This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/72038
Description
Title
Madness in Medieval Art and Romance
Author(s)
Sprunger, David Allan
Issue Date
1992
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Friedman, John Block
Department of Study
English
Discipline
English
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Literature, Medieval
Literature, Romance
Art History
Literature, English
Abstract
Many medieval chivalric romances contain an episode in which the hero goes insane, lives wild in the woods, gets better, and resumes his adventures. Most studies of such episodes have focused on ways that literature reflects medical and theological topics, but this study explores ways that literary madness synthesizes models of madness in medieval art and thought to augment major themes in Suibhne Geilt, Vita Merlini, Robert of Sicily, and the cycles of Yvain, Tristan, and Lancelot. The onset of madness reflects a moment of psychological trauma, and recovery of sanity portrays symbolically the hero's moral recalibration.
Chapter 1 addresses natural and supernatural representations of madness in medieval culture, stressing the need to acknowledge the coexistence of both models. Yet neither model alone adequately accounts for the hero of romance who becomes insane and eventually recovers his wits.
Chapter 2 establishes an iconography of insanity based on portrayals of the insane in medieval religious art, medical documents, and romances. Two consistent visual traditions are used to identify lunatics. One shows the insane suffering under physical restraint, and the other shows them as fools who have traded rational wit for licentious freedom.
Chapter 3 examines the connection between the onset of madness and physical transformation in medieval literature. These texts modify the iconographic traditions of Chapter 2 by describing the mad in terms reminiscent of werewolves and the hairy wild folk. I argue that the transforming onset of madness coincides with dilemmas from which the hero can make no honorable response.
Chapter 4 shows that the recovery of sanity in romance often symbolizes the hero's rebirth. The chapter concentrates on ways Chretien focuses Yvain's madness and cure best to promote the hero's social fall and rise.
Chapter 5 contrasts the madnesses of Tristram and Lancelot in Malory's Morte Darthur. I contend that the contrasting models of madness reflect Malory's characterization of Tristram as a secular version of Lancelot's spiritual chivalry. Further, Malory's manipulation of the madness episodes demonstrates his skill as an author, not mere compiler, of Arthurian texts.
An appendix listing medieval depictions of the insane in manuscript, incunabula, painted art, and sculpture closes the study.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
