Journal article
The Artist as Scientist: Psychiatric Diagnosis in Shakespeare's Tragedies
JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, Vol.235(17), pp.1868-1872
04/26/1976
DOI: 10.1001/jama.1976.03260430038021
PMID: 768538
Abstract
SHAKESPEARE was fascinated with the idea of madness. In fact, most Elizabethans were. Elizabethan drama began with a play about insanity— The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo Is Mad Again. For the Elizabethan, a trip to the theatre was a movie, a television documentary, a Broadway musical, and a visit to a zoo or amusement park, all in one. Shakespeare was showman enough to capitalize on his audience's taste for the varied and bizarre. Each of his four major tragedies is a sensitive exploration of psychopathology. Hamlet portrays manic-depressive illness in Hamlet and schizoaffective disorder in Ophelia. Macbeth shows both major characters suffering from ambition that leads to crime and the punishment of depression. Lear has a mild organic brain syndrome that develops under stress into a reactive psychosis, while Gloucester becomes depressed and Edgar feigns classic schizophrenia as Poor Tom. Othello develops a suspiciousness bordering on paranoia, while Iago's delight
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Artist as Scientist: Psychiatric Diagnosis in Shakespeare's Tragedies
- Creators
- Nancy J. C Andreasen
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, Vol.235(17), pp.1868-1872
- Publisher
- American Medical Association
- DOI
- 10.1001/jama.1976.03260430038021
- PMID
- 768538
- ISSN
- 0098-7484
- eISSN
- 1538-3598
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/26/1976
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984003916302771
Metrics
49 Record Views