How Madness In Medieval Literature Is Affected By Ideas Of Gender

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This thesis discusses presentations of madness in medieval literature, and the ways in which these presentations are affected by (and effect) ideas of gender. It includes a discussion of madness as it is commonly presented in classical literature and medical texts, as well as an examination of demonic possession (which shares many of the same characteristics of madness) in medieval exempla. These chapters are followed by a detailed look at the uses of madness in Malory‟s Morte Darthur, Gower‟s Confessio Amantis, and in two autobiographical accounts of madness, the Book of Margery Kempe and Hoccleve‟s Series. The experience of madness can both subvert and reinforce gender roles. Madness is commonly seen as an invasion of the self, which,

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