Bipolarism in the Nineteenth-Century Novel

Abstract

Literary realism has produced some of the most famous deaths in literary fiction. Psychological insight into the characters’ experiences and the mental states that induced their deaths helps readers to engage the protagonists not as victims of society, martyrs of fate, or wicked characters but, rather, as pathological human beings. Their psychological dualities bring affirmations of identity as well as breakdowns of identity, hence transforming readers’ judgments on their morality with new understanding.