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The Other, the Madman, the Hero: The Epileptic as an Ambivalent Figure in Hercules Furens and Othello
Leo, Giulia
Leo, Giulia
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to uncover the positive story regarding epilepsy by showing how it operates as a signifier of greatness in two influential and connected narratives: Seneca’s Hercules Furens and Shakespeare’s Othello. I want to prove that the two texts offer a portrayal of the epileptic as an ambivalent figure who can be defined through “negative stories” of otherness and madness, while also being narrated as a person of exceptional strength, endurance, and the life experience of a hero. The first part of the thesis will analyze Hercules’ and Othello’s otherness. Hercules’ otherness derives from his liminality, which poses him between the realm of the living and the dead, and the one of gods and mortals. Othello, on the other hand, becomes a “dangerous other” through the racist, animalistic, and hypersexualized images that other characters use to describe him. The second chapter concerns the way Seneca’s and Shakespeare’s heroes are presented in relation to their madness. A comparison between Seneca’s play and Euripides’ Herakles will allow me to perform a more complete analysis of the trope of the epileptic as a madman. The third and final chapter deals with Hercules’ and Othello’s status of hero, to which they rise in different, but both valid, ways. While Hercules owes his glory to his decision to not commit suicide, Othello dies by his own hand and becomes a tragic hero for purging the earth from his inner monster.
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Thesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Classical Studiesy)--John Cabot University, Spring 2023.
Date
2023
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Keywords
Seneca Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.-65 A.D., Hercules (Roman mythological character), William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, Othello (Fictitious character from Shakespeare)
Citation
Leo, Giulia. "The Other, the Madman, the Hero: The Epileptic as an Ambivalent Figure in Hercules Furens and Othello". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2023.