Madness in Literature

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Princeton University Press, Oct 6, 2020 - Literary Criticism - 352 pages

To probe the literary representation of the alienated mind, Lillian Feder examines mad protagonists of literature and the work of writers for whom madness is a vehicle of self-revelation. Ranging from ancient Greek myth and tragedy to contemporary poetry, fiction, and drama, Professor Feder shows how literary interpretations of madness, as well as madness itself, reflect the very cultural assumptions, values, and prohibitions they challenge.

 

Contents

Approach and Method
3
of Madness
35
Reason in Madness
98
The Spleen the Vapors and the God Within
147
Madness as a Goal
203
The Aesthetics of Madness
247
Gérard de NervalLautréamontthe
264
Conclusion
279
Copyright

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About the author (2020)

Lillian Feder is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Queens College and the Graduate School of The City University of New York. Her publications include Ancient Myth in Modern Poetry (Princeton).

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