Who's in the Attic: Dysfunctional Women of the Page and Stage

The madwoman is legion in literature and drama, whether as a plot device ("Jane Eyre"), pitiful symbol ("Hamlet") or troubled teen ("She's Come Undone"). So are there so many dysfunctional female characters in fiction because women are perceived as more prone to hysterics, or are women perceived as more prone to hysterics because there are so many dysfunctional female characters in fiction? Someone else can write that PhD thesis.