DIONYSUS 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. 1