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"Could it be madness - this?" : bipolar disorder and the art of containment in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

dc.contributor.advisorWoeber, Catherine Ann.
dc.contributor.authorPillay, Ivan Pragasan.
dc.date.accessioned2010-09-01T12:49:03Z
dc.date.available2010-09-01T12:49:03Z
dc.date.created2007
dc.date.issued2007
dc.descriptionThesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation engages in a critical analysis of the poetry of Emily Dickinson which, to me, suggests that the poet suffered from a type of manic-depression known specifically in psychiatric parlance as bipolar disorder. I argue that although Dickinson experienced much pain and suffering she learnt, through time, to address, understand and contain adversity - that ultimately, she transformed these experiences into the raw materials for poetic creation. Dickinson's poetic achievements are often obscured by a misunderstanding of her mental and emotional constitution. This thesis provides an alternative to the views of those commentators who maintain that Emily Dickinson was insane, neurotic or delusional. I intend, ultimately, to offer the reader a fresh insight into Emily Dickinson's poetry by reading it from the assumption that she suffered from bipolar disorder.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10413/827
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectDickinson, Emily, 1830-1886--Criticism and interpretation.en_US
dc.subjectAmerican poetry--Women authors--History and criticism.en_US
dc.subjectMental illness in literature.en_US
dc.subjectLiterature and mental illness--United States.en_US
dc.subjectWomen and literature--United States--History--19th century.en_US
dc.subjectTheses--English.en
dc.title"Could it be madness - this?" : bipolar disorder and the art of containment in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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