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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Madness in Medieval Art and Romance

Abstract

dc:description

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.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph.D.
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
English
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2014

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Sprunger, David Allan
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Friedman, John Block

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
(UMI)AAI9305703
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72038

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Sprunger, David Allan. Madness in Medieval Art and Romance. Dissertation thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72038