Dostoevsky and Madness

Reading chapter 9, I recalled a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl where Will Turner says, “This is either madness or brilliance,” and Jack Sparrow responds, “It’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide.” It seems true that many of the great artists of the world have had some sort of madness or disease, or at least have been interested in the altered states brought on by them. Dostoevsky, as the book points out, had quite a rough life. He suffered from a form of epilepsy, was sent to prison and work camp for more than ten years for a crime he didn’t commit, (he was actually led in front of a firing squad, but they chose not to execute him) took up drinking along the way, had a couple failed marriages, found and revered religion, and became one of the juggernauts of world literature. He has long been one of my favorite writers and The Idiot was an excellent book to discuss.

Prince Myshkin was diagnosed young with epilepsy, seemingly mad, and had to live the beginning of his life in Switzerland, where he studied and played with children. The life he led in Switzerland helped seemingly cure him of his “madness.” He is very much like a child and in many ways his disease had prevented him from being polluted from the evil in the world; he appears to be a perfect person. However, when he returns to Russia, he is afflicted by the imperfect world and gradually retreats back into his disease. In a way, by reverting back into madness, he manages to escape the imperfect and horrible world around him.

It seems fair to say that madness, alcoholism, or any other form of disease does help give strength to creativity; by creating an altered world view to write about, giving material for art that by only living a hard life could or by forcing the afflicted to focus on one subject to stay focused. Even if an artist does not suffer from a disease, writing often brings on a bliss and agony that could only be described as madness.