Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, suicidal ideation, death by suicide, and death.

The Euripedes play Alcestis is the dominant symbol in The Silent Patient and takes many forms. The figure of Alcestis itself is a clear representation of Alicia. Both women face betrayals by their husbands when their husbands favor their own lives over their wives’. Alicia’s choice to sign her self-portrait with “ALCESTIS” highlights her recognition of this symbolic relevance. Alcestis represents “the silent patient,” the woman scorned, the person betrayed. She is voiceless, but her silence alone is a message, expressing disappointment, hurt, and rage. In this sense, she also speaks to the power of non-verbal communication, embodying the adage that sometimes a person speaks loudest when they say nothing at all.

Alcestis is not just the character but also the name of the play, which Alicia sees with Jean-Felix, and Theo reads. The Silent Patient begins with an epigraph, a quote from the play: “But why does she not speak?” The tragedy itself is symbolically relevant in light of the theme of betrayal. By building a

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