The representation of madness in Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace
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Authors
Kreuiter, Allyson
Issue Date
2000-01
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Madness , Representation , Atwood , Alias Grace , Dionysian , Appollonian , Kristeva , Foucault , Language , Nietzsche
Alternative Title
Abstract
The central tenet of the study is that language and madness are bound together, language both
including madness and perpetuating the exclusion of madness as 'other'. The first chapter
considers the representation of madness in Atwood's novels The Edible Woman, Surfacing
and Alias Grace from the perspective ofFoucauldian and Kristevan theories oflanguage and
madness. Alias Grace becomes the focus in the second chapter. Here the syntax of madness
is traced during Grace's stay in the mental asylum. Language, madness and sexuality are
revealed as a palimpsest written on Grace's body. The final chapter looks at Grace's
incarceration in the penitentiary and her dealings with the psychologist Dr. Simon Jordan
where Grace's narrative tightly threads language and madness together. Underlying each
chapter is a concern with how language and madness are in permanent interaction and
opposition writing themselves onto society and onto Grace.
Description
Citation
Kreuiter, Allyson (2000) The representation of madness in Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/17129>