Wit and The Kubler-Ross' Five Stages of Grief

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Wit and The Kubler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief
In the movie "Wit", Vivian Bearing's emotional and spiritual approach to her terminal illness is one of acceptance and understanding. Throughout the film, we can see glimpses of all five Kubler-Ross stages. In the beginning, Vivian is in denial of her situation. She receives her cancer diagnosis but quickly pushes it away and appears to try to avoid confronting the situation. She tells Dr. Harvey Kalekian, "don't worry" and accepts an experimental treatment knowing this could be very painful and hasten her death.
Then, she becomes increasingly frustrated and angry with the medical doctors and nurses for not paying attention to her requirements. In order to control her feelings, she reads John Donne's Poetry. Her anger is evident when she eventually explodes at the nurse, Suzy, for making her schedule yet another ultrasound. Saying, "Not now...it is not intended to be now...no more tests." Vivian gets a good jolt. She reacts negatively to the tests, demonstrating that her denial is still active. She realizes that the therapies and exams were not producing the desired results, instead causing her pain and discomfort and robbing her of her space and independence.
In the third stage of Kubler-Ross stages of grief, bargaining, the patient tries to seek forgiveness and a return to the past life. Vivian remembers her time as an English professor and how ruthless she tended to be to her simpering students. She says, "Now I suppose we shall see how the senior scholar denied her students a touch of human kindness she now seeks." This indicates that Vivian longs for acceptance, warmth, and affection. There is a deep-seated feeling of regret.
During her time in the hospital, we also see Vivian gradually slip into a deep depression, losing her sense of purpose and hope for the future. Lack of close family members visiting her and friends to talk to and offer words of encouragement and support could be why she slips into depression. She shows how lonely she is when she says, "I am isolated… I am isolated because I am being treated for cancer."
By the film's end, Vivian has come to terms with her impending death and is ultimately at peace. She finds comfort and hope in reading and writing ...