Nebuchadnezzar's Children: Conventions of Madness in Middle English Literature

by Penelope Reed Doob

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Jesse]

This is an interesting analysis of various perceptions of madness in the middle ages. It draws from the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar who fulfills one of his own dreams by selfishly attributing all his glory to his own good work. God punishes him by causing him to go mad. He lives as a wild man for several years before his kingdom is restored (Daniel, chapter 4).

According to Doob, there are three literary conventions for madness in the middle ages: (1) the mad sinner; (2) the unholy wild man; (3) the holy wild man. I am especially interested in the treatment of Yvain, one of the knights of the round table, who experienced the second of these forms of madness. Like Nebuchadnezzar, his reason is restored, and he becomes a better knight because of it.

[Leonie ౨ৎ]

I have never gone as much back and forth in a book as I did with this one which is mostly the case because I picked it up as secondary literature for a term paper. Skipping a couple of pages here and there was also a first for me (whereas I’ve read other pages multiple times). Considering that this was for a term paper, it was actually quite interesting to read.