The Legacy of Nuts
I was reading The Jabberwocky, the other day, marveling at Lewis Carroll’s obvious insanity.
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Well, really. Could anything that cool have ever come out of a sane mind?
Insanity, mental illness, and personality disorders are rampant among literature’s elite. They aren’t the only ones, of course; artists and actors and musicians are also famous for a shortage of marbles. One of the saddest quotes I’ve heard is from Van Gogh: “If not for this disease, what I might have been.”
But it’s the writers who have the most compelling and disturbing tales of darkness and mental decay. Just a sampling:
- Virginia Woolf had severe bipolar disorder. She produced the bulk of her writing during frenzied manic periods.
- Eugene O’Neill and Leo Tolstoy suffered from incapacitating mental depression.
- So did Robert Schumann and John Keats. And Tennessee Williams.
- Edgar Allen Poe battled alcoholism and relentless depression.
- Ernest Hemingway endured a suicidal depression. He, like Sylvia Plath, eventually committed suicide.
- Charles Dickens also suffered from severe clinical depression.
- The brilliant Jonathan Swift spent his last years as a raving lunatic.
Some of the most brilliant, creative, and respected minds of literature in that list.
What is it? Is an area in the brain where creativity resides somehow linked to depression? Is it purely social: creative people, particularly those pursuing a solitary craft like writing, are apt to spend much time alone. Can this isolation lead to depression?
It’s amazing to consider how such tortured souls and minds produced some of the most beautiful writing in the world. What must it be like, to be so fragile, yet produce such strength on paper?
Brilliant madness
7 Comments
It is interesting. I’ve often wondered about it myself, and to be honest feared I might fall under a similar affliction. Personally, I believe it has more to do with the isolation you mentioned. The more social we are the less likely we fall victim to these mental illnesses, but I’m sure there are still exceptions.
I believe that there’s always a fine line between genius and madness, especially creative genius. When we dive down deep into the creative well, some of us can’t help but cross that line, whether for a moment or for the rest of our lives. It’s the risk that comes with going where so many others fear to tread.
Heather: I know exactly what you mean! I’ve felt the same way myself.
Kevin: excellent point, and beautifully put.
Hey Rhys, I think my mail may be Jabberwockied – LOL
Any mail from me gettin’ thru?
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