Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Cuomo, Glenn

Keywords

Schnitzler, Arthur, Therese: Chronik eins Frauenlebens, Madness, German Literature

Area of Concentration

Literature

Abstract

This thesis explores the presence and function of madness in Arthur Schnitzler’s Therese: Chronik eines Frauenlebens. Applying the theories regarding madness in Michel Foucault’s History of Madness, I argue that madness is a social construct and elucidate the ways in which it is constructed by the characters and society in the novel. In the first chapter, I investigate the madness of Fabiani, who is the protagonist’s (Therese’s) father and illustrate how Fabiani’s madness is constructed by the military in a fashion which parallels the historical constructions of madness identified by Foucault. The second chapter focuses on Therese and analyzes how madness frames her world and exposes that despite the lack of an immediate presence of madness, her life is marked by an opaque madness. The final chapter explores the possibility of literature as a form of liberation of madness. Through analysis of Frau Fabiani, I elucidate the Foucauldian notion that literature provides a space in which madness is accepted and validated by normative society and experience.

Download

Share

COinS