Like it or not, we live in a world where sociopaths and psychopaths seamlessly blend into society. What’s more, psychopaths and sociopaths have been portrayed in both the media and entertainment as violent beings with little consideration for anyone else. Even more surprising is the fact that these individuals have impacted literature in a way that’s almost transformative, if anything else.

Psychopathy and sociopathy are different personality disorders, but they share similar characteristics. This includes a complete disregard for social standards and pesky legalities, a disregard for others, a lack of empathy and remorse, and a tendency to resort to harmful behavior. Even so, psychopathy is seen to be the more dangerous of the two. According to Psychology Today, psychopaths tend to be more calculating than sociopaths, going as far as to manipulate others for their own sakes, and have been known to remain calm, cool, and collected, especially in desperate situations. Sociopaths, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. They’re emotional, and will appear agitated when something doesn’t go their way. When planning crimes, sociopaths tend to be more disturbed, and are more likely to get caught. Still, what’s interesting with the two is that psychopathy might be related to genetic factors, while sociopathy is related to environmental aspects, thus sparking the prolonged Nature vs. Nurture debate.

Despite these differences, the two have been seen in literature. In The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, Dr. Hannibal Lector is a criminal mastermind and psychopath who managed to orchestrate the deaths of many innocents before he was finally caught. In American Psycho by Bret Ellis, Patrick Bateman is a serial killer that details all his brutal exploits, and shows the evils of American capitalism, all through the guise of a smiling face. In Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, the antagonist was said to be a psychopath who enjoyed torturing her husband, manipulating him to kill her by the end of their marriage. In Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, Becky Sharp had been known to seduce husbands and commit fraud in order to get what she wants, and is a rather heartless mother when push comes to shove. Interestingly enough, she’s hailed as a feminist symbol, though she’s anything but. 

It’s more than obvious that both psychopaths and sociopaths have made their presences felt in popular culture and academic culture. Whether it be through psychology, society, or books and movies, in the end, it falls along the same lines we’ve seen; that there are people who don’t have the same perceptions as we do, that despite everything, they’re still human. Many psychopaths and sociopaths won’t react the same way as the ones we read about in literature simply because it’s not realistic. Even so, the characters we see are rather entertaining to read about, whether we admit it or not.

Interestingly enough, according to psychologist Adrianne John R. Galany, writers may display certain traits of psychopathy, so who knows?