Breakfast at Tiffany's: Tale of a Female Psychopath?

In 1966, Truman Capote released In Cold Blood, his blockbuster study of human evil based on the brutal homicides of a family in Kansas in 1959 by two men. This work displays Capote’s familiarity with multiple psychopathic traits, but I argue that it was not the first of his writings to touch on psychopathy. In fact, the first Capote character that demonstrated high levels of psychopathic characteristics was a woman, Holly Golightly, the beautiful, glamorous, charming, and café society celebrity in Capote’s 1958 novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.¹

Source: Giacomo Zanni/Pixabay

Fake, Phony, and Two-Dimensional

Golightly is described as an "utter fake," a "phony" and two-dimensional. The story’s narrator observes that she “would never change.”²

In the movie version, Holly Golightly transforms into a caring person with a show of emotion, but in the book, she remains as she always was—a cold, calculating woman with no cares in the world. “[She] would never be different” and indeed is even described as “gluttonous.”³

In Without Conscience, psychopathy researcher Dr. Robert Hare wrote, “Psychopaths have an ongoing and excessive need for excitement—they long to live in the fast lane or ‘on the edge,’ where the action is.”⁴ This epitomizes Holly Golightly who basks in the limelight, partying while grabbing the center of attention. One day, the narrator spotted her dining at the”21” club surrounded by four men doting on her.⁵ According to the eminent mid-20th century psychiatrist Benjamin Karpman, “The psychopath is completely self-centered."⁶

Lying, Deceiving, Manipulating

Holly Golightly, the same belle of the ball, was also going to Sing Sing prison to see Sally Tomato, a mob boss who was serving a five-year jail sentence. Golightly brings back coded messages to Tomato’s associate in the form of weather reports enabling the mobster’s international drug ring. She lies about her relationship to Tomato and insists she is his niece because only relatives could visit.

As a matter of fact, she lies about almost everything. Her male escorts who are all infatuated with her charm and beauty agree, “She isn’t a phony because she is a real phony.”⁸ Others are more direct: “She’s such a goddamn liar.”⁹ As Dr. Hare so aptly puts it: “Lying, deceiving and manipulation are natural talents for psychopaths.”¹⁰

Quest for Riches While Using and Devaluing Others

Golightly was after money and being “gluttonously” rich, making no bones about her intentions. Her many suitors were hungry for her affections, but she could brush them off with a glib response. “I told you: you can make yourself love anybody.”¹¹

The character's emotional impoverishment shows no regard for other people. She devalues her friend Mag Wildwood, letting her thoughts be known that her friend “is a perfect fool.”¹² Noted psychopathy researcher J. Reid Meloy has noted: "The psychopath is capable of a repetitive devaluation of others, which may range from verbal insults to serial homicide."¹³

Not only does she devalue Mag; she manipulates her friend to move in with her so she can “dump the lease on [her] and send [her] out for the laundry.”¹⁴ This is consistent with what Dr. Hare discusses as two primary features of psychopathy: "a lack of feeling, affection, or love for others and a tendency to act on impulse."¹⁵ Holly Golightly uses and exploits people. Her friends are not her friends. They are people to use.

Chameleon-Like Behavior, and a Lack of Empathy

Holly Golightly gets pregnant by Jose Ybarra-Jaegar, a Brazilian diplomat she schemes to entrap and, like a chameleon, she turns into a pseudo-housewife for a short time while she seeks to ensnare him. But after she miscarries, she casually remarks: “I lost the heir,”¹⁶ suggesting she could not even feel for the loss of her child. She demonstrates the “emotional deficiency" that psychopathy pioneer Hervey Cleckley marks as a key characteristic of the psychopathic personality.¹⁷

After being arrested as a mob collaborator, she jumped bail and headed to the airport. On the way, Holly throws her cat out on the street. She then runs off impulsively to Brazil and then Buenos Aires. As noted by Dr. Hare, the psychopath “is guided not only by need gratification but also by how to do what he wants and get away with it.”¹⁸

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Consummate Predator

Holly Golightly was a voracious predator, preying on anyone who could give her what she wanted. She has no principles and no moral code. She is cunning and deceitful and steals just for the thrill. She rants about how honest she is while saying, “I’d rob a grave, I’d steal two bits off a dead man’s eyes if I thought it would contribute to the day’s enjoyment.”¹⁹ She takes no responsibility for her own actions, brushing everything off lightly.

Did Truman Capote know what kind of character he created—one who might have had a personality disorder? I personally believe he did because, unlike the movie, the novella has Golightly’s character completely unchanged from beginning to end. Nothing changes with Holly Golightly, nor does it change with a psychopath.