Table Of ContentDIONYSUS
IN
LITERATURE
DIONYSUS IN
LITERATURE:
ESSAYS ON
LITERARY MADNESS
edited by
Branimir M. Rieger
Bowling Green State University Popular Press
Bowling Green, OH 43403
Copyright © 1994 by Bowling Green State University Popular Press
Library of Congress Catalogue Card No.: 93-74076
ISBN: 0-87972-649-0 Clothbound
0-87972-650-4 Paperback
Cover design by Dumm Art
Acknowledgments
First, I am grateful to Pat Browne for her suggestion that my
"Madness in Literature" panels at the Popular Culture conventions
might produce a collection of essays on the topic. I am further
thankful for her suggestions, editing and general Job-like patience
with my forays into madness. Another debt of gratitude goes to the
contributors of essays in this volume. They responded promptly to
my suggestions for additions, deletions and revisions, and my
onerous task was much lightened by their patience and good
humor. I am thankful to the librarians at lander University (Ann
Hare, Betty Williams, Susan Going and Dan lee) who provided me
with endless articles and interlibrary loans. They also looked the
other way while my leaning tower of overdue books balanced
precariously in my office over the years. Thanks to John Hare for
teaching me how to battle computer glitches and gritches. Great
appreciation is shown toward those colleagues who read my
introduction and offered valuable suggestions (Virginia Dumont,
Robert Phillips, Carol Wilson and Julia Whitsitt). Special thanks to
Mary Joseph who read a number of drafts and offered valuable
editorial changes. And super appreciation goes to Bettie Horne who
read numerous drafts with linguistic precision and frequently
"nagged" me to finish my often abandoned project. I also wish to
thank the lander Foundation, the lander University administration
and my chair, Susan Guinn, for providing funds and encouragement
for my research on this project. Thanks also go to the Humanities
Department Secretary, Debbie Brown, whose help was invaluable,
and to Linda Findley, Humanities' Administrative Assistant. I want
to thank my parents, Karla and Bill Rieger, who always had faith in
me and instilled in me a love of writing. I also want to thank my
boys, Christopher and Andrew, for their love and support. And to
Katanga, Major Tom, Baby Schnupkin, lothar, Mookie, Nub, Baby
Nub, Pockel, the Twins, Mousie, lobotz, and Tiniest Of for their
feline encouragement, and especially to Molly.
Contents
Introduction
Dionysus in Literature: Essays on Literary Madness 1
Branimir M. Rieger
Literary Theories and the Concept of Madness 17
Robert de Beaugrande
Are Creative Writers Madl An Empirical Perspective 33
Martin S. Lindauer
Through a Lens, Darkly 49
Michael Fleming and Roger Manvell
A Horneyan Approach to American Literature S9
James R. Huffman
The Lineage of Mad Scientists: Anti-types of Merlin 71
Peter H. Goodrich
Madness, Masochism and Morality: Dostoyevskyand
His Underground Man 89
Thomas C. Fiddick
Hamlet: Madness and the Eye of the Reader 101
Michael Cohen
Vision, Madness, Myth and William Blake 113
Paul Youngquist
Postmortem Diagnoses of Virginia Woolf's "Madness":
The Precarious Quest for Truth 133
Nancy Topping Bazin
Herman Melville and lIThe Sane Madness of Vital Truth" 149
Alisa von Brentano
Inmates Running the Asylum:
The Institution in Contemporary American Fiction 169
Barbara Tepa Lupack
Faulkner and the Furies 183
Kenneth L. Golden
Images of the Shaman in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut 197
Lawrence R. Broer
Stephen King's Misery: Manic Depression and Creativity 209
Carol A. Senf
The Class Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest:
A Theme Course on IIMadness in Literature" 221
Branimir M. Rieger
Contributors 231
Introduction
Dionysus in Literature:
Essays on Literary Madness
Branimir M. Rieger
What exactly is meant by "Madness in literature?" How can
this thematic phrase aid in the understanding of literature? Does it
refer to the writer, the abnormal behavior of the characters or some
nexus? Does it refer to the writings of madmen or the actions of mad
protagonists? Is literary madness similar to the clinical madness of
psychology? Or is it closer to anomie, a sociological term for a type
of madness in which individuals are alienated from society? How
can terminology from psychology be useful in understanding literary
characters? Have the concepts of literary madness changed from the
ancients to today? In the opening essay of this collection, "literary
Theories and the Concept of Madness," Robert de Beaugrande
discusses how literary theories have contributed to concepts of
madness. To state that madness and sanity are opposites grossly
oversimplifies and omits significant shades of grey. The term
madness, whether used in a clinical or literary sense, is a fluid,
ambiguous term encompassing many theories.
Madness is common to the human experience. We often
complain that people or situations are driving us "mad," or "crazy"
or "wild." The insanity of daily existence and of absurd situations
can devastate tender psyches. Anger, a reaction to the insanity of the
world, can be viewed as a microcosm of madness. We also have
obsessions and compulsions deviating from the normal. Psychology
and literature both try to explain unusual behavior, and the term
"madness" seems to be a particularly useful tool in discussing certain
literary characters. Strange, abnormal and deviant actions of literary
characters offer an indispensable resource for investigating
personality. While psychology and literature have made some
significant advances in unlocking secrets of personality, it is
nevertheless amazing that certain aspects of personality (What is
madness and abnormal behavior? What causes it? How is it treated?)
are still baffling, open to semantic debates, and laced with relativity.
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