaeta. “Mustang Sally” later beats Vito’s brother Brian, and Vito begs for revenge, which Tony is happy to oblige. Later, we see Vito’s first on-screen act of violence when he shoots Jackie Jr. in the back of the head. At Jackie Jr.’s wake, his sister says her brother “Was killed by some fat fuck in see-thru socks,” which Meadows scoffs at, although Vito fits this description quite accurately.

After Tony kills Ralph Cifaretto in the fourth season, Vito takes over the financially lucrative crew and assumes a much larger role in the family as well as the show. Vito proves to have a talent for managing construction projects, and quickly rises to become the top earner in the family. Adriana La Cerva reveals Vito called her constantly while Christopher was in rehab asking if she “needed anything.” Vito reverses this story as he relates it to the crew, and Christopher throws a sandwich at him in a rage when he correctly suspects Vito is laughing about him. Tony forces Christopher to apologize, as Vito is now an important family member and a captain worthy of respect.

In the fifth season, everything we know about Vito is turned drastically on its head. Meadow’s new boyfriend Finn is working on one of Vito’s “no work” construction jobs, and Vito is friendly and welcoming to him. Finn arrives early to work one day, and in a shocking turn of events, he sees Vito performing oral sex on a security guard at the job. All hell breaks loose from there.

Vito tries to bully Finn into attending a Yankees game with him, and refers to Finn as his “arch nemesis,” indicating he knows that Finn is aware of his homosexuality. Finn becomes convinced Vito wants to kill him or have sex with him, and he never returns to the construction site again, much to Vito’s chagrin.

In the sixth season, we learn Vito has lost 160 pounds on the Atkins diet, and he becomes increasingly obnoxious lecturing others about food, scheming to cultivate power, and undermining Tony. When discussing Eugene’s suicide with other members of the family, Vito speculates that “Maybe he was a homo, and felt there was no one he could talk to about it. That happens, too.” Vito looks genuinely sad as he says this, and the scene gives us some insight into the way he’s feeling about his own life.

Vito is shown as increasingly scheming and selfish as Tony remains in a coma following the shooting, and jousts with Paulie over the financial split from a heist he identified for him. Both Vito and Paulie are reluctant to give Carmella Tony’s share of the money, and we see Vito has no interest in upholding the code regarding taking care of family members during times of distress. When Tony regains consciousness Vito reluctantly gives her the $100,000 from the heist, but Carmella notices his attitude and later reports it to Tony.

Vito’s homosexuality is finally revealed following the wedding of John Sacrimoni’s daughter, where we see him adorned in a full leather motorcycle outfit in a gay bar attempting to seduce another middle-aged gay man. Some mafia associates making a collection observe this interaction and confront him, and a panicked Vito activates his disaster escape scenario. Word among the crew quickly begins to spread, and Vito stays with his girlfriend (essentially a beard), until the crew hunts him down so he can explain himself. A desperate Vito gets in his car and narrowly escapes as he leaves New Jersey and his entire life behind.

Vito settles in a small hamlet in New Hampshire, where he shops for antiques, mingles with the locals, and assumes the identity of a writer working on a book about Rocky Marciano. Meanwhile, the crew back in Jersey is becoming increasingly angry, as Paulie, Carlo and Phil Leotardo in New York feel personally betrayed by Vito’s homosexuality and want his death arranged immediately. A terrified Finn is called to testify in front of the entire crew about what he saw in the parking lot, and Paulie feels even further betrayed when he learns Vito was the one who was performing oral sex as opposed to receiving it.

Vito meanwhile has inexplicably stumbled into a new romance with “Johnny Cakes,” a short-order cook at the local diner. Vito first violently rejects his offer of romance, but then finally confesses his homosexuality as he utters the line, “Sometimes you tell a lie so long you don’t know when to stop.” Their relationship quickly intensifies from there.

Vito’s fundamental dishonesty is still an issue, and Johnny Cakes (actually “Jim”) eventually discovers he is not in fact a writer but a mobster from New Jersey. Jim tells Vito he is in love with him and asks him to move in, which Vito agrees to. Jim arranges construction work for Vito, as he has been spending all of his time drinking and gambling. They appear to be a couple destined for success, as they share meals, a bed, their motorcycles, and a home.

We then see Vito at work as a “regular guy” in his new career as a handyman. Every moment seems to be torture for him, and he resists checking his watch because he despises this work so much. As we watch Vito react in disgust to actual work, he seems to arrive at an important decision.

Next, we see Vito drinking cheap vodka from a bottle while driving erratically. As the song “My Way” plays on the radio, he rounds a corner and smashes into a man’s old jeep, and they briefly argue about who is at fault. When the man is insistent about calling the police, Vito shoots him in the back of the head and drives off in triumph. But the message is clear. New Jersey Vito is back.

Next, we see Vito make his first attempt to reconnect with the family, when he surprises Tony at the mall. He offers $200,000 to Tony personally, and to operate out of Atlantic City as opposed to being a part of the Jersey crew. An angry Tony storms away, but later we see he is considering Vito’s offer, much to the chagrin of Paulie and other members of the crew.

Vito reconnects with his family and concocts a story about being a spy for the sake of his children. He calls Jim and tells him he left because he misses his family, but Jim reacts with disgust. He correctly calls Vito out on his laziness, greed, and selfishness, and tells Vito he’s “seriously fucked up,” and how he never wants to see him again. It will be the last time they ever speak.

Tony is seriously conflicted about what to do with Vito, while others in his crew insist on having him killed. Phil Leotardo becomes especially obsessed with killing Vito, and the two of them argue about this over several different scenes. When Vito returns to his hotel room, Phil Leotardo literally comes “out of the closet” as his associates beat Vito to death with clubs and pool cues.

Vito’s story doesn’t end with his death, as we see his actions have now started a war between the two mafia families. We also see his son has become a serious juvenile delinquent and appears to be on the road to psychopathy as he is torturing animals, starting fires, and committing acts of vandalism after he discovers his father was in fact a closeted homosexual.

Analysis:

In assessing Vito from a psychological standpoint, it is interesting to consider his anti-social and violent criminal tendencies, as well as the self-loathing and psychological tension that occurred from living his life as a closeted homosexual. Are these two things mutually exclusive, or are they two separate issues that are independent of each other? This is interesting to consider with Vito, as his actions in response to Tony’s shooting as well as the cold-hearted way he left the relationship with Jim, indicate he may be a person almost totally devoid of empathy.

In examining the relationship between homosexuality and psychopathy, it is useful to note that in the research described in the journal of family research (2003), 43% of serial killers were known to have had homosexual experiences, which makes them overrepresented relative to the general population by a large margin. John Wayne Gacy appeared to fit this pattern, as he was a married man who lived a double life as a self-loathing homosexual. Andrew Cunanan went on a murder spree where he murdered a number of prominent homosexuals, and his motives may have included feelings of self-hatred about his own homosexuality.

These are certainly extreme examples, and it is important to note that there is nothing about being gay that is inherently violent or that would make someone prone to violence. What it a more useful question here is the effect suppressing homosexuality may have on a person’s psyche, especially in the world of the mafia, where being gay is a crime that may be punishable by death.

The show certainly hints at the latent homosexuality present in this situation, and Dr. Melfi directly asks Tony about the occurrence of male on male sex in prison, which Tony explains to her “you get a pass for.” Later Tony defiantly reminds Carlo that homosexuality is not uncommon among their peer group, but Carlo remains undeterred. There even appears to be different levels of homosexual norms in the world of the mafia, as Paulie is especially mortified that Vito was the one performing oral sex as opposed to receiving it.

Research does seem to indicate a link between homophobia and latent homosexuality, as men who exhibited strong homophobia showed high levels of arousal when exposed to homosexual erotic materials.

So how might this all relate to Vito as well as the rest of the crew who showed extreme hatred and revulsion regarding his homosexuality? Phil literally coming “out of the closet” to murder Vito was surely intentional, and his demand later to “turn that off!” when he sees scantily clad male bodybuilders on the television is also not an accident. The writers seem to be pointing out the hypocrisy of the homophobia among the crew, and their barbaric response to Vito seems to be at least a partial commentary on the prevalence of latent homosexuality within the family.

In Vito’s case there appeared to be both a fundamental lack of empathy as well as feelings of self-hatred for his homosexual feelings and actions, and these two forces created a particularly anti-social individual.

This storyline certainly was one of the most unpopular in the history of the show, but in retrospect, it seemed particularly fascinating to see how homosexuality in the world of the mafia affected the members of the family psychologically. The story goes that Joseph R. Gannascoli volunteered to play an openly gay character, and this seemed a particularly brave choice given the subsequent negative reactions from a number of fans of the show.

Janice Soprano

In a show full of diabolical characters, Janice Soprano is a strong candidate for the show’s most manipulative, and possibly least likable character. As the eldest of three children in the Soprano family, she is first shown as a pretty young daddy’s girl competing for her father’s attention with her younger brother Tony.

We first meet the adult Janice at the beginning of the second season. She also goes by the name “Parvati,” which is a name she picked up while studying eastern religions out on the west coast.  She and Tony begin arguing about their mother Livia from the outset, and we see Janice angling to exploit the situation for her own personal gain. Janice assumes her “hippie” persona when it’s convenient for her or when she’s giving advice to others, but quickly reverts to her manipulative self when her financial well-being is involved.

Janice continues scheming to get closer to Livia, and finds out from Meadow she enjoys music from an old group called the DeCastro Sisters. Janice listens to this music with her her mother, and they briefly bond as Janice says, “Music hath charms.” This newfound goodwill is short-lived, as Livia finds out her children have been discussing a “do not resuscitate” order regarding her health, and she angrily lashes out at Janice about this. Livia then expresses a desire to return to live at Green Grove retirement community, but Janice assures her she will take care of her back in the family home.

We see the opportunistic nature of Janice’s personality when she weighs in on a party Meadow throws at Livia’s house that results in some property damage. Janice is quick to stick up for Meadow and defends her independent streak using some thoughts from her Eastern philosophy. Then Janice sees the mess Meadow has actually made, and that it is going to affect the potential value of the home, which she has a vested interest in. She quickly becomes furious with Meadow as well as her parents for being too easy on her, and her complete turnaround on this subject again reveals the self-serving nature of her personality.

Janice soon reconnects with her former High School boyfriend Richie Aprile at a yoga class, and they discuss their past history and how they are both different people now. Richie brings Livia some flowers and begins his courtship of Janice, which he knows will have the added benefit of antagonizing Tony. When Tony drops by the house and sees Richie has spent the night, he goes from rage to angry acceptance, telling Richie, “She’s your fucking problem now.”

Janice begins manipulating Richie and encouraging him to defy Tony at every chance she gets. They begin engaging in bizarre sexual rituals, which include Richie holding a loaded gun to her head during sex. Never one to miss an opportunity, Janice even uses these strange occurrences to steer Richie towards the idea that he should be the one in charge. Despite Uncle Junior’s warning to Richie that “my niece is not a good kid,” Richie begins a plot to eliminate Tony.

Janice begins preparing for her wedding to Richie, and they attend engagement parties and go house shopping like a normal suburban couple. Things quickly change when Janice informs Richie that Tony doesn’t want him around his son, and Janice exacerbates the situation by bringing up Richie’s own son and his homosexuality. An enraged Richie punches her in the face, and in a shocking turn Janice gets a gun and shoots him in the chest and then the head, killing him.

A hysterical Janice calls Tony to remove the body, and her “soulmate” Richie is ground up in the Satrialie’s meat grinder to be disposed of. Tony mockingly tells her he buried Richie, “On a hill, next to a little river with pine cones all around.” Janice asks Tony “What’s wrong with our family?” and Tony explains that he goes to therapy where he learned their mother was a narcissistic personality. Tony goes on to explain that their mother was a person “incapable of experiencing joy.” Tony then puts a blubbering Janice on a bus back to Seattle as she laments, “I loved him so much,” in reference to the man she just murdered.

Janice does not stay gone for long, and at Tony’s insistence, she returns when Livia passes way. She quickly disrupts the entire situation, as she takes over the wake with a poorly conceived plan to have people discuss happy memories of Livia (no one has any.) We also learn Livia kept records of Tony’s childhood but none of Janice’s, which only increases her resentment.

Janice is quickly scheming again and performs a hard target search of Livia’s basement looking for her hidden treasure. She also finds out Livia’s caretaker Svetlana has taken her mother’s records, which results in Janice taking the woman’s artificial leg as leverage to secure their return. Janice incurs the wrath of Svetlana and her Russian associates, and Svetlana’s prophetic warning, “This cunt will be sorry she ever fucked with me,” proves accurate, as two men show up and physically intimidate Janis until she returns the leg.

Tony avenges this insult to Janice by savagely beating the man with the help of Furio Giunta. Janice begins to embrace Christianity with her new boyfriend Aaron Arkaway, a religious man who suffers from narcolepsy who asks virtually every person he meets “Have you heard the good news?” in reference to Jesus and the New Testament. Tony, who has seen how Janice’s various incarnations end, mocks her Christian music aspirations and throws food at Aaron during Thanksgiving, much to the amusement of the entire Soprano family.

By the fourth season we see Janice’s involvement with Christianity was short-lived, and she is soon snorting cocaine and having sex with Ralph Cifaretto in the bathroom at Tony’s house, despite the fact Tony is right downstairs. They begin an affair shortly after this, and their sexual interactions quickly become bizarre. Ralph enjoys being humiliated and subjected to pain during sex, and we see Janice penetrating him with a vibrator and pretending to be his pimp during one particularly difficult scene to watch.

Tony eventually finds out about this affair and reacts with disgust at Janice’s choices. Ralph eventually breaks up with Rosalie Aprile to be with Janice exclusively, but she has a change of heart after speaking with her therapist, and instead beats Ralph up in response to his declaration of love. Janice now targets the recently widowed Bobby Baccalierri after being moved by his display of emotion at his wife’s funeral.

Janice’s machinations to seduce Bobby are downright diabolical, and she begins using every technique at her disposal to curry his favor. This includes sabotaging the efforts of Jo-Jo Palmice, claiming Carmella’s meals as her own, and terrifying Bobby’s children with satanic messages online.  She takes an active interest in Bobby’s career and strongly encourages him to intimidate a man with violence to appease her Uncle Junior. In the end, Janice’s relentless manipulation pays off, and we see her and Bobby dancing together to “I got you babe” at the season finale of season four.

In the fifth season opener, we see that she and Bobby are now married, although there are tensions developing regarding Uncle Junior’s care, as well as Janice’s role as a stepmother. Tony and Janice get into a violent argument about this subject, and Bobby does his best to break it up. An enraged Tony ominously warns Bobby to “get control of your wife.”

Janice’s anger comes to a boil later that season, as she violently attacks another mother at her stepdaughter’s soccer game, and she is subsequently arrested. Her arrest makes the local news and Tony’s name is also mentioned, which infuriates him. Bobby realizes Tony is at his breaking point with Janice and delivers an ultimatum to her to either get psychological help or risk losing her marriage. Janice reluctantly enrolls in an anger management course.

Janice at first dominates the interactions at this course, and interrupts others and monopolizes the group time with her own complaints. She is called out by an African-American woman also taking the course, and seems to be finally grasping the concepts as time progresses. She demonstrates her newfound skills by peacefully resolving a conflict with her stepchildren and deftly dealing with a telemarketer.

A fascinating interaction occurs between Tony and Janice at the end of this episode, as Tony grows increasingly irritated at Janice’s new anger management skills, despite the fact that he was the one that wanted her to get her temper under control. He antagonizes her about her long lost son “Harpo,” and Janice fends off his first few comments, although Tony gets increasingly aggressive. She eventually grabs a fork and tries to stab Tony with it as she cries and screams, and a triumphant Tony walks away smiling.

At the beginning of the sixth season, we learn that Bobby and Janice have had a daughter named Domenica, and the camera pans to Janice breastfeeding the child looking very unsure of herself. Junior has also totally decompensated, and the three Soprano children are taking turns taking care of him, which is an arrangement Janice disapproves of. She and Tony have a heated argument about placing him in assisted living, and Tony screams at her in frustration before going to take care of Junior himself, where he is subsequently shot in the stomach.

Janice blubbers and cries during Tony’s coma, and when he regains consciousness she is quickly back to explaining to Tony how all of these recent developments have affected her. Tony is still irritated at her and Bobby for shirking their responsibilities with Junior, and tension remains between the three of them. Janice berates Tony for holding them back financially, and she and Tony again have words. Tony surprises her by securing her Johnny Sack’s huge mansion for half of its retail value, and Janice once again blubbers and cries, this time telling Tony, “No one knows what goes on in my head.” Interestingly, Livia made an identical statement in the first season.

In the final season of the show, Tony and Carmella visit Bobby’s lake house for Tony’s birthday, and Janice converts some old home movies from their childhood to a DVD as a gift. This episode begins with the two couples enjoying each other’s company, drinking wine, singing karaoke, and generally having a wonderful time. Tony even discusses moving Bobby into his inner circle as they have grown much closer now that they are related.

All of these good feelings are soon squandered during a heated game of monopoly, where a now drunken Tony repeatedly makes jokes about Janice’s appearance and her past sexual promiscuity. An enraged Bobby punches Tony in the face, and when they fight Bobby get the best of Tony. Janice is very concerned about this development, as she knows Tony and how he doesn’t forget things. In the end, Tony decides to make Bobby commit his first murder as a kind of punishment, and Tony ends the episode watching the old movies, which features Janice bullying him with a water hose.

In the final episodes of the show, Janice and Bobby argue one last time about Junior’s care, and Tony threatens to exile Bobby from the family in disgust. When Bobby is murdered shortly afterwards, Tony is supportive and makes arrangements to make sure Janice is taken care of financially in an agreement with the New York family. In what is likely their final conversation, she discusses the need to find a new husband now that Bobby is gone, and how she may try and make a go of it with Bobby’s children as a stepmother.

Analysis:

Dr. Melfi and others discuss a number of psychological diagnoses during the course of the show’s run. Tony tells Janice at one point that Dr. Melfi informed him Livia has a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Melfi describes thrill-seeking men who act “like sharks that can’t stop swimming,” as anti-social personalities. Borderline personality is mentioned more than once in relation to a number of the female characters. With this in mind, it seems useful to examine how one might arrive at a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD.)

To be diagnosed with BPD, a person must show an enduring pattern of behavior that includes at least five of the following symptoms:

1.     Extreme reactions—including panic, depression, rage, or frantic actions—to abandonment, whether real or perceived.

2.     A pattern of intense and stormy relationships with family, friends, and loved ones, often veering from extreme closeness and love (idealization) to extreme dislike or anger (devaluation.)

3.     Distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self, which can result in sudden changes in feelings, opinions, values, or plans and goals for the future (such as school or career choices.)

4.     Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating.

5.     Recurring suicidal behaviors or threats or self-harming behavior, such as cutting.

6.     Intense and highly changeable moods, with each episode lasting from a few hours to a few days.

7.     Chronic feelings of emptiness and/or boredom.

8.     Inappropriate, intense anger or problems controlling anger.

9.     Having stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms, such as feeling cut off from oneself, observing oneself from outside the body, or losing touch with reality.

In considering these possible characteristics with regard to Janice, it seems clear that she does meet criteria for this disorder. She is prone to bizarre sexual activity, is impulsive, highly prone to angry outbursts, and her moods are subject to rapid and frequent shifts. At one point she talks about having a gun in her mouth prepared to commit suicide, indicating at least some history of suicidal ideation.

Let’s consider the first two criteria; “Extreme reactions—including panic, depression, rage, or frantic actions—to abandonment, whether real or perceived.” And, “A pattern of intense and stormy relationships with family, friends, and loved ones, often veering from extreme closeness and love (idealization) to extreme dislike or anger (devaluation.)”

An example of behavior matching these descriptions is evidenced by her response to Richie Aprile when he slaps her in response to her questioning if his son was gay. Just moments earlier they were laughing and joking around, and just days before she was talking about him as her “soulmate” at their engagement party. And yet she responds to their fight by shooting him in the chest and then the head, showing how radically her moods can shift between idealization and rage.

This is also evidenced in her response to Ralph Cifaretto, who she initially pursues despite the fact he was in a serious and committed relationship with family friend Rosalie Aprile. At first, she indulges Ralph’s every sexual fantasy no matter how bizarre, and strongly defends him to her brother despite Tony’s obvious distaste for him. Later when he breaks up with Rosalie to be with her, she has a change of heart and reacts with violence towards him, ostensibly for not taking his shoes off before entering the house.

It is also useful to consider the criteria; “Distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self, which can result in sudden changes in feelings, opinions, values, or plans and goals for the future (such as school or career choices.)”

This seems especially relevant to Janice, as she is constantly trying on new careers, religions, and beliefs that seem to change rapidly in each of her various incarnations. Her version of herself as “Parvati,” a wise and learned woman drawing on Buddhist traditions is quickly abandoned when her own financial survival is threatened. Her dalliance as a born again Christian is also short lived, and she is next shown snorting cocaine and having sex with Ralph in a bathroom after she abandons this identity. These rapid shifts are indicative of the poor self-image and lack of identity that are the hallmarks of Borderline personality, and Janice in many ways seems a textbook case.

In making the final case for Borderline personality with regard to Janice, it is useful to look at her relationship history throughout the show to delineate a clear chaotic pattern. She and Tony constantly vacillate between love and hate, and she even encourages Richie to have him killed at one point. Richie quickly goes from soulmate to murder victim when he picks a fight. She pursues Ralph Cifaretto and then violently beats him for not removing his shoes. She describes Bobby Baccalieri as an “ideal” type of man to her therapist and then constantly insults and belittles him after they are married. These are not isolated incidents, but in fact strong evidence indicating the presence of a serious characterological disorder.

So how does a Borderline Personality Disorder develop?  Research shows a strong genetic link, and considering the violent and anti-social tendencies of her father and the manipulative and emotionally cruel behavior of her mother, it is easy to see how there may be a genetic piece to Janice’s personality. Growing up in chaotic and violent homes can also contribute to the development of this disorder, and in this case, there appears to be both a “nature” and “nurture” component to Janice’s personality style.