.jpg)
The Big Madman, by Fernando Sabino
The Big Madman, by Brazilian writer Fernando Sabino, narrates the life of Geraldo Viramundo, a dreamer from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais with a fertile imagination and a distorted sense of justice. Calling himself The Big Madman, Geraldo leaves his hometown in search of heroic adventures to correct injustices. His attempts include fighting corruption, leading a farmers' revolt, rescuing a young woman from a brothel, and founding a utopian city, all of which failed due to a lack of planning and resistance.
Presumed dead, Geraldo Viramundo resurfaces more determined to continue his never-ending mission. The work is a social and political satire filled with themes such as madness, naivety, and the search for the meaning of life, using humor and criticism.
In Praise of Madness, by Erasmus of Rotterdam
Praise of Madness, by Erasmus of Rotterdam, is a satirical essay from 1509, published in 1511. The main character is Madness, who gives a speech praising herself and pointing out the defects of society, especially the Church and intellectuals. Structured like a monologue, Madness celebrates its virtues and the benefits it brings, arguing that life would be unbearable without the illusions and self-deceptions it provides. Erasmus uses irony and humor to criticize conventional wisdom, corrupt practices of the Catholic Church, pedantic academics, and corrupt politicians, maintaining a light and witty tone. The work is essential to the Renaissance, as it reflects the humanist spirit and challenges the reader to reevaluate beliefs and behaviors and recognize the irrationality present in life.
Praise of Madness, by Erasmus of Rotterdam, is a satirical essay from 1509, published in 1511. The main character is Madness, who gives a speech praising herself and pointing out the defects of society, especially the Church and intellectuals. Structured like a monologue, Madness celebrates its virtues and the benefits it brings, arguing that life would be unbearable without the illusions and self-deceptions it provides. Erasmus uses irony and humor to criticize conventional wisdom, corrupt practices of the Catholic Church, pedantic academics, and corrupt politicians, maintaining a light and witty tone. The work is essential to the Renaissance, as it reflects the humanist spirit and challenges the reader to reevaluate beliefs and behaviors and recognize the irrationality present in life.
Don Quixote of La Mancha
Don Quixote de La Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1605 and 1615, is one of the most influential works of Western literature. The story follows Alonso Quijano, a rural nobility who goes mad after reading too many chivalric romances. He adopts the name Don Quixote and becomes a knight-errant in search of adventures to revive chivalry and defend the oppressed, accompanied by his faithful squire, Sancho Panza. Don Quixote often confuses fantasy with reality, resulting in comical and pathetic situations.
Don Quixote is a tragicomic figure whose romantic and heroic vision is admirable, but his actions result in fiascos due to his inability to recognize reality. Sancho Panza, with his pragmatic vision, offers humor and popular wisdom. The first part of the work criticizes chivalric romances and society and shows the tension between idealism and reality.
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky
In Crime and Punishment, Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor former student living in St. Petersburg, conceives a theory according to which extraordinary men have the right to commit crimes if it is necessary to achieve a greater good. To prove his theory, he decides to kill Aliona Ivanovna, a despicable old loan shark, justifying that the world would be better off without her. However, during the murder, he is forced to also kill Lizaveta, Aliona's half-sister, who arrives unexpectedly.
After the crime, Raskolnikov is consumed by overwhelming guilt and paranoia. He tries to justify his actions to himself and others, but his conscience and fear of being caught drive him into a state of mental and physical confusion. Police investigator Porfiry Petrovich begins to suspect Raskolnikov, and an intense psychological game unfolds between the two.
Figure of the Anti-Hero and Madness in the Four Works
Alonso Quijano, transformed into Don Quixote, is a knight-errant who sees the world through the lens of chivalry and embarks on absurd adventures driven by his madness. Geraldo Viramundo is a quixotic character who lives in search of justice and dreams, often in an irrational and comical way. Personified Madness gives a satirical speech, showing how it, itself is an intrinsic and essential part of human life.
Social and Satirical Criticism
Miguel de Cervantes criticizes the society of his time, especially the obsession with chivalric romances and the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Fernando Sabino uses Geraldo Viramundo to satirize aspects of Brazilian society, including bureaucracy, politics, and social injustices. Erasmus of Rotterdam criticizes the Church, intellectuals, and social conventions, using madness as a vehicle to expose the hypocrisies and absurdities of society.
Metanarrative and Reflection on Reality
Don Quixote is a reflection on the fine line between reality and fantasy, truth, and illusion. The essay In Praise of Madness, by Erasmus of Rotterdam, is a metanarrative that uses Madness to reflect on the human condition itself and the perception of reality. Although less explicit, Fernando Sabino also plays with the perception of reality through the surreal and, at times, absurd adventures of Geraldo Viramundo.
Use of Humor
In Don Quixote, Cervantes uses humor and comedy to highlight Don Quixote's flaws and follies, making his adventures both comical and tragic. In The Big Madman, Sabino uses humor to deal with serious themes, which transforms Geraldo's misadventures into a light and fun social criticism. Erasmus of Rotterdam uses irony and humor to deliver a scathing and humorous critique of the institutions and practices of his time.
Investigation of the Human Condition
In Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes uses universal themes such as idealism, disillusionment, friendship, and the search for meaning in life. Geraldo Viramundo's journey, in The Big Madman, is a search for justice, dreams and human nature, with its contradictions and aspirations. The Praise of Madness is a meditation on the irrationality inherent in the human condition. The work suggests that madness is essential for happiness and well-being. These connections show how the four works, each in its own way, address universal and timeless themes, using the figure of the anti-hero, social criticism, and humor to understand the complexity of human nature.
How would Freud analyzes these works and their characters?
For Freud, madness results from unresolved unconscious conflicts, related to repressed desires and past traumas. These conflicts can manifest themselves as neuroses, psychoses, or other mental disorders. Madness is seen as a failure or extreme form of defense mechanisms, such as repression, denial, or projection, which normally protect the ego from intolerable anxieties. When the ego cannot mediate between the id (primitive impulses) and the superego (internalized norms and values), mental disorders can occur that lead to madness.
Sigmund Freud, when analyzing works such as Don Quixote of La Mancha and The Great Mind, would highlight the characters' madness and eccentric behavior as manifestations of internal conflicts, repressed desires and attempts to deal with dissatisfaction and frustration. He would emphasize the importance of recognizing and integrating these unconscious aspects for a more complete understanding of the human condition.
Freud would see in Don Quixote an example of sublimation, where repressed desires and internal conflicts are transformed into socially acceptable actions. Don Quixote transforms his chivalric fantasies and unconscious desires into a "noble" mission, using madness as a defense against an unsatisfactory reality. Don Quixote attempts to live up to an ideal of chivalry, reflecting a conflict between the ego and the superego, with Sancho Panza representing the reality principle.
In the case of The Great Mind, Freud would interpret Geraldo Viramundo's madness as an expression of repressed desires for greatness and recognition. Their actions and adventures would be attempts to fulfill fantasies of power and heroism, compensating for feelings of inadequacy. Like Don Quixote, Viramundo lives in a conflict between his idealized ego and objective reality, manifesting an inflated ego that molds reality to suit his inner desires.
In In Praise of Madness, Freud could interpret the personification of Madness as the representation of the forces of the unconscious that defy rationality. Madness gives voice to desires and impulses normally repressed by the ego, exposing social hypocrisies and irrationalities. Freud would see this as a critique of repression and excessive morality, suggesting that accepting and integrating the irrational aspects of the psyche is essential to a fulfilling life.
In Crime and Punishment, the heart of the novel is Raskolnikov's internal struggle with his guilt and search for redemption on his journey of self-discovery. The story questions justice and morality and whether the ends truly justify the means. Raskolnikov increasingly isolates himself and the narrative shows how this affects his sanity. His connection with his family and with Sônia, a young prostitute, is crucial to his redemption. Dostoevsky criticizes Russian society at the time, addressing issues of poverty, inequality, and the human condition.
Dostoevsky's characters often face crises of faith, ethical dilemmas, and the struggle between good and evil, which lead them to states of mental anguish. Madness in Dostoevsky's characters is often associated with obsessions, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of moral responsibility. Raskolnikov experiences profound moral and psychological madness arising from his sense of guilt over the murder.
Why Freud in Literature?
Literature is fertile ground for exploring the complexities of the human mind, especially about madness. Since madness is a huge field of study in psychoanalysis, there is nothing better than looking to Sigmund Freud for the connections between madness in these literary works. Don Quixote, The Big Madman, Crime and Punishment, and In Praise of Madness provide rich perspectives on madness and human psychology, which makes them valuable for a Freudian analysis.
Each of these relates to distinct aspects of the human psyche - guilt, duality, Oedipal conflicts, and alienation - that are central to psychoanalysis. By examining these works from a Freudian perspective, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complex internal mechanisms that contribute to the experience of madness and psychological suffering.
And you, what do you think about madness and its presence in literature? Would each of us have a share of madness in this modern world?
֍
Comments